Thoughts by Theophilus

[theophilus]

In Mark 16:17,18 Jesus tells his disciples of signs that will accompany those who believe.

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.

One of the signs is that they will pick up snakes and not be harmed. Some churches make a practice of having people handle poisonous snakes at their services as a sign of their faith in Jesus. But is this practice a correct interpretation of Jesus’ promise?

The book of Acts contains several accounts of the church meeting together and there is no reference to handling snakes in any of them. In his letters Paul often gives instructions for conducting meeting of local churches but he never says anything about snakes. There is only one time in the New Testament that tells of a believer picking up a snake. After Paul had been shipwrecked on Malta on his final voyage to Rome he was bitten by a snake but didn’t suffer any harm. But he didn’t pick the snake up on purpose; it was hidden in a bunch of sticks he gathered to put on a fire.

When Satan was tempting Jesus he urged him to throw himself off of the top of the temple because God had promised to send angels to protect him. His response is recorded in Matthew 4:7,

“It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

It is wrong for us to needlessly expose ourselves to danger just because God has promised to protect us. Those who try to show their faith by handling snakes are in fact yielding to this temptation which Jesus resisted.

Jesus didn’t promise that every believer who picked up a poisonous snake would be protected. This passage contains other signs, including speaking in other tongues and healing the sick by laying hands on them. Both of these are among the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

This passage teaches that they are special gifts given by God to certain individuals and that not everyone can do them. If these signs aren’t to be exercized by everybody what reason is there to believe that every believer can safely pick up poisonous snakes? So if you hear of a Christian dying as a result of snakebite or poison it doesn’t necessarily mean that he lacked faith. It would only mean that God hadn’t given him this particular gift.

I am aware of the fact that this part of Mark isn’t in some of the Bible manuscripts and some people don’t think it is part of the word of God. Regardless of whether it is or not the main point of this entry, that we shouldn’t expose ourselves to unnecessary danger just to demonstrate our faith in God, is still valid.

[theophilus]

Once three men went on an ocean cruise. One of them was an athlete who was in top physical condition and was a champion swimmer. The second knew how to swim and occasionally exercised but generally didn’t attach much importance to keeping fit. The third was a couch potato who didn’t know how to swim and was too lazy to ever exercise. There were plenty of things they could do on the ship to occupy their time and they became so interested in these activities that they didn’t bother to keep track of where the ship was.

One day when all three of them were on the deck there was an explosion which blew a hole in the hull and the ship suddenly sank. It happened so quickly the men didn’t have a chance to put on life jackets or get into lifeboats. They found themselves floating in the ocean without even any debris which they could grab onto to keep themselves afloat.

The one who couldn’t swim sank right away. The other two began swimming in an effort to reach the safety of land.

Unfortunately they didn’t realize that the nearest land was several hundred miles away. The one who exercized moderately was able to swim for a while but he soon became exhausted and sank. The athlete was able to keep going for a long time and go many miles from the site of the wreck but even he couldn’t make it to land and so he ended up at the bottom of the ocean like the others.

This is a picture of what happens to people who have only their own efforts to rely on for salvation. The couch potato represents those who make no attempt whatever to live a good life. The one who exercised moderately represents the vast majority of people who make some attempt to live right but don’t consider it the most important thing in life. The athlete stands for those who devote their lives to doing good and hope to earn a place in heaven by the way they live. But just as the swimmers didn’t know how far they were from land, many people don’t know enough about God’s standards to know that it is impossible for us to meet them.

If you compare the men with each other there is a big difference between how far each of them swam. In the same way there are big differences in how much good people do in the way they live. But the swimmers all had one thing in common; no matter how well they swam it wasn’t enough for them to reach land. In the same way no matter how well a person lives and how much better he may be than someone else his life can’t measure up to what God requires.

But suppose there was another ship present when the first ship sank. The captain of the second ship saw the men in the water and ordered his crew to throw lifelines to them. Then all they had to do was grab hold of the lines and they would be pulled to safety. In this situation it wouldn’t matter to any of them how well they could swim. In fact they wouldn’t be able to both grab the lifeline and try to swim to safety. They must choose to do one or the other.

