[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 120 (Thursday, September 5, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1522-E1523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ST. PETER'S LUTHERAN CHURCH--PASTOR MARK TEIKE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. DAVID M. McINTOSH

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 5, 1996

  Mr. McINTOSH. Mr. Speaker, on many occasions, my wife Ruthie and I 
have worshiped with our special friends at St. Peter's Lutheran Church 
in Columbus, IN.
  On each visit we are lifted up by the sermons of Pastor Mark Teike, a 
dynamic minister whom we have grown to know well in the past few years. 
His talents and interpretation of holy scripture is truly moving.
  This past Independence Day, Ruthie and I had the honor to join the 
congregation of St. Peter's for a very special Fourth of July sermon. 
Ruthie and I were both deeply moved. And, I would like to share the 
transcript of his sermon with my colleagues and the American people.
       The Bible teaches that God, because of His love for us, has 
     established three institutions, for our benefit: the church, 
     the family, and the government. We spent much of the last two 
     years, in our study of the book of Acts, looking at what God 
     says regarding the church. We are devoting our summer, with 
     our series of messages under the theme of Home Improvement, 
     looking at what God says about the family. And this weekend, 
     as our nation celebrates another birthday, we're going to 
     examine what God says about government--or as the message has 
     been titled, ``The Truth About Government.''
       We find the Bible addressing this topic the 13th chapter of 
     the New Testament book of Romans. I'd like to invite you to 
     read with me, from the first ten verses of Romans 13, as 
     they're printed in your bulletin on page 5.
       ``Everyone must submit himself to the governing 
     authorities, for there is no authority except that which God 
     has established. The authorities that exist have been 
     established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the 
     authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and 
     those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers 
     hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do 
     wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in 
     authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For 
     he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be 
     afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is 
     God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the 
     wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the 
     authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also 
     because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for 
     the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time 
     to governing. Give everyone what you owe him. If you owe 
     taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then 
     respect,; if honor, then honor. Let no debt remain 
     outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, 
     for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The 
     commandments, `Do not commit adultery,' `Do not murder,' `Do 
     not steal,' `Do not covet,' and whatever other commandments 
     there may be, are summed up in this one rule: `love your 
     neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its neighbor. 
     Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.''
       Did you notice how many times the words ``authorities'' and 
     ``God'' are found together in this chapter? Every time you 
     find a reference to authority or to government, you'll find 
     God being mentioned. That's because God himself is the source 
     of all authority. All authority begins with Him and flows 
     from Him, be that in the home, or in school, or in the work 
     place, or in government.


                                   I

       First of all we find here in Romans 13 that government was 
     established by God. Verse one says it, ``The authorities that 
     exist have been established by God.'' Government was 
     established by God. It says in verse two, ``He who rebels 
     against the authority, rebels against what God has 
     established.'' God did not institute a certain style of 
     government. He didn't place one form of government over 
     another. He didn't endorse one party over another, but He 
     did establish government.
       He did that because He's a God of order. he is not a God of 
     chaos. From His perspective, order in society must be 
     maintained, and so God established government.


                                   II

       And what's the purpose of government? Ask a lot of people 
     that question and you'll get a lot of answers. Look at Romans 
     13 and you'll find one recurring chorus as to the purpose of 
     government. It is to protect its citizens.
       Our God knows the condition of the human heart. He knows 
     that the human heart is not prone toward good but toward 
     evil. Luther said the easiest thing in the world is to sin. 
     It comes naturally. You've heard me say it many time before--
     you don't have to teach a little child how to be naughty.
       Look at verse 4, ``For he (government) is God's servant to 
     do you good. but if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not 
     bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of 
     wrath to bring punishment on the wrong doer.'' The government 
     is there to protect us from the criminals and thugs and 
     tyrants and swindlers and others who might otherwise harm us. 
     God has given the government the authority to punish those 
     who do wrong.
       We all know that our government today, has, in many ways, 
     extended itself into a number of areas that stretch beyond 
     simply protecting its citizens from harm and danger. And 
     that's not to say that's wrong. But the Number one primary 
     thing that government was established by God to do, was to 
     protect its citizens from the harm brought on by others.


