Matthew 22:15--22

Matthew 22:15-22
This short passage, in which the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus into saying something wrong so they could arrest Him, teaches us that we should be good and honest citizens. It's interesting that we came upon this on April 14 with our income tax deadline looming! As long as the civil law, including laws about taxes, do not violate our allegiance to God, we should obey them as honestly and cheerfully as we can.

I once heard of a Christian leader who was facing jail for refusing to pay income tax. His excuse was that the government uses the money for things of which he does not approve. I'm sure the Roman government of Jesus' day was far more corrupt than our own, yet Jesus said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." I don't know the Christian leader of whom I just spoke, but I would like to ask him if he takes advantage of anything the government offers. Does he drive on interstate highways? If he's robbed, does he call the police? If his house is on fire, does he call 911? Does he sleep at night knowing our military forces are ready to defend us? Does he ever make use of an airport or fly in a plane or ride on Amtrak? These are all heavily subsidized by the government. Even our food supply, at least in part, comes to us at a reasonable price because of government subsidies.

In this day and age, when we're bombarded with negative news 24 hours a day on cable TV, it's easy to feel angry toward those who handle the affairs of the government. I realize there is much waste and corruption, but we can't do much about that. We can be good citizens and vote and most important of all we can pray for our leaders that the blessings and freedoms we now enjoy will continue.