Our Role in the World

Yesterday marked the 250^th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which was a pivotal event in the formation of our country. And while many people took some time to think about the founding of this nation,  that doesn’t mean they came to the same conclusion.

Across this country, there are plenty of people who claim to love this country, and there are plenty of people who claim to hate the country, and that’s not always for the same reason. In recognizing the spectrum of opinions regarding this nation, we need to be aware of some of the wrong ways we should respond.

One wrong way to respond would be with complete hatred. That is to take the position that nothing this country ever does formally is ever going to be right or worthy of our approval. Everything is wrong. I don’t think that’s a charitable position, or a healthy one, and it’s especially not a biblical position.

Romans 13 reminds us that human government, as imperfect as it is, was designed and instituted by God. The Apostle Paul lived under a wicked Roman Emperor who was actively seeking to persecute Christians, but he instructs us not to resist authority, but to submit to it by doing what is good.

First Peter 2 tells us that part of God’s purpose through governing authorities is to punish what is evil and promote what is right. Human government was designed by God to restrain evil. Again, it doesn’t do that perfectly—no government will—but that doesn’t mean it’s not effective to some degree. There is a redeeming quality we need to recognize. We shouldn’t approach our government with complete hatred in our hearts. Instead, we should recognize the benefits it brings.

A second wrong response would be complete approval. We shouldn’t think about our nation with complete hatred, nor with complete approval, as if everything done at the local level or at the national level is worthy of praise. The first position says “everything our leaders do is wrong.” This second position says, “Our leaders can do no wrong.” Sometimes, this devotion to an institution can even rise to the level of idolatry.

We need to be willing to call out sin where we see sin. We live in a fallen world with fallen people, and that includes our leaders and our laws. People will disagree on how severe or widespread some problem is, or how worthy it is of our attention, or how it should be fixed, but if we find ourselves seeing sin either allowed or promoted, and we are unable to call it what it is, then there’s a problem.

A third wrong response would be one of complete detachment. Or we could call this “complete indifference.” Some people, even in the name of Christ, will take this approach. They figure that since we are to be focused on spiritual things, it shouldn’t matter to us what happens in the country in which we live.

I think many of the Israelites might have felt that way when they were taken into captivity by the Babylonians. They were ripped out of their homeland and taken into exile into a foreign land. They resented that. They hated it. They may have even felt hopeless.

But listen to what God said to them through the prophet Jeremiah. This comes from Jeremiah 29, beginning in verse 4—Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: [5] Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. [6] Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. [7] But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

This wasn’t their homeland, and they weren’t going to be there forever. But in the meantime, God called them to be productive members of society engaging in commerce and in the ordinary structures of society. He didn’t want them to feel so defeated or hopeless that they completely detach from society.

As the people of God, we recognize that this is not our true home, but that doesn’t mean we get to completely detach from the things going on around us. There is an appropriate detachment from the things of this world, but at the same time, we are to love others and seek the welfare of others. We might disagree on what that means exactly and how to best bring about a specific change, but that doesn’t undo our responsibility.

We know that God is sovereign, so He’s not subject to, or dependent on, whatever happens in our communities and our nation, but that doesn’t mean that God will not work through those changes either. As Paul ministered within the Roman Empire, it seems like there were times when he was especially aiming at governmental leaders.

And in 1 Timothy 2, Paul gives the explicit command for churches to pray and to give thanks for our governing leaders. And this prayer is with the hope that “we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

In other words, our lives under the authority of God and under the authority of the nation in which we live can serve God’s purpose of bringing others to salvation. And we should pray to that end for our leaders and for our communities. We do not honor God is completely detach from our nation and our community. Detachment and indifference, I will say, are another form of hatred.

Acts 17:26 says that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

God put this nation here, just like He’s done with every other nation across history. And His desire is that all people would seek Him and find Him. Our job, then, is to work to that end. We are to seek the welfare of the community and nation in which we live, and the greatest good for anyone is to hear the gospel and respond with faith, with confession, and with repentance, and then with a growing love for Christ. So, we work toward that end.

One final caution I will give is a response of complete identification. This would be the opposite of detachment. Whatever you might love or hate about this country, you need to be careful that you don’t place your final joy or satisfaction in the direction of this country. We are called to be upright citizens and residents, and we are to work for the good of our nation, but we always need to keep in mind that this is not our true home.