This is a picture of the salvation that Christ offers. We all need this salvation equally and it is available to all of us equally. But in order to take advantage of it we must give up any effort to earn salvation by what we do.

[theophilus]

Most people have heard the story of the six blind men and the elephant. Each of them felt a different part of the elephant and came to a different conclusion about what an elephant was. The one who felt the trunk thought it was a snake, the one who felt the tusk thought it was a spear, the one who felt the ear thought it was a fan, the one who felt the leg thought it was a tree, the one who felt the side thought it was a wall, and the one who felt the tail thought it was a rope. Each was convinced that his idea about the elephant was correct and this led to constant arguments among them. The author of the story compared this with the way different people argue about their concept of God and are never able to come to an agreement.

Most people who read this story don’t know of an event that happened to the blind men later. Someone else brought an elephant to the town where the men lived. However this was not a live elephant but a model elephant which was small enough for someone to hold in his hands. He heard about how the blind men were always arguing so he gave each of them an opportunity to examine his model elephant. As a result all six of the men finally came to an understanding of what an elephant was really like and this brought an end to their arguing. Unfortunately it isn’t possible for those who disagree about God to examine a small model of him and resolve their differences. Or is it?

The first chapter of John’s gospel introduces someone called the Word who is also God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5

Verse 14 says that the Word became flesh and lived among us.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Verses 17 and 18 identify the Word as Jesus Christ.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Jesus was actually God in human form and he said that anyone who had seen him had seen the Father also. Just as the blind men could understand what a real elephant was like by examining the model, we can learn what God is like by seeing what Jesus was like.

But Jesus came to do more than simply show us what God is like. Here is how John the Baptist introduced him.

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

Even if we knew everything there was to know about God that knowledge wouldn’t do us much good because we have all disobeyed God’s commands and our sins are a barrier between us and God. Jesus came to remove this barrier through his death and resurrection. If we acknowledge out sins and place our faith in Jesus we can receive eternal life. The life of Jesus helps us to know more about God but his death and resurrection make it possible for us to actually know him.

[theophilus]

Elisha began as a servant to Elijah and later took his place as prophet after Elijah was taken up to heaven. He had a servant named Gehazi. It is possible that he was preparing Gehazi to eventually be his successor just as he had been Elijah’s successor.

Unfortunately Gehazi made a disastrous mistake which destroyed any hope he had of taking Elisha’s place. The story of his failure is found in 2 Kings chapter 5. After Elisha had cleansed Naaman’s leprosy and turned down the reward Naaman offered Gehazi decided that he would obtain part of this reward for himself.

But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought. As the LORD lives, I will run after him and get something from him.” So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” And he said, “All is well. My master has sent me to say, ‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two changes of clothing.’” And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.” And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi. And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.” But he said to him, “Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants? Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow. 2 Kings 5:19-27 ESV

As a result he found himself inflicted with the leprosy which had formerly been Naaman’s. This was a tragedy not merely for him but for the whole nation of Israel, because it was deprived of the good Gehazi could have done for them if he had become a prophet of God.

But this isn’t the end of Gehazi’s story. In 2 Kings 8 we find him telling the king about the things Elisha had done. As he was doing this the woman whose son Elijah had raised from the dead came to the king asking for the return of her land.

Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.” And while he was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.” 2 Kings 8:4-6

Because of Gehazi’s intercession with the king her request was granted.

Under the Mosaic law lepers were to be kept away from other people and not allowed to associate with them. The fact that Gehazi was talking to the king seems to indicate that he was no longer a leper. If this was the case then he must have repented of his previous sin and been forgiven. He wasn’t restored to his former position as servant of Elisha but he was able to do some good by helping the woman regain her land.

There are two lessons to be learned from the life of Gehazi. The first is that even if it looks as if we are successfully serving God we can always fail if we allow ourselves to be controlled by sin. The second is that after we have failed and are suffering the consequences we can still repent and be restored to a position of service for God.

[theophilus]

You have died and your life is hidden in Christ with God. Colossians 3:2

I once saw a movie which I think is a good illustration of this verse.

