Nonresistant and Nonpolitical
(Mennonite
Article)
Part of the vision which captured the hearts and minds of
the original Anabaptists of Zurich, Switzerland, some four
centuries ago was the separation of church and state.
This meant among other things that the founders of our brotherhood
held that the church ought to be wholly detached from the
state. The Gospel should be preached "freely," not
under the control or even protection of the state, for the
state ought not to take a position of favoring one faith
and sup pressing or persecuting the adherents of other views.
Church and state were to be utterly separate in personnel,
means of entrance, function, means, and end. The church was
to be made up of the converted and committed disciples of
the Lord Jesus, while the state served all men by maintaining
law and order. The state is entered by the natural birth,
but the church by the new birth. The state employs law and
the threat of force, while the church relies on the power
of the Word of God and the Spirit of God.
It is the function of the church to proclaim the Word of
God, to win the lost to Christ, and to nurture those who
turn to Him. It is the function of the state to restrain
evildoers and to assume some responsibility for what might
be called the "natural life" of its citizens. The
only sanction of the church beyond brotherly rebuke is the
excommunication of the impenitent, while the state has weapons
to curb the criminal, and may deprive him of his liberty.
The head of the state is a mere man, while the Head of the
church is none other than Jesus Christ. One corollary of
this doctrine of separation of church and state is that the
state as state has no voice in the control and direction
of the church. The church must heed its own Head, Christ,
and obey His Word, the sacred Scriptures.
The other corollary is a twofold one: (1) the church can
not ask the state to turn aside from its role of promoting
public order by demanding that it follow the ethic of the
church; and (2) the church is nevertheless responsible to
uphold before all men the will of God that men should live
by love, and that justice should be administered in all human
relationships. This first half of the second corollary means
that for nonresistant Christians, any office in the state
which involves the use of violence and the possibility of
taking human life (constabulary, military, and magistracy-for
the death penalty is sometimes imposed by judges) is not
a possible option. Mennonites, have therefore historically
felt unable to serve in those three areas, as police officers,
as soldiers, and as judges who must administer the laws of
the land, and who must even send criminals to the gallows.
The second half of the second corollary is the difficult
one to apply in a modern democracy. Surely the church needs
more than ever to give its witness against every form of
injustice, whether it be against the maltreatment of the
poor by the rich or the maltreatment of minorities by the
majority. It is in proper order for individual Christians,
for congregations, and for conferences to speak out in favor
of justice and against all unrighteousness. This obligation
is clear, and increasingly in recent decades our brotherhood
has sought to be faithful in this area, especially through
the General Conference.
Something else needs to be said at present, however, and
it needs to be said clearly and emphatically. The central
function of the church of Christ is not merely to try to
abolish all forms of evil and injustice. The most basic function
of the church is to proclaim the everlasting Gospel to the
salvation of men and their gathering into the blessed fold
of the redeemed. Our supreme guide here is the teaching and
example of our Lord and His apostles. First-century Christianity
was dynamic; it began an amazing transformation of human
society-a transformation which turned the world right side
up: but it did so not by political methods but by the faithful
proclamation of the Word of God.
Many citizens cannot do any more than employ political methods,
but the people of God can. They can use the radio and the
pulpit; they can establish Sunday schools and mission stations;
they can and must fulfill the function which only the church
can fulfill. That function is to make Christ known. And as
men come to know Christ, they will in turn be trans formed.
Society surely needs to be regenerated. But the regeneration
it most needs can never be achieved by passing laws and taking
political action. The only regeneration which will ever truly
change men is individual regeneration. Christ's primary message
today is therefore, LET THE CHURCH BE THE CHURCH!--J. C.
Wenger.
From the GOSPEL HERALD, MARCH 15, 1966
http://www.bibleviews.com/nonpolitics.html
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