God’s plans are not affected by who is or isn’t elected, and neither should your joy or your hope. We can’t completely detach, but we also can’t make this nation the ultimate mark of our identity. Back in Hebrews 11, verse 10, we were reminded that living by faith means looking forward to a new city built by God Himself. Verse 16 reminds us that we are seeking a better country, a heavenly one.

And this is a major part of the message today as we focus on the life of Moses. His life is a reminder that by faith we are living in response to something greater than this world.

I am not going to spend a lot of time talking about the details of Moses’ life. That is something you can study on your own, particularly in the book of Exodus. But let’s look at Hebrews 11:23-28 and remind ourselves, through the life of Moses, the aspects of this world that we need to be aware of and whose influence we should be working to resist.

First, we have in verse 23, a reminder of the world’s power. The world’s power. It says this—By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.

This isn’t talking about Moses’ faith, but it is an expression we see through his life. This is talking about the faith of his parents. The Israelites were living as slaves in Egypt, and Pharaoh, the most powerful man on earth, said that if any baby boy was born, he was to be thrown into the Nile River. But Moses’ parents understood the value of human life. Regardless of what baby Moses looked like, he was beautiful in God’s sight. That’s the phrase used in Acts 7:20.

I read that and I think about the tragedy of parents today knowingly and willfully ending the lives of their preborn babies. Years ago, it happened primarily in a clinic, but now the most common method is through receiving pills in the mail and doing it yourself.

There is no law, similar to Pharaoh’s law that mandates that a child must be killed, but that doesn’t mean there is not authority exercising power over people. In our society today, it’s the power of culture and the power of autonomy. These kinds of things lead to the deaths of over one million babies each year.

That’s just one expression of people giving in to the spirit of the age, and we need to recognize that we can do it in all kinds of other ways as well. There is a great power and authority that this culture exercises over us, and we need to be careful. What we need is to fear God more than the power of this world. We need to fear God more than we fear economic power or peer pressure.

This fear of God is what led the Apostles to boldly proclaim Christ even after being told by the Jewish authorities to stop preaching. It’s what led Paul to go to city after city proclaiming the gospel, even though he knew that persecution was coming.

Take a moment and think about this for yourself: in what ways might you be allowing this world to exercise power over you? In what ways do you fear this world more than you fear God? In what ways have you been reluctant to do what honors God because of a worldly fear?

Don’t give in to the power of this world. We serve a powerful God, and He watches over us.

A second aspect of this world to be aware of, and to reject is this world’s privileges. This world’s privileges. Look at verse 24—By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

Moses was a prince of Egypt, but turned that down to follow God’s plan for his life. He wasn’t going to allow the privileges of Egyptian royalty to keep him from doing what God had called him to do.

What does that look like in your own life? In what ways might the privileges of this life be holding you back from doing what God would have you do? It takes faith to lay down those privileges in humility and do the will of God.

As a parent, faith will mean laying down your rights and privileges to serve your children. It means the same thing as an elder, as a boss at work, as a teacher in a classroom, or as a coach. It means the same thing if you’re a person with a substantial financial portfolio, or with impressive academic credentials. In what ways might you need to exercise faith by laying down the privileges of this world?

Connected to this world’s privileges, we see a third element in verses 25 and 26, and that is this world’s pleasures. This world’s pleasures.

Verse 25 says that Moses was “choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. [26] He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.”

There’s something beneficial about recognizing that sin is pleasurable. That’s a biblical fact. Sin feels good. But we also need to recognize that it’s a fleeting pleasure, right? The pleasure passes so quickly.

Proverbs 5, speaking of adultery say that the forbidden woman is like honey; her speech is smooth like oil. But in the end, she is bitter like poison and sharp like a sword. The same goes for all sin. It’s only a fleeting pleasure, then comes guilt and the discipline of God and the shame of our disobedience.

Moses recognized that whatever pleasures or treasures this world could offer, they wouldn’t compare to the reward promised him by God Himself.