In the movie an evil magician had deposed a king and taken over his kingdom. A group of rebels was trying to overthrow the magician and restore the rightful king to his throne. One of the rebels managed to get past the guards and run his sword through the magician’s body. To his surprise this didn’t hurt the magician at all. He merely pulled the sword from his body and showed no sign that he had ever been stabbed.

The rebels eventually found another magician who was able to explain the first magician’s invulnerability. He told of a swamp filled with deadly monsters who would kill anyone who met them. In the middle of the swamp was a high tower protected by all kinds of magical devices. In a room at the top of the tower there was a chest containing the heart of the evil magician, still alive and beating. The only way to kill the magician was to overcome the monsters and magical traps and climb the tower and destroy the heart.

Christians enjoy this kind of protection because our lives are with God and anyone wanting to harm us would have to enter the presence of God to do so. The most anyone can do to us is kill our bodies and Jesus said we don’t need to fear anyone who can do no more than this.

The movie isn’t a perfect illustration of our condition because the rebels were able to get past all the obstacles and destroy the magician’s heart while it would be impossible for anyone to penetrate God’s defenses.

[theophilus]

One hotly debated issue among Christians is that of whether there are the successors of the apostles who hold their authority today. I think we can answer that question by looking at what the Bible says about the qualifications of an apostle, the purpose for which they were chosen, and their rewards.

One of the first things the believers did after Christ’s ascension was to choose a replacement for Judas. In Acts 1:21,22 Peter tells what the qualification for an apostle is:

One of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us — one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection

An apostle could only be someone who was with Jesus all during the time of his public ministry. How many people are there alive today who meet this qualification?

What was the purpose for which the apostles were chosen? In Ephesians 2:20,21 Paul compares the church to a building

built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

The first step in constructing a building is to lay the foundation but after that you go on to doing something different. If the apostles were to be part of the foundation of the church it seems to me that their work is now done and there is no need for anyone else to duplicate it. In the third verse of his letter Jude said we must

Contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

He said that the faith had been delivered to the saints. This was what the apostles did and it was a finished action which doesn’t need to be repeated. Now we must contend for that faith to protect it against the attacks of Satan.

In Matthew 19:28 Jesus tells the apostle how they will be rewarded.

You who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

There are only twelve thrones but if there are others who succeed the apostles in their office there will be more that twelve people to occupy these thrones.

It seems that the Twelve were chosen for a unique purpose, to help lay the foundation for the church, and when that was accomplished there was no longer any need for their office. There is a sense in which all Christians are their successors in that we carry on the work they began. The word “apostle” means one who is sent for a specific purpose, and in that sense we have apostles today. They are generally called missionaries. But there is no one today who has the authority exercised by the original apostles.

Even if a person holds an office that was first held by an apostle and can trace his line of succession back to that apostle that doesn’t prove that he is in fact following God as the apostle did. The high priest who helped bring about the crucifixion of Jesus was a direct successor of Aaron and a descendant as well but his actions were clearly contrary to God’s will. The fact that the Pope can trace his line of succession back to Peter doesn’t prove that God has given him Peter’s authority

[theophilus]

A physician who has made a complete examination of a person without having been told his age could probably make an accurate estimate of it because of his knowledge of how the aging process works. But what would happen if he were to travel back in time and examine Adam and Eve before the fall and was then asked to estimate their age? Because they were created to live forever they wouldn’t have undergone the same aging process we do today. If he examined them just a few days after their creation he would give a high estimate of their ages because they would appear to be the same as adults he had examined in the past. If enough time had elapsed he might give a low estimate because they would look younger than people of a corresponding age he had examined in the past.

Suppose he went back to some time after the fall and examined them. Now they would be aging the same way we do today. If he was unaware of their past history he would make an estimate based on the assumption that they had been born in the same way as everyone else. (I know that people lived longer then so in this example I am assuming that the doctor was aware of this fact and took it into consideration.) His estimate of their age would probably be off but whether it was too high or too low would depend on how much time elapsed between their creation and their fall.

Scientists who try to discover the age of the earth usually begin by assuming that the natural processes which are occurring now have been going on since the formation of the world and that there has never been any kind of divine intervention. One of these natural processes is the conversion of uranium into lead by radioactive decay. The rate at which this takes place is known so if a rock sample contains both lead and uranium it is possible to calculate how long it would take to for the lead to have formed as a result of this process. Of course this calculation assumes that all of the lead in the rock was once uranium.

