Reflections on a Christian Understanding of State and Government

The testimony of both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures as well as theological reflections on state and government affirm them as established by God. From the establishment of kingship (1 Samuel 8:4-22), to the Hebrew prophets who insist on the fair treatment of the other and the pursuit of justice as fundamental to leading a life that amounts to faithfully walking with God, and the discussions and directions on the role of the state and government in the Christian scriptures (for example, Romans 13:1-7), are plentiful. In fact, the creation account affirmed in a short span of thirty-five verses spread across the first two chapters of the book of Genesis (Gen 1:1-2:4) establishes the fundamentals that humans must enshrine and pursue with the state and government. These thirty-five verses emphatically establish the singular parentage of all things seen and unseen, the unquestionable equality of all human beings regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, social status, or anything else, the eternal basis for the human claim to be involved in productive work, and the consequent need for and right to rest. These verses from Genesis might be considered as the basis for discernment on how to live faithfully under the Divine.

In recent decades, and in most parts of the world, there has been a steady dilution of the role of the state and government in the lives of the citizens who constitute them, and all the people, including noncitizens, that dwell under them. This intentional receding or dismantling of state and government continues to occur despite recent experiences in which the governments of all countries concertedly pulled the world back from the brink of global economic catastrophe and ruin primarily caused by private corporations in 2008, and when governments across the world collaborated to address the global pandemic from 2020 to 2023. The attempts at indiscriminate deregulation that deliberately diminish states’ and governments’ capacity to determine and administer what is just, right, and acceptable in any enterprise or matter of public life, might be considered an affront to the Christian understanding of the possibility and prevalence of sin in anything and everything that humans do in their individual and collective lives. Similarly, the dissolution of state and government as a guardian of equality before the law, justice, and the rights of citizens represent an affront to the four precepts that the first thirty-five verses of the Book of Genesis call us to abide by.

The Christian and other religious faiths as well as the vast array of nonprofit organizations are collectively termed non-governmental organizations (NGOs). NGOs can also intentionally or inadvertently contribute to the displacement of the state and government from their role as pursuer and preserver of justice and wellbeing on behalf of all people within their respective domain and as the planner for their collective futures. This happens when NGOs and others consider the plans and programs they institute to serve as a substitute for the state and government. I am glad to be able to testify that the churches and institutions that the Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ partner with in Southern Asia consider their programs to be scalable experiments in the services and opportunities that might be immediately offered to as many people as possible. This means that their work can serve as a template for the state and government to adopt with full force and broad scope.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Sarosh Koshy serves as the Global Relations Minister for Southern Asia with the Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the National Setting of the United Church of Christ.

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