๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ -๐จ๐ฃ
โข Growing up, how involved were you in school activities? Recall an instance explaining this.
โข How do you respond to national and local government initiatives? On a scale of one to ten, how involved would you say you are?
โข What do you think it means to be a good citizen? Why?
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom; and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one, to whom these satraps should give account, so that the king might suffer no loss. Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. DANIEL 6:1โ3
Lest we think that the Christian response to political issues is always religious and spiritual in nature, this lesson will tackle our need to practically participate in the political life of the nation. We are talking about going beyond the confines of our church walls right into the heart of civic involvement.
Danielโs story gives us a peek into his exemplary life dedicated to serving Godโs purposes in the political arena. The balancing act that he did, the way he navigated the political and religious tensions, and the personal piety he displayed all throughout his long career as a court official show that it is possible to be faithful to God while serving in a regime that doesnโt share your religious convictions. His public witness was so outstanding that when the Babylonian kingdom fell and the Medo-Persian empire took over, the new king placed him in a position of power.
While we cannot cut and paste Danielโs story into our modern political experience, some principles are applicable.
๐ญ. ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ค๐ฉ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐บ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ: โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐บ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ; ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.โ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ฎ:๐ฎ๐ฐ
Back when Daniel was younger and Nebuchadnezzar ordered the killing of the sages of Babylon for their failure to tell the king his dream and its interpretation, Daniel stepped in and volunteered himself even if he didnโt know the dream yet. He did this primarily to save himself and his friends, but the result of his volunteerism also saved the entire community of sages in the kingdom. He even got promoted because of it.
Obadiah, the chief servant of king Ahabโs household, secretly saved 100 prophets of the Lord when the queen started killing them off to promote Baal worship in Israel (1 Kings 18:3). His service to the prophets of God and the nation of Israel was largely unknown in his lifetime but the biblical record bears witness to how God honored his faithfulnessโeven at great personal risk.
Daniel served God from a position of political power; Obadiah served God by doing what he could as a regular citizen. Moses served as liberator, Joshua as military commander, David as king, Ezra as priest, Nehemiah as civil servant, and so did many others in biblical history. All these men expressed their service to God by serving people differently.
This is an encouragement for Christians to prayerfully consider how they might serve with the talents and gifts they have. Some might want to work in non-government organizations, serve as public school teachers, or join the police force. Those who have the aptitude and desire might even want to run for public office. How would you respond if your friend who loves God and desires to serve people chose to run for public office? What would you say to him or her?
๐ฎ. ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ด๐ณ๐ข๐ฆ๐ญ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐บ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ: ๐๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ; ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด; ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ข๐จ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด; ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ง, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ.โ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ต:๐ฐโ๐ณ
When people think about politics, they mostly think about politicians, political controversies, and elections. No wonder many people back off and choose not to engage. The bickering is too much for them. But there are so many ways to be politically engaged without getting into fights and word wars.
When Judah was in exile, Jeremiah encouraged Godโs people to seek the welfare of the city they were living in. He meant for the exiled Jews to build houses, plant gardens, marry off their children, get involved in trade and other industries, and be productive citizens of Babylon. The reason was quite practical: whatever good they did in that foreign land will also benefit them in return.
In our context, this could mean building strong marriages, raising godly children, excelling at work, participating in community projects, and getting involved in other civic activities like organizing a sports league or a book club, conducting first aid training, or teaching underprivileged students in your area of expertise.
This is what practical political engagement looks like on the ground. It is not contentious and soul-crushing but loving, sacrificial, and good. Share how a fellow believer or church member has been an example to you of community building. What did you learn from his or her motivation and experience?
๐ฏ. ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐
๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ.
๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐น๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ: ๐ต๐ข๐น๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ข๐น๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฏ:๐ฒโ๐ณ
Another way to participate in the political process of the nation is by paying our taxes and voting. These two are connected.
Taxes are intended for the beneficial running of society, which includes spending for hospitals, roads and bridges, and education, among others. This is why citizens are obliged to pay taxes. But how do we ensure that government officials spend our tax money properly? We can have a say in that when we participate in the elections by campaigning for righteous advocacies, voting for candidates that best represent our values, and doing our part in ensuring honest elections. This is an oversimplification of government systems but the point is clear: we are all individually and collectively responsible. Our vote determines the direction and future of our nation.
A biblical understanding of our role as Christian citizens is important in the current online bickering surrounding politics and its process. It is easy to brush up the image of or hurl insults at some political candidates behind our keyboards now. But Christian ethics dictate that the people of God should approach elections with sobriety and the fear of the Lord. We donโt lose when our candidates lose. We suffer the consequences when corrupt and wicked people are put in power. How would you encourage others to be involved in the political process? Why?
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข What attitudes or mindsets have you had about participating in civic activities? How has this lesson challenged those attitudes and mindsets?
โข What change do you want to see happen in your community and nation, and what are you willing to do about it?
โข What does being a good citizen mean, according to the Bible? Think of someone you can encourage this week on the lesson. What will you tell him or her?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God for the examples in the Bible on how we can be involved in civil government. Ask God for wisdom and the grace to apply the lesson in your life this week.
โข Pray for people to be involved in the political process and to reflect Christ in civil activities.
โข Ask God for godly and righteous leaders to serve in government and your nation, to shine His light in the darkest places.
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Week 2
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