Show, Then Teach – The Law of God and Public Policy

Show, Then Teach
The Law of God and Public Policy

Christians have to demonstrate what they seek to achieve.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 1 Timothy 1:1, 2

As in all areas of public policy-making, Christians must first embody what we seek, and only then begin to teach it. Christians must be careful to embody the standards of dignity and honor, and to practice them in community with one another, before we try to turn such practices into public policy. Our neighbors need to see what a good society can look like, and how it can benefit them and their children, before they will be willing to restrain by law behaviors they may not find agreeable but would not wish to curtail by force of law.

We must be able to show good reasons why we support such policies. Just as social science is discovering that materialistic lifestyles are not good for marriages—the love of money being a root of all evil—so Christians must be able to show that certain kinds of behavior, because they make us less than dignified image-bearers of God, should not be encouraged and should, perhaps, even be made unlawful. Again, this is nothing new; our society already restricts and prohibits, under penalty of law, certain kinds of behaviors which it regards as beneath the kind of dignity humans ought to seek.

We’re not auguring for some new use of the law. Rather, we simply want to achieve, in our lives and by public policy, a raising of the bar of dignity, for only thus will we be able to relieve the stress and distress that the lowering of that bar has foisted on our society in our day.

Visit our website, www.ailbe.org, and sign up to receive our thrice-weekly devotional, Crosfigell, featuring writers from the period of the Celtic Revival and T. M.’s reflections on Scripture and the Celtic Christian tradition. Does the Law of God still apply today? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, and study the question for yourself.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.