IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNMENT
By Geo. J. Butler
Thoughts on Church Government.—No. 1.
IMPORTANCE OF GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT is defined by Mr. Webster to be “the exercise of authority; direction and restraint exercised over the actions of men in communities, societies, or States; the exercise of authority by a parent or household,” &c. Authority is a “legal power, or a right to command or act.” The word government is used in a very wide range of significations, many of which we shall not attempt to notice in this article. We see it manifested in the family, the school, the church, the nation, and in God’s supervision of his creatures; and in all these relations experience proves it to be most necessary. God is evidently the author of government, and he has designed it for the good of his creatures. All rightful government centers in him, and is exercised by virtue of his authority. The power to create carries with it the right to direct and control. The dependence of every creature upon their Creator for life, and the means of perpetuating that life, carries with it the most solemn obligation to be obedient to that control. The highest possible duty grows out of the reception of the greatest blessings. The wisdom, goodness, and justice of God is manifest from the fact that all his creatures capable of forming a moral character, will be held accountable for the use they make of the privileges granted them; and their eternal destiny will be determined in the Judgment by this consideration. Hence the highest expediency harmonizes with the highest duty, in requiring of man perfect submission to the government of God. The restraining influences upon mankind growing out of the government of God and the certainty of judgment, have been of inestimable value to the world. By virtue of these, there has been some check to the flood of wickedness prevailing upon our globe, which but for them would have run such riot as the world has never witnessed. The world before the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the French Revolution, and other events in the world’s history, afford partial illustrations of what might have been, but for the dread of the hereafter when God shall rise up in Judgment and vindicate his righteous government. In precise proportion as man has recognized God’s government and conformed his life to it has real good resulted to the world, and in the ratio that he has spurned it has evil triumphed. The benefits of God’s government cannot fully be realized till the future state is reached; for the results are only in process of being worked out in this. But enough has already been seen to show that it is of inestimable importance to the race. God has authorized government among the nations. The powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. “For he is the minister of God to thee for good. He is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers attending continually upon this very thing.” Rom. 13: 1–7. It would be difficult to frame language more plain than the foregoing to show that God has ordained political government. Government of any kind is better than anarchy. It is really the embodiment of the will of the people, whether imperial, kingly, or republican, in form; for the majority of the people have the right and the power to make or change it to any form they choose. Rulers represent the people, and act in their stead and by virtue of their will. God, for wise purposes, has committed the right and power to control and govern individuals, with certain limitations, to the aggregate mass composed of these individuals. This power is liable to great abuses. It will always be of about the same character morally as the mass of the people whom it represents, and of course will fall far short of God’s standard in perfection. Our obligation to human government can never release us from our obligation to God’s government; for the former falls infinitely short of the latter in its claims upon us. God has never committed to any human government his own prerogatives, nor released us from his high claims upon us for honor and obedience. When human government therefore conflicts with the divine, the former must give place to the latter, much as a decision of a mere justice of the peace would be displaced by that of the Supreme Court of the United States. Yes, and in an infinitely higher sense than that. But within these limitations it is reasonable that the few should conform to such rules as the many are willing to submit to. And God has endowed them with authority to enforce obedience. To resist that authority within the limits suggested, is to resist the ordinance of God who has given this authority. Imperfect as human government must necessarily be, coming as it does from human wisdom, and mingled as it is with human passion, yet its benefits to the race are immense. Could we imagine the condition of the world if every individual was left perfectly free to act as he chose, to gratify his own desires, inflict his own punishments, and fight his own way through the world without any combination of men to have a watch-care for others, then we may see what would be our condition without a government. The stronger individuals could then override the weaker, avarice and lust would be the order of the day, thieving and murder would stalk through our streets, and anarchy would reign supreme. Human governments impose certain limits to these things, and give the weaker members a chance to be heard. The strong arm of the body of the people, represented by the rulers of their choice, brings the lawless to terms. Those who never feel under obligation to human governments take a very short-sighted and foolish view of things. With all their burdens, inefficiency, and imperfection, governments are among our greatest temporal blessings, and we should thank God for them. Doubtless, it is because of these things that the Bible commands us to pray for rulers and those in authority. What would be the condition of things in our world if all the criminals in our jails and prisons were loose, with no organized government to apprehend and confine them? If such were the case, there would then be ten criminals where there is now one. Were there no organized government to establish a standard of value, coin and issue money, regulate commerce, and do a thousand things of this nature, our property would be comparatively valueless, our comfortable homes would soon become desolate, and