                                  III

       Look one more time at verse 4. Twice it says of the 
     government, ``He is God's servant.'' ``He is God's servant.'' 
     Every servant is to be submissive to the will of his master. 
     He may not know the master very well, but the one thing he 
     must do, if he is to serve the master, is to carry out the 
     wishes of the master. Those who serve in government may not 
     all be strong and mature in their faith. They may not even 
     all be Christians. They don't necessarily HAVE to be 
     Christians. But if they are to be faithful servants of the 
     master, they MUST at least know what the word of God says 
     regarding His laws of right and wrong.
       We have just seen that the government is a servant of God 
     and as a servant must be accountable to his master, so the 
     government is accountable to God. Before the government or 
     those who serve in government are accountable to their 
     constituents, before they are accountable to their special 
     interest groups, they are first and foremost accountable to 
     God.
       You know, it seems to me, that if government is accountable 
     to God and God has laid down His guidelines for right and 
     wrong--then it's pretty much a no-brainer when it comes to 
     some of the laws we pass--regardless of the social or 
     political climate.
       For example, regarding the subject of abortion, the 
     scriptures say that the taking of life in the womb is murder 
     and is to be treated as such. It is not debatable on the 
     basis of scripture. And if government and those who govern 
     are accountable to God, then the decision seems pretty clear.
       Or the issue of same sex marriages--as has come up in 
     several of our states as of late. The scriptures again speak 
     clearly--very clearly--that such is an offense to God--and if 
     government recognizes that is accountable to God--then the 
     decision on such an issue should be pretty simple--regardless 
     of the pressure that might come from various special interest 
     groups.
       I'm not trying to pick on a select group of people. I'm 
     simply pointing out that if government is accountable to God 
     (which the Bible says it is) and if God has spoken clearly on 
     certain issues (which he has) then regardless of what we 
     might think or regardless of what happens to be ``politically 
     correct'' at the time--government is called to take a stand 
     in obedience to the One to whom they are accountable.
       I realize that some might respond to that and say, ``But 
     you can't legislate morality.'' Some say it might interfere 
     with the separation of church and state. So let me just say a 
     words about that, as well.
       Our founding fathers, a long time ago, wrote, ``Congress 
     shall make no law establishing one denomination of Christians 
     higher than another.'' The intention was that they did not 
     want in America what they had in England, which was one 
     denomination basically running the country. They said, ``We 
     want God's principles in government, but we do not want one 
     denomination running the government.''
       In 1801 the Danbury Baptist Association of Danbury, 
     Connecticut heard a rumor that the Congregational 
     denomination was to be made the national denomination of 
     America, and that bothered them (understandably so.) So they 
     wrote President Thomas Jefferson expressing their concerns. 
     On January 1, 1802, Jefferson addressed that group saying 
     that ``the first amendment of the Constitution has erected a 
     wall of separation between church and state, but that it is a 
     one direction wall. It keeps the government from running the 
     church, but it makes sure that the Christian principles will 
     always stay in government.'' But all we hear today is a 
     portion of that statement, taken out of context, that the 
     first amendment has erected a wall between church and state.
       In 1853, a group came to Congress with a petition to 
     separate Christian principles

[[Page E1523]]

     from government. The petition was referred to the House and 
     the Senate Judiciary Committees and they investigated the 
     issue for a full year to see if it would be possible to 
     separate Christian principles from government. After one year 
     they came back with the report saying, ``Had the people 
     during the Revolution had a suspicion of any attempt to 
     wage war against Christianity, that revolution would have 
     been strangled in its cradle.''
       And then, nearly 100 years later, in 1947, in a case known 
     as Everson v. the Board of Education, the Supreme Court took 
     a different angle on the church/state issue and their ruling 
     was this. ``The first amendment has erected a wall of 
     separation between church and state which must be kept high 
     and impregnable.'' And that was the first time the original 
     understanding of the separation of church and state, 
     presented by our founding fathers in the constitution, had 
     been reversed. It was originally intended to protect the 
     church from the state, and now it is intended to keep the 
     church from influencing the state. It was an absolute, about 
     face, 180 degree reversal from what our forefathers intended.
       And since 1962, which was the first ruling to officially 
     separate religious principles from government, in our schools 
     and other areas, since that time, when the high and 
     impregnable wall was erected to keep religious principles out 
     of our government, teenage pregnancies for girls between 10-
     14 has increased over 600%. Sexually transmitted diseases 
     skyrocketed. SAT scores in school went down for 18 straight 
     years. And violent crimes increased over 600%. George 
     Washington put it well when he said, ``If you remove 
     religious principles, you will lose morality in America.''
       The Bible says that government and its leaders are 
     accountable first and foremost to God.


