Why Government Can't Save You

Ten years ago John MacArthur wrote a book entitled Why Government Can't Save You. The subtitle to the book was "An Alternative to Political Activism." As important and timely as this book was when it was originally published, MacArthur has lamented that of all the books he has written, this one book has sold the least copies. Of course, he wasn't surprised at how unpopular the book was, since (as he expressed it), so many American Evangelicals have replaced the Great Commission with political crusades.

But depsite the lack of readership for the book, its biblical message rings just as loud and clear for the church today, as it did ten years ago. In fact, in the last chapter of the book, MacArthur sets forth a clarion call that we all need to take heed to, as we consider our own personal response to government and the American culture at large:

"With society sliding headlong into greater and greater evil, debauchery, violence, and corruption, and seemingly populated outside the church by no one but "modern barbarians," the temptation is strong for believers to jump into the cultural fray as self-righteous social/political reformers and condescending moralizers. All the while those self-styled Christian activists forget or ignore their true mission in the world...As noble as the desire to reform society may be, and as stirring as the emotions sometimes are when we're involved in a political cause we really believe is right, those activities are not to be the Christian's chief priorities...God does not call the church to influence the culture by promoting legislation and court rulings that advance a scriptural point of view. Nor does He condone any type of radical activism that would avoid tax obligations, disobey or seek removal of government officials we don't agree with, or spend an inordinate amount of time campaigning for a so-called Christian slate of candidates.

The church will really change society for the better only when individual believers make their chief concern their own spiritual maturity, which means living in a way that honors God's commands and glorifies His name. Such a concern inherently includes a firm grasp on Scripture and an understanding that its primary mandate to us is to know Christ and proclaim His gospel. A godly attitude coupled with godly living makes the saving message of the gospel credible to the unsaved. If we claim to be saved but still convey proud, unloving attitudes toward the lost, our preaching and teaching - no matter how doctrinally orthodox or politically savvy and persuasive - will be ignored or rejected."

To sum up what MacArthur is basically pleading for here, is that we as the church of Jesus Christ must keep the main thing the main thing. Our "main thing" is "to know Christ and proclaim His gospel." This must always be what everyone in our communities and the nation as a whole recognize about us. We are CHRISTIANS before we're Americans! We are self-denying, cross-bearing followers of Jesus Christ before we're political conservative crusaders seeking to reclaim America as "our country." Thus, when it comes to how we perceive and respond to our government, we need to always be sure that our actions toward the government are in obedience to God's Word rather than merely pontificating our personal political agendas.

The Right and Wrong Way to Judge

There is perhaps no passage in all the Bible more misapplied and misunderstood in our day than Matthew 7:1, "Judge not, that you be not judged." Douglas Wilson once remarked that this is the only verse of Scripture that every pagan in America knows by heart. And the reason why is because for most people in our modern culture, Matthew 7:1 has been erroneously employed to mean that no one should ever evaluate or criticize anyone for anything. The moment you declare something to be wrong or in error about someone's belief or behavior, you are immediately charged with "judging." "Don't you judge me!" is the favorite and typical reaction from those people who insist that we must be tolerant and all-inclusive of whatever anyone believes or how they live. And again, their basis for this conviction is Matthew 7:1.

But when Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 7:1 about judging others, was He really meaning that we must never pass an unfavorable judgment on the conduct and opinions of others? Is this what Jesus meant? Are we to take these words - "judge not" - to mean that sin is never to be rebuked or that false doctrine is never to be corrected? Well, if we compare Scripture with Scripture, it can be easily and quickly deduced that Matthew 7:1 is not forbidding the exercise of any judgment whatsoever. In fact, right here in Matthew 7, there is the call by Christ Himself that we must judge those who claim to speak for God (7:15). We must be discerning and perceptive in what they teach and how they live, making every effort to judge between truth and falsehood, between what is really from God and what is nothing but a sham.

Moreover, in the immediate context of Matthew 7:1, Jesus tells us that there is a right way to judge others (7:5). But the right kind of judging must be preceded by our own confession of sin and repentance, so that we may "see clearly to take the speck out of [our] brother's eye." In other words, the only way to rightly correct the sin or false doctrine in others, is to be certain that we ourselves are not guilty of the same thing. This means that we must thoroughly examine ourselves, carefully considering our own ways, and thus critically measuring ourselves by the infallible standard of God's Word. Once we have done this, then Jesus says we will "see clearly" to exercise the right kind of judging toward others.

So then, Matthew 7:1 is not condemning altogether the practice of judging others. However, it is condemning a certain type of judging. And sadly, it is a type of judging that is all too common, not only in the world, but even in the church. When Jesus said, "Judge not, that you be not judged" - our Lord was forbidding what is called "a censorious, fault-finding, hyper-critical" spirit. J.C. Ryle (1806-1900) desribed this as a "readiness to blame others for trifling offences or matters of indifference, a habit of passing rash and hasty judgments, a disposition to magnify the errors and infirmities of our neighbors, and make the worst of them."

But what is so wicked about this judgmental attitude, is that it is carried out by our own personal standard as the measuring rod of what is right or wrong. We don't judge people by God's perfect standard but by our own prejudicial standard that is shot through with sin. And in addition to this, a judgmental person also plays God, since they claim that they can perfectly read the motives and intentions in another person's heart. They act as if they are omniscient, and thus know everything about everything at all times. What arrogance! But this is the kind of judging which our Lord Jesus Christ condemns. John MacArthur summed it up this way: "Whenever we assign people to condemnation without mercy because they do not do something the way we think it ought to be done or because we believe their motives are wrong, we pass judgment that only God is qualified to make."