life itself would be robbed of its charms. A mere glance suffices to show us some of the important benefits of political government.53 Family government also occupies an important field in the well-being of mankind. It is a nursery or training school to fit persons for action in other departments of government. If well trained in this, they will be far better qualified to act their proper part in connection with the government of God, in the church, or in the State. It is instituted by divine authority. God has committed to parents authority over their children, within certain limits, and requires of them the exercise of this authority. Children are required to submit to it unless it conflicts with God’s claims upon them. His claims are far higher than those of parents. God says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother.” Parents are required to train their children up in accordance with right principles. Children are under obligation to render obedience to their parents; because God says so, as well as because of the blessings conferred upon them by their parents. Under God they owe to them their existence. They have received of them much care and protection in their helpless infancy. They have been fed and clothed, when they would have perished but for this care. This brings them under obligations to their parents, from which nothing but death can release them. Family government is authorized by God, because it is best for children and for mankind. Were parents not authorized to use power to compel obedience, and were children as free to do as they please as parents, the state of things in the world would be far worse than it is. If children were left to follow every childish fancy or caprice, and were under no constraint, a far larger portion would grow up lawless and worthless than do now. There is so little genuine family government in the world that the result is now bad enough. But there is enough so that many evils are avoided. A family under such training as the Scriptures teach is almost a miniature Heaven on the earth. Children under such training grow up to respect rightful authority, fear God, and follow the ways of virtue. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” So says the book of God. The nearer we approximate to such training the more certain will we be to obtain such results. One great object to be obtained in family government, yes, and in all government, is submission to rightful authority. Family government which does not accomplish this is truly a failure. By submission, I mean the full yielding of the will to a higher power. A yielding to the wishes of the parent because of coaxing or buying up, or because certain inducements are held before the mind, is one thing; submission to the claims of rightful authority because duty requires it, is quite another. When the latter is not obtained, such family training is a failure. When it is obtained, a lesson is learned, the effects of which will be of life-long duration, blessing and ennobling the possessor and others with whom he associates. The human heart in its present state is filled with turbulent passions. The mind is sadly unbalanced. Every child that comes into the world has internal enemies to control, which are most dangerous to his well-being. These are liable to run riot, lead the imagination astray, and color the reflections of the intellect. The child needs to be taught self-government. It wants to do as it pleases, follow its own fancy, and gratify its appetite, even at the expense of physical and moral health. The child is largely animal in its feelings, cultivating the lower instead of the higher powers. What its great need demands is to have rightful parental authority step in and oblige it to submit to that which is for its highest good. This should be done gently and firmly, till the plastic mind is molded to yield obedience to right. It is better for the child that this be done, even if the infliction of present pain be necessary. Such authority should be steady, mild, and decided, imitating as closely as possible the example of God, the fountain of all authority. When children grow up under such training, their course through the world will not be like that of the wandering star, fickle and changeable as the wind, but straight forward, true to the pole-star of principle, and ever reliable. No one is ever fitted to command until he has first learned to obey. Those are best fitted to properly train children who have been properly trained themselves. Family government is a great subject, embracing much that is important for the race. But it is not my design to discuss it at length here. It qualifies the subjects of it, when properly carried out, to better discharge the duties of this life, and helps to fit them for the higher life. Rebellion in the universe of God, has been a terrible thing. It was seen in Heaven itself, when Satan, the anointed cherub, proudly rose up against the Creator, and one third part of the angels were cast with him out of Heaven. Our race is in rebellion against its lawful sovereign. To come back to our allegiance and submit ourselves to God, is the lesson we must learn. Judicious family government, when the mind is tender and plastic, helps powerfully to accomplish this great object, and every parent who neglects it is guilty of a great sin against his child. The church of God occupies a position of great importance in the world. It is a school in which people are trained in the principles of Heaven. In it they are brought into a relation peculiar to themselves, to the world, and to God. In it they are trained and instructed in those principles which will fit them to discharge the duties of this life properly, and prepare them to live eternally in the presence of God. The issues and relations connected with the church are peculiar and important. The church is an object of God’s special care; for in it, more than anywhere else in the world, are those who take him for their rightful sovereign—those who are trying to walk in submission to his will. We may therefore rest assured that the church has received authority to act in those relations prescribed by the eternal mind, and that it will have a government. If government is important in those relations which we have been considering, in the family and State, certainly we expect it to be in the church, “the temple of the living God,” “the pillar and ground of the truth.” In succeeding articles we will more fully consider the subject of church government.