Governments are good gifts of God that are meant to exist so that “we might live quiet and peaceful lives”. When Governments become separated from their grounding in Christ, or even in a genuine trust in a nebulous “higher power”, they become unhinged and in many ways demonic. They will seek to replace God or a belief in a higher power in the populations mind, with their ability to give a better life to all and their ability to know what is good for you.
When the government or the state removes Christianity it must by definition take the place of Christ. It must become the way and the truth and the life. It must become a savior. Since that is impossible it will become opposing ideologies since those who share in power will also want to be in control. There will be more unhinging as the power of the state grows.
The “sit in” at the house over gun control is a perfect example of what happens when the state wants to control everything. The redaction of emails from the shooter in Orlando; the gaps in press conference videos; the reliance upon lying to change public opinion; the need to actually rewrite history are all examples of trying to control all things. The constant need to “get something done” is another example. The endless procession of regulations for everything from smoke emissions to light fixtures is another. When they cannot control, they resort to what I like to call tantrum.
How should a Christian respond to these things? There is a great book called Christ and the powers by Hendrik Berkhof in which he says this –- “The Holy Spirit shrinks the powers before the eyes of faith. They may well have inflated themselves into omnipotent total value systems, but the believer sees them in their
true proportions, as nothing more than one segment of creation, existing because of the Creator, and limited by other creatures.” (Christ and the Powers, By Hendrik Berkhof. Translated from Dutch by John H. Yoder Herald Press )
