Wearing a Mask for the Sake of the Gospel?

This week the city of Toronto, in response to COVID-19, made wearing a mask mandatory in any public building, no sooner did the bylaw go into effect and there were people protesting their rights and refusing to wear a mask.  This seems to be the typical response of a number of people, many of whom are Christians.  I can sympathize with the concerns about government restrictions yet I wonder if our response is really any different from those who have no knowledge of Christ.   

I've been studying Luke chapter twenty and looking closely at how Jesus responds to the religious authorities who oppose him which has raised a couple of important questions:    How should followers of Jesus respond to the authorities in this world?   And how are we responding to God’s authority in our lives?

The question the spies bring to Jesus in Luke 20:20-26 is meant to be an impossible question.  Should we pay taxes to Caesar?  (This question is very similar to ‘Should we wear a mask in public.’)  If Jesus says no, then he is publicly speaking out against Rome and they can report him to the governor who would immediately act to arrest him.   If he says, yes, he appears to be insulting God because supporting the payment of taxes to Rome would be seen as supporting a corrupt political system.  A system that oppressed the poor forcefully controlled people, and was in opposition to many of the values and principles of God’s kingdom.

Jesus gives a surprising response that supports both paying taxes and serving God’s purposes.   The coin he requested to see had both the image of Caesar on it and the inscription, “Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Son of the Divine Augustus.”    The coin made the blasphemous statement that the emperor is the son of god.

The response of Jesus the true Son of God is dismissive yet profound.  “By all means give this little pretend god his shiny little coin.  But Just as it is appropriate to give to Caesar the things that bear his image, it is also appropriate to give to God those things that bear God’s image.”  (Matt’s Paraphrase)

And what are those things?  Are they not everything about us?  All of humanity bears God’s image; all we have comes from him and ultimately belongs to him.  If Caesar deserves his coin, then God deserves our all!

Jesus is basically telling Israel’s leaders who are playing political games in an attempt to stay in a position of privilege and power to stop playing politics and give their lives to God!   How tragic it is when we invest our hope in lesser god’s thinking they are the path to a better future, looking to them as our source of hope and freedom instead of Jesus!  A little king like Caesar, or Trump, or Trudeau, or some political movement will never be able to save us.

Instead of playing political games to gain some position of power and privilege in society,  Jesus calls you and I to surrender to His rule and reign and to serve him by giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. 

Jesus is not just cleverly escaping a trap he is also giving us a guiding principle to help his followers deal with the tension that exists between living under imperfect human authorities and belonging to God’s kingdom.   It is the same principle the Apostles teach more clearly in passages like  Romans 13: 1-2 and 1 Peter 2: 13-17    There are three main implications to his response:

1. Everything Caesar has, including any legitimate authority he claims, is given to him by God and subject to God’s rule and reign.   We should seek to obey the law and respect the authorities in our society not because they are doing everything right but because there is no authority that exists outside of God’s kingdom reign that He has not allowed and will not hold accountable! (see also John 19:11)
   
2. Caesar’s sphere of authority is limited.  Notice that Jesus says, render to Caesar what is Caesars.  In other words, give only what belongs to Caesar.  We are free from having to give authorities more than they are owed.   We are to respect them and be law-abiding citizens but if obeying the law requires us to disobey God we must respectfully refuse to obey and accept whatever consequences that bring.   (see Daniel 3 for an example of this in action)
   
3. Our submission to Human Authority is for the Lord’s sake. We submit not because any human authority has claim on our lives but in order to serve our Savior and his kingdom; to bring the gospel to others and to bring glory to God!
   
   Think about it. Jesus submitted to the Jewish authorities who wrongfully arrested him.  He submitted to the Roman authorities who wrongfully sentenced him to death.  And by submitting to these authorities he fulfilled God’s plan and made a way of salvation for us all!   
   
   Paul in Philippians 2:5 says we should have the same mindset!  And Paul himself modelled this principle in his own life.   By submitting to the authority of local church leaders He developed partnerships and gained co-workers in the mission.   By submitting to the religious authorities who falsely accused him in Jerusalem and the Roman authorities that arrested him, he gained a platform to give his testimony and proclaim the gospel to large crowds, governors and rulers in high places.   By submitting to Roman law he gained passage to Rome and while living under house arrest he strengthened the Church and ended up writing almost 2/3rd s of the New Testament.  

Here we see Israel’s leaders rejecting Jesus and challenging his authority.  But the response Jesus gives is meant to cause each of us to ask, how am I responding to Jesus and to the Authorities God has placed in my life?

Questions: 

• How do Jesus’ words about Caesar and God help you to know how to respond to and think of the government of your country?
  
• How does this principle guide our response as a church to government restrictions?
  
• How can you more fully follow this principle?   In what ways does it challenge your faith and trust in Jesus?