Institutional Servitude

From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?

Matthew 17:25b

Jesus asked Peter this question in anticipation of a query from Peter regarding whether He should pay a certain tax or not. While Jesus dealt with this situation in a very unique and miraculous way, the question does arise as to whether we owe everything we are required to hand over to the US.gov! If our true King is Jesus ( God ), and we owe our allegiance to Him, how can we give our allegiance ( or anything else ) to some shadow government who is murdering babies and committing God-only-knows what other abominations?!


In this day & age, there are many, even Christians, who seem to think that we owe this 'shadow government' everything, including our allegiance! 'They fought for our & won our freedoms', you might hear, 'the freedoms we enjoy today exist because they were instituted in the Constitution & other founding documents!' You may agree with this statement, but a Christian should immediately see its flaws; it is our Heavenly Father who has granted us our freedoms, and whether they are bolstered by documents like the Constitution, or denied by some 'faux government', those freedoms exist because they were given by God!

This 'faux government' has instituted many regulations which should never have become law, or what is known as 'the law of the land'! Many Christians, because of a faulty theology or a wrong eschatology, have returned to a sort of slavery, because they believe that God requires them to obey every law of man ( government: we are required to follow God's Law, PERIOD! If, in following God's Law, we inadvertently obey the laws of men, then so be it, but the only Law we are required to keep is that of our Heavenly Father!

Sometimes, subservience to this false governmental authority is motivated by fear, an almost consuming fear of what this 'shadow government' might do to us & our loved ones if we do not conform! This is most definitely a valid concern in this day & age, but if we trust the power & authority of our Heavenly Father to override that false power & authority exhibited by our Federal Government, then we should have no fear of what men can do!

As we deal with this 'shadow government' on a daily basis, which we must do, we should remember where the Power & Authority lie, where our Freedom comes from & why it exists, and how we, