In the Great Commission, we see that making (and, I might argue, being) disciples is linked to Christ’s authority over all things (Matt 28:18). As such, baptism is “within the name” of the Triune God reasonably than within the name of the baptizer or a selected denomination. We commit ourselves to the Triune God in baptism and never to anyone or anything. Similarly, teaching others to obey is a component of discipleship. Yet, here again, the Great Commission makes specific who and what we’re to learn to obey (i.e., Christ and all he commanded). As such, discipleship involves committing to and learning to live under the authority of Christ and no other.
The addition of the phrase “and no other” could appear problematic given various other biblical texts. How should we take into consideration Peter’s instruction to “be subject for the Lord’s sake to each human institution, whether or not it’s to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him” (1 Pet 2:13-14)? What about Romans 13:1 (“Let every one be subject to the governing authorities”)? What we want to acknowledge is that learning to live under Christ’s authority involves respecting the authority of the rulers God has put in place. Paul, as an illustration, nests the authority given to earthly rulers in God’s own authority (13:2). The rulers are to be respected because God has given them their authority. Still, it seems clear that earthly rulers can misuse the authority they’ve been given in order that they find yourself pushing against reasonably than serving God (e.g., Dan 3:1-30; 6:1-28). As such, while we’re to “honor the emperor,” we accomplish that because we also “fear the Lord” (1 Pet 2:17).
When we take into consideration being good residents, we’re right to grasp it as a sacred duty because our actions inside society are usually not simply and even primarily driven by societal conventions or the whims of those in authority but by our commitment to living holy lives under the authority of Christ. Good citizenship, in other words, shouldn’t be separate from but emerges as a component of Christian discipleship. It is a specialized way of life under the authority of Jesus Christ by recognizing the legitimate and limited authority of earthly rulers and the institutions they oversee.
Being an excellent citizen is barely a sacred act to the extent that such citizenship is an expression of obedience to the Triune God that points to and glorifies Him. Notions of “good citizenship” decoupled from the theological commission to be and make disciples are misleading because they tempt us to present governing bodies an authority autonomous from God or to expand the scope of their authority beyond what God has given them.
Being an excellent citizen shouldn’t be a matter of giving ourselves over to the conventions of the day but of remaining faithful to Jesus Christ no matter those conventions. At times, then, we must always expect to “suffer unjustly” (1 Pet 2:19). Even if we’re “zealous for what is sweet,” we may “suffer for righteousness’ sake” (2:13-14). Our faithful proclamation of the gospel in each word and deed will create friction with fallen rulers and institutions. At certain points, what the world sees as “good citizenship” is not going to align with being good disciples.
As such, Christians must see our earthly citizenship as a theological endeavor serving the broader purpose of pointing to and glorifying the Triune God. Good citizenship shouldn’t be an end in itself, neither is it something the world will at all times recognize or affirm. Instead, it results from our commitment to live as “a selected race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his [God’s] own possession” (2:9).
This way of understanding good citizenship is crucial because Christians can never elevate earthly citizenship above heavenly citizenship forged through discipleship. We can never “honor the emperor” as an alternative of fearing God (2:17). We should fear God and, in so doing, “honor the emperor.”
Still, the political realm consistently presses us to be shaped into something apart from the image of Christ. As political commentator George Will notes,
“Men and ladies are biological facts. Ladies and gentlemen—residents—are social artifacts, works of political art. They carry a culture that’s sustained by smart laws and traditions of civility. At the tip of the day, we’re right to guage society by the character of the people it produces. That is why statecraft is, inevitably, soulcraft.”
Governing authorities and the human institutions they serve haven’t any vested interest in making disciples for Jesus Christ. As such, the “character of the people” produced by the “smart laws and traditions of civility” will, at best, be generically moral. They could also be guided by moral principles and intuitions made by human hands, but they are usually not disciples of Jesus.
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