As far as I know, none of you are Egyptian royalty, but do you recognize the pleasures that are all around you? I walk into my kitchen, and it’s filled with delicious food. I go out to eat, and I’ve got dozens of choices within one mile of wherever I am. I open my phone or my computer, and I can waste time in countless ways. I open my drawers and my closet, and they’re filled with clothes I can wear. If my house is too cold, I can turn on a heater or grab a blanket or a sweater. If I come into the office, and it’s too hot, I can turn on the air conditioning. If I’m bored, how many options, are there for movies and TV shows and games?

You and I are surrounded by pleasures—more pleasures that people could dream of just 100 years ago. Most of these pleasures may not be sinful in themselves, but the question is this: By faith, are we willing to lay those down in obedience to Christ? Am I willing to sacrifice my own comfort trusting that God has a reward in store for me?

This world has power. This world has granted me so many privileges. This world offers me so many pleasures. Are we prepared, by faith, to lay them aside?

A fourth element to be aware of are this world’s promises. The world’s promises. This is really just another way to express the allure of this world. In the end, are we going to trust in the promises of this world, or in the promises of God? Moses had to make that decision.

Egypt promised him riches and nobility and economic stability. But God promised Him an eternal reward. Look at verse 27—By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

Most of the Israelites were terrified when they realized that Pharaoh was chasing after them. He was the most powerful man in the world. But Moses, rather than focus on Pharaoh’s power and on the promises of life in Egypt, focused on God. That’s the end of verse 27. He endured as seeing him who is invisible.

That’s how you and I need to live, but it’s so difficult. It’s not part of our sinful nature to look to God and to His promises. God’s power is greater than this world. God’s privileges and God’s pleasures and God’s promises are greater that what this world offers. We can know that intellectually, but by God’s grace, we need to take the appropriate action. We need to set our spiritual eyes on that which is invisible—on God and on His promises.

That’s what it says to do in Colossians 3:1—Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

What are the promises of this world that you are hanging onto more than God? Marriage? Kids? Retirement? Do we trust in God’s promises more than in the promises of this life? Is our true hope found in the word of God?

When we study God’s word, we see Him, and we are empowered to live by faith rather than by what we see in the world.

There’s one final reminder we get in this paragraph, and it comes in verse 28. It’s a reminder about the world’s protection. The world’s protection. Without faith, we give in to the power of the world, we seek out the privileges and pleasures of the world, and we trust in the promises and protection this world offers.

Pharaoh had seen nine plagues come over the nation. And instead of repenting and relenting, he hardened his heart. Maybe he thought that if he stayed strong enough, he would win against Moses. He trusted in his own ability to survive and to win. He trusted in his nation’s ability and resources and gods to give them the victory.

But what was Moses trusting in? He was trusting in the protection that only God could provide. God gave him the instructions for the Passover, instructions for sacrificing a lamb and spreading its blood on the doors. And what happened?

In every home across the nation, someone died. It was either a firstborn son or a sacrificial lamb. Moses wasn’t trusting in himself for protection. He wasn’t trusting in Egypt. He was trusting in God.

Verse 28 says—

By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, so that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them.

Moses’ faith led him to obey, but that obedience came from a trust in God to watch over him. Even as things seemingly got worse with Pharaoh, Moses trusted in God, and Israel was spared the judgment of God.

What are the kinds of things in this world that you might be trusting in for protection, rather than in God? To use the words of the Psalms, what is your true refuge?

Some people trust in their own abilities, their own training, their own money, their own resourcefulness. And that trust can be for daily life or for your eternal destiny. The people of this world have no idea that they are headed for judgment under God’s wrath. Their protection is useless.

But if you have trusted in Jesus Christ, you have the eternal protection of God. Jesus, as the Lamb of God, died on the cross in the place of sinners, and so, if you’ve called out to Him for mercy, you will be saved. You will be protected forever.

The pull of this world is real. We feel the world’s power. But we need to fear God more. We experience the world’s privileges, but we know it is a greater privilege to be called a child of God. We are enticed by the world’s pleasures and promises, but we need to trust in the greater blessings God has promised us. And when the world tries to comfort us with its false protection, we need to remember that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ.

Heaven is our true home. We are eternal citizens of heaven. There’s nothing wrong with recognizing the blessings and the challenges of our nation, but let us never forget where our true home is.