The Terms of “Good” – The Law of God and Public Policy

The Terms of “Good”
The Law of God and Public Policy

Christians have a definite sense of what is “good.”

“Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.” Deuteronomy 17:16, 17

The work of public policy relates to the decisions and actions whereby a government seeks to fulfill its role as overseer of a people. All governments want to do what is “good.” Obviously, much is at stake in the way we define that concept. For some governments, “good” means “good for government.” That, however, may or may not be truly good.

For other governments “good” may have a more utilitarian focus: good for the majority of the people, most of the time. It’s not difficult to see how such an idea can become entangled with the notion of “good for government.”

No government can long exist which fails to position itself as seeking to do what is “good.” But, since there are obviously many different ways of defining that idea, it will be important that any people who are to be governed have a clear sense of what they mean by “good.” Those within any society who hold to a clear and compelling sense of what is good will work hard to promote their views and to implement them, as far as they are able, in the arena of public policy.

The Christian understands that government is a servant of God for good, and that God, therefore, must define the terms of goodness by which a government fulfills its appointed task. The policies a government enacts must be for good, as defined by God and His holy and righteous and good Law.

It is extremely important, therefore, that Christians understand the Law of God and consider the best ways of bringing its influence more to bear in the arena of public policy. This is what believers have done in the past, and we have every reason to believe that doing so in our day would result in much good for ourselves and our neighbors.

But it is also important that we understand the workings of government and public policy—what is involved in bringing the good teaching of God’s Law to bear on public policy decisions.

This entails the proper use of what we may refer to as the “three Ls” of public policy: the logic of public policy, those fundamental principles which must guide governments as they work out the details of public policy; the loci of public policy, or, the arenas in which public policies are forged and enacted; and the language to be employed in making public policy—both in terms of how we speak to God, and how we speak with others about the policies we hope to achieve.

Understanding the proper ways of interpreting and applying the Law of God to public policy will do the Christian community and the nation no good unless we also understand the basic workings of public policy according to these “three Ls.”

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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.