Decline in Local Government – The Law of God and Public Policy

Decline in Local Government
The Law of God and Public Policy

Just government begins with local government.

“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

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.

And with this, many of the worst fears of the Anti-Federalist writers have begun to come to pass.

The result is that federal and state governments wield vastly more power than local officials. And, while wealth has increased in America, justice has suffered considerably, and a mindset of “entitlement” has settled on increasing numbers of the nation’s people.

Meanwhile, how many Americans even bother to pay attention to or participate in local politics? For whom did you vote in the last county or city council elections?

Just government begins in just self-government, learned from God’s Law, taught in Christian homes and churches, practiced at the local level, and encoded, when possible, in the public policies of the land. There is a need, of course, for national governments. But these should at all times keep in mind the primacy of local governments to oversee the outworking of the divine economy for the people in their care.

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.