Centuries ago, in an effort to secure the death penalty against Him, the Jews accused Jesus of claiming to be a king, Lk 23:2, since that would have been an active threat to the Roman authorities. He was brought to the governor, Pilate, who asked Him if He was indeed King, and He responded that He was—though in a spiritual sense, Jn 18:33,36,37. Now, Pilate knew that the charges against Jesus were only made out of envy, and that He was innocent of any wrongdoing, Mk 15:9-15; but when the Jews said that Pilate would be "no friend of Caesar," and that they themselves had "no king but Caesar," Jn 19:12,15, well… he condemned Jesus to crucifixion anyway. There is much to learn here; but one important point is that in rejecting Jesus and claiming "no king but Caesar," the Jews had rejected God, Jn 5:23.
Long before that, the leaders of Israel had told their last judge, Samuel, that they wanted to have a king rule over them like all the other nations; and similarly, in rejecting Samuel, they had rejected God, 1 Sam 8:5,7.
If you had asked either group—the Jews in Jerusalem in Jesus' day, or the leaders of Samuel's ancient Israel—neither would have said that they intended to reject God; that would simply never have occurred to them! And yet they did.
What should concern us is that we do the same sort of thing when we choose government, rather than God; when we expect it to serve as a caretaker, rather than serving in the ways it was intended! Read 1 Pet 2:13-17 and Rom 13:1-7 carefully: what is government's purpose? It is to punish evildoers, and encourage those who do good—but it is certainly not to become our "daddy".
When we want government to provide for us—to create jobs or to provide welfare benefits when we don't have jobs because we are too lazy to do the hard work ourselves (i.e., we are "not willing to work")—we reject God, 2 Thess 3:10! Government was not intended to be our safety net; and it is a shame when the situation of a brother in genuine need is brought to the church to consider, and the question is asked, "Have they checked for any applicable government programs, first?" An air conditioner or roof repair at the church's building is a legitimate use of funds, but the common treasury was expressly given for the needs of brethren, 2 Cor 8:13-15.
When we want government to reduce or eliminate all the risks in life—risks due to failure in business, finances, weather damage (i.e., disaster recovery)—we reject God! There are, and should be, consequences to foolish choices or bad management; and sometimes things just don't go the way we want or expect: the race is not always to the swift, Eccl 9:11. Yet, it is the man that picks himself up again without complaint, working hard and relying on God for the results that should be rewarded, rather than government protecting ignorant behavior (such as bailing out banks that made unwise house loans). The truth is that in real life, sometimes you don't win, and not everyone should get a prize… with good reason. Government should make just and swift efforts to punish the wicked, Eccl 8:11, instead of rewarding the undeserving; it is a disincentive to the wise when the unwise are rewarded just the same, Eccl 2:14,15.
When we want government to eliminate all pain in life (e.g., a need for "safe-zones," "free-speech zones," and protection from "micro-aggressions") because we have become "snowflakes" (fragile; easily damaged, so government has to protect us from getting our feelings hurt), we reject God! There is a difference between a statue that is obscene, and one that makes me feel bad. Government is intended to punish sin, but not simply to protect my feelings. If I have love for others, I can deal with my own hurt feelings "because love covers a multitude of sins," 1 Pet 4:8.
When we allow government to be our "daddy," we allow it to be our savior; our king. And in doing that, we reject God, becoming government's slave rather than God's. We come to love it and rely on it; to long for its protection like a drug: the first dollars may seem free (they are not; they come from someone's wallet via taxes, Rom 13:6,7), but future dollars will always have strings attached—requirements that must be met to receive them. Sadly, we also reject many real blessings for ourselves: we refuse to be humbled, and trained to rely on God for his providence and protection, Deut 8:1-4; and we will never experience the joy to be found in various trials if we seek to be shielded from every harm, Jas 1:2-4. Moreover, we prevent others from being blessed when they help us in our difficulties, 2 Cor 9:6,7.
Brethren, we dare not reject God!