But what if the Biblical account of creation is true? Then scientists who try to measure the earth’s age are in the same position as the doctor in the second example. They wouldn’t be able to make an accurate measurement unless they knew how much of the lead was the result of radioactive decay and how much was part of the original creation. The same thing is true of any other process used to try to determine the earth’s age.

[theophilus]

Abishai was one of the leaders of David’s army. Second Samuel 23:18,19 says,

Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he wielded his spear against three hundred men and killed them and won a name beside the three. He was the most renowned of the thirty and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three.

He is first mentioned in 1 Samuel 26:6,

Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother Abishai the son of Zeruiah, “Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.”

The first thing we hear about him is that he volunteered to go with David on a dangerous mission into Saul’s camp. That was apparently the beginning of a career that led him to a position of leadership.

But when David asked for volunteers there was another man present, Ahimelech the Hittite. He had a chance to go with David but didn’t do so, and he is never mentioned again in the Bible. What would have happened if he had volunteered? We can’t know for sure but it is possible that he would have had further opportunities for service and would have achieved a postion as important as Abishai’s.

Chapter two of 2 Kings tells how Elijah’s time on earth ended. As he traveled toward the place of his final appointment with God he told Elisha his servant three times to stay behind but Elisha insisted on following him.

And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.

Elijah said to him, “Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they came to Jericho.

Then Elijah said to him, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan.” But he said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on.

The final result of Elisha’s persistence was that he became Elijah’s successor.

Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him opposite them, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

But Elijah had another servant before he met Elisha. When he fled from Jezebel he left his servant at Beersheba and continued on alone.

Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 1 Kings 19:3

We aren’t given any details about this event but apparently the servant was quite willing to be left behind. But there is no indication that Elijah ever went back to Beersheba to get the servant. Instead God directed him to call Elisha to replace him.

What might have been the result if the servant had refused to stay behind and insisted on going on with Elijah as Elisha did later? It seems possible that he would have been the one to succeed Elijah as prophet.

Both Ahimelech and Elijah’s servant had opportunites to serve that could have led them to even greater opportunities. But they failed to take advantage of them and so sank into obscurity. Ahimelech is never mentioned again and we don’t even know the name of the servant. Their failures should serve as a warning to us to take advantage of any chance we have to serve God.

[theophilus]

Second Corinthians 11:14 says,

Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

When he does this he tricks people into doing evil by convincing them that what they are doing is good. One area where this tactic has been successful is the change he has brought about in our society’s attitude toward homosexual behavior.

According to the Bible God established marriage as a union between a man and a woman and limited sexual activity to marriage.

And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Genesis 2:22-24

In Matthew 19:3-5 Jesus quoted this passage in answering a question about marriage.

And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”

He taught that marriage is to be a permanent union and that it is to be between a man and a woman.

In 1 Corinthians 6:15,16 Paul quoted the statement from Genesis in a different context.

Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, “The two will become one flesh.”

A comparison of what Jesus and Paul said shows that God equates sex and marriage and any kind of sexual activity outside of marriage is a sin.

God has provided a way that we can be forgiven for out sins by faith in Jesus Christ. According to 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 homosexual activity can be forgiven in the same way as any other sin.

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

But before anyone can be forgiven for his sins he must acknowledge that what he is doing is a sin and needs to be forgiven.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people today who try to convince everyone that there is nothing wrong with homosexual practice. They even want the government to endorse it by permitting two people of the same sex to legally marry. No doubt they are sincerely trying to help homosexuals but in fact they are the worst enemies the homosexuals have. What they are doing can be compared to a doctor telling a patient he is healthy when in fact he has a fatal illness which could be cured if he received the proper treatment. The real source of this attitude is Satan. He wants to keep people away from God and he does this by planting false ideas in peoples’ minds.

The Bible commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, and this applies even when that neighbor is a homosexual. It is morally wrong to discriminate against someone because of his sexual orientation. But when the government passes laws prohibiting such discrimination or permitting same sex marriage this encourages homosexuals to think there is nothing wrong with what they are doing and can keep them from repenting and being forgiven. Such laws might make things easier for them in this life, but Jesus said it doesn’t profit a person to gain the world and lose his soul.

