CAESAR OR GOD?

 

CAESAR OR GOD?

 

"‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's’" (Matt. 22:21 NIV).

 

Christians have dual citizenship — on earth and in heaven. Both kingdoms have authority over us. The question is, which has final authority?

 

In the nineteenth century some taught that man would eventually build his own heaven here on earth, a man-made utopia. But stark reality has crushed that dream. Power-crazed madmen, nuclear weapons, escalating crime and continued war and genocide more readily fit Huxley’s anti-utopian "brave new world."

 

Too many Americans fail to distinguish between what is American and what is Christian. They have wrapped their Bibles in red, white and blue, and sung "God Bless America" until the line between Christ and Caesar has almost been obliterated.

 

We are commanded to honor those in authority, but our allegiance to Caesar should not be so complete that it violates our Christian conscience. When the laws of men and the commandments of God come into direct conflict, we must have the courage to say with Peter and the other apostles, "We must obey God rather than men!" (Acts 5:29).

 

Each of us, like the three Hebrew children in Daniel, must decide if we will bow to the king's image.

 

Life response: Like the three Hebrew children, I refuse to bow down to the gods of the earth.