what is Caesar’s

The Mueller Report has been submitted and you know what? It doesn’t matter. Whether you were hoping it would hang President Trump or vindicate him, you’ll probably pull something you like from it, but it still doesn’t matter. President Obama couldn’t bring us hope and change for the same reason President Trump won’t make America great again: the president doesn’t control our destiny. 

It’s so easy for our patriotism and faith to blend into a kind of religious nationalism, in part because Jesus himself pointed out the importance of government. We’re told in scripture to show due respect to civil authorities regardless of their faith, because our government is what provides order and enables us to live relatively free and structured lives. 

One of the more famous instances is in Matthew 22:17-21. The Pharisees confronted Jesus: 

“”Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?’

“But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, ‘You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.’ They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’

“‘Caesar’s,’they replied.

“Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’”

What is Caesar’s? The God-given authority to govern, to include passing the laws and collecting the taxes needed to provide for a civil society. What isn’t Caesar’s? The faith and trust adoration that is due to God alone.

Jesus tells us to respect and obey our government but not to glorify it or put our hope in it. Expecting government to provide what only God can is foolishness. No matter what laws a Christian Congress might pass, it will not secure our eternity or legislate a single soul to salvation. 

So if you like President Trump, support him as a man temporarily holding authority that isn’t rooted in himself, but don’t hold him up as any sort of religious hope. And if you hate him, be reassured that God’s at work regardless. 

We’re Americans privileged to live in this country not so that America will be great, but so that God’s kingdom can move forward. We should think a little bit about the fact that it’s moving forward faster in most other places on the globe. The greatness we’ve been promised by our civil authorities is not the future God has planned for us.