The way to really show love for homosexuals is to tell them what the Bible teaches on this subject and to warn them about the consequences of disobeying God. If they have already violated God’s commands we need to show them how they can be forgiven if they will turn from their sin and put their faith in Jesus. Those who do this will be accused of being homophobic and hating homosexuals, but in fact we are the best friends that homosexuals have.

It is important to keep in mind the difference between homosexual orientation and homosexual practice. A person can’t help it if he finds himself sexually attracted to people of the same sex but he can and must choose whether or not to act on this attraction. He is in the same situation as a heterosexual who finds himself attracted to someone to whom he isn’t married. Homosexual activity is a sin; homosexual orientation is a temptation which must be resisted.

There are two groups of people who are hurt if the difference between orientation and practice isn’t made clear.

The first group is those people who have homosexual desires but have refused to act on them because they know it would be wrong to do so. When they hear someone use the Bible to condemn homosexuality they may conclude that they are already guilty just because they have been tempted. For some this could lead them to give up resisting their desires and to yield to the temptation. It could also keep others from admitting their problem to people who could help them with it.

The second group is those homosexuals who have repented of their sin and trusted in Christ for salvation. They are likely to think that when they are saved their homosexual desires will be removed just as the guilt for their sin has been removed. When they find that this isn’t the case they could reach the conclusion that they aren’t really saved or that the gospel message is false. This problem could have been avoided if they had been taught the difference between orientation and practice and had been warned that after salvation God would help them resist temptation, not remove the temptation.

An excellent source of information about this subject is Wesley Hill’s book Washed and Waiting. Hill is a Christian who believes the Bible’s teaching about homosexual behavior but who also finds himself sexually attracted to other men. His book describes how he decided to live in obedience to God’s will regardless of how much it was contrary to his desires.

[theophilus]

Philippians 3:20 says of Christians,

Our citizenship is in Heaven.

When someone is naturalized as a citizen of a country he gives up whatever citizenship he previously had and no longer has any allegiance to his former country. So does this mean that when we became Christians we gave up our citizenship in our earthly country? There are some Christians who think this is so and that for this reason Christians shouldn’t get involved in any form of political activity.

Citizenship in New Testament times was not the same thing it is today. Israel was part of the Roman Empire. Some of the people in that empire were considered citizens and had rights that noncitizens didn’t. Paul was such a citizen and if you read Acts you will find out that he exercised his citizenship rights when doing so would help him spread the gospel. But being a Roman citizen didn’t keep a person from also being a citizen of whatever part of the empire he lived in. This citizenship was in addition to whatever other citizenship he possessed, not a substitute for it.

It was similar to being an American citizen and also being a citizen of a specific state. I am an American citizen and since I live in Kansas I am also a citizen of Kansas. I can exercise both citizenships at the same time without any conflict. In the same way, the fact that I am a citizen of Heaven because I am a Christian is no barrier for my exercising the rights of my American citizenship.

In fact the Bible clearly state that human governments ultimately get their authority from God. Romans 13:1 says

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

And verse 4 says

For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

It certainly can’t be wrong to take part in an institution which God has established.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that we must always do what the government wants us to do. When its actions or laws contradict God’s commands we must obey God. But as long as there is no conflict we must do whatever our government requires.

There are examples in the Bible of followers of God being involved in worldly governments.

Joseph’s faithful obedience resulted in his being placed in the position of being second in command in the Egyptian government.

Daniel was taken to Babylon and there rose to a position where he had a strong influence on the government.

Paul took advantage of his status as a Roman citizen and exercised the rights that came with his citizenship.

At least one member of the church in Corinth held a government position. Paul wrote the letter to the Romans from that city and at the end, in 16:22,23, he names some believers who sent their greetings to the Romans.

I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord. Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.

Paul gave this command to Timothy.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life. 1 Timothy 2:1,2

In a letter written to the exiles in Babylon Jeremiah said,

Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. Jeremiah 29:7

Being a Christian should cause a person to be more involved in his government, not less, because in addition to the privileges and responsibilities that we share with other citizens we are also commanded to pray for our governments and our leaders.