                                   iv

       I don't have a lot of time to cover the fourth point in 
     your outline, except to say that all of us, who are citizens 
     of this country are commanded by God to submit to the 
     government, regardless of who we are or how much money we 
     have or what position we fill. And the only time we're given 
     permission not to submit to government is if government 
     commands us or forbids us to do that which is contrary to the 
     word of God. And if you want a proof text for that, it's 
     found in Acts 5:29.
       We're also told to pay taxes. Not only did Paul write it in 
     Romans 13, but Jesus said it in Matthew 22, as we heard 
     earlier in the service. Loopholes may be legal, but cheating 
     isn't.
       And as a child is called to give honor and respect to 
     parents and an employee to an employer, so citizens are 
     called to show honor and respect to those who govern.


                                   v

       And fifth, what does Romans 13 say about the specific role 
     of we who are Christian citizens? In verses 9 and 10 it says, 
     ``Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its 
     neighbors. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.'' 
     You want to know how to help the government? Don't add to 
     their work load. If, in all that you do, you're attempting to 
     respond to the needs of those around you, treating them with 
     love, whether that be the person next door or the guy in 
     traffic next to you, or the person at work who wronged you--
     if you are treating them with Christian love--then the 
     government doesn't have to worry about you and their job 
     becomes much easier.
       And Christian citizens, also, because they, or at least 
     they should have a clear understanding of the word of God--
     have a responsibility to keep the government and law makers 
     in check, when it comes to issues on which God has clearly 
     spoken. We cannot remain silent. And if we do, we have no 
     right to complain.
       And Christian citizens have been instructed in Paul's first 
     letter to Timothy to pray for those in authority over us--
     which we'll be doing a little later in the service.


                               conclusion

       Some concluding thoughts: Benjamin Franklin said, ``We need 
     God to be our friend, not our enemy.'' You've seen what's 
     happened to our country since we began to remove God's 
     influence from our land.
       To you, who are here today as our governmental officials, I 
     want to thank you for taking the time to be here. Some of you 
     are members of our congregation and would be here anyway, but 
     that's not the case for a number of you. Some of you, like 
     Congressman McIntosh have traveled a long way to be with us 
     today and we thank you for making the effort. And I want to 
     encourage all of you who are our elected officials to be 
     bold, courageous leaders, not blown by the whims of what may 
     appear to be popular opinion, or political correctness, but 
     directed by what is right.
       Secondly, I want to say especially to our governmental 
     leaders, that the church is the very best friend government 
     has. Thomas Jefferson said it first when he said, ``The 
     reason Christianity is the best friend of government is 
     because Christianity is the only religion in the world that 
     deals with the heart.'' The threat of punishment is sometimes 
     effective and rehabilitation has a purpose but unless you 
     change the heart, you won't do much to affect behavior. And 
     the Church, the Body of Christ, is committed to affecting 
     hearts.
       Thirdly, to our public servants, I want to encourage you to 
     stay close to God. In light of what we've seen today from 
     Romans 13, I don't know how you can do your job if you don't. 
     If you're from our community and don't have a church home, 
     then please know that you are always welcome in our midst. Be 
     reminded that you have a God who loves you, just as you are, 
     even when others might be on your back and constantly 
     criticizing. You can't be in any position of leadership and 
     not have someone taking shots at you. But God loves you.
       He is a God who came to be your servant, nearly 2000 years 
     ago, as He paid for your offenses and your sins as well as 
     those of the rest of us, on a splintered, wooden cross, and 
     who offers you not only his love, but also his full and 
     complete forgiveness.
       And to the majority of us who hold no public government 
     office, but who are citizens of this blessed land, we need to 
     understand, that if people are to be put into office, men and 
     women who will stand firm on the issues on which God has 
     spoken, and whose first concern is obedience to the one to 
     whom they're accountable, then you and I must participate in 
     the process, at every level. We need to make our views known 
     and to exercise that privilege that we've been given in this 
     country.
       May God bless you, our elected and appointed officials. May 
     God bless us as a community. And may God bless America.
       Please remain seated, as David Florine comes forward to 
     lead us in a time of prayer and confession.

                          ____________________