Community – The Law of God and Public Policy: The Economy (5)

Community

The Law of God and Public Policy: The Economy (5)

Local government is the foundation of an economy of justice.

“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.” Deuteronomy 16:18

In the divine economy, the economics of justice outlined in God’s Law, effective government begins at the local level. The Law of God does not envision a large national government which has as its primary purpose regulating the affairs of the nation to maximize material prosperity for all. The role of local government, in the form of elected judges and officials, was to ensure that justice prevailed in all the towns and villages of Israel.

Local officials were expected to meet in the gates of the city, where, symbolically, their deliberations and actions could be seen to be protecting the city against injustice, and where, as well, people could learn to live according to God’s Law by observing their work. As we see in Ruth 4, officials could be assembled at the wish of a member of a community, in order to render a judgment in some matter or dispute. Undoubtedly, however, they also met with some regularity, perhaps to review the overall state of the divine economy in their community, and also to discuss matters related to understanding the Law of God.

The local rulers of Israel were to regard themselves as “shepherds” of the people, who were the flocks of God. As such, their duty was to care for the well-being of each member of the community, to do whatever they could to ensure that the benefits of justice flowed to all. It should not surprise us that, in the economics of material wealth that dominates our society, rulers are more likely to be regarded as wolves in sheep’s clothing than shepherds of their constituents.

Local officials should understand the needs of their constituents better than representatives in a far-off national capital. In the early days of the American experience, city and county government were much more important than at present. School boards existed in every political precinct to serve the interests and needs of parents in the education of their children. Over the past 200 years government in America has become increasingly centralized, as Americans have come to believe that a strong central government is the best way to ensure maximum material prosperity for all. The result is that, while wealth has increased in America, justice has suffered considerably.

Just government begins in just self-government, learned from God’s Law, taught in Christian homes, practiced at the local level, and encoded, when possible, in the public policies of the land.

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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.