Independence, Dependence or Inter-Dependence?

I recently participated in an interfaith prayer service for the new and returning members of the Clifton City Council. The pastor of St. Paul’s, Father Mazza, began the homily with words that went something like this:

A little over 200 years ago our country declared its Independence. Over the years we became Co-Dependent and most recently we have become Dependent. When it comes to government we must not be dependent upon it, but rather independent of it.

While this is a nice witticism, it overlooks the fact of our inter-dependence. For the last year, we as a church have been focusing on Jeremiah 29: 7—“Seek the welfare of the city to which I have sent you and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” This verse reminds us that our wellbeing is tied up with our neighbors’ wellbeing. If downtown Clifton has thriving small businesses that provide services and jobs to our community, the community pros-pers. However, if my neighbors are losing their homes to foreclosure, the community suffers. We are all connected to each other and part of that interconnectedness is expressed in our government.

In recent years it has become popular to see the government as the enemy. However the Bible says, that government is ordained by God (see Romans 13: 1-7).
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God created government to do for the community what no one individual is capable of doing for herself. From a Biblical point of view, government is the servant of the common good.
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I’m thankful for government. I thank God for the police department and justice system and would hate to live in a community where everyone takes the law into their own hands. I thank God for fresh water and sewage systems even if the sewer bills have gone up over the last year. I thank God for unemployment insurance programs and for economic development plans. I thank God for our armed forces and social security and, yes, even the new health insurance program. None of these things are perfect, but they are all functions of good government and they all exist to promote the common good.

So then what should be our attitude as Christian citizens? Let me suggest three things.

1. We need to see government as a God-ordained institution that is meant for our good. While we will have lively discussions about what the government should or should not do, it is not the enemy.

2. We need to treat our elected officials and government servants with respect and gratitude. It has been common to think of “politics” and “politicians” as dirty words. Maybe it’s time to start using more honorable terms like “public service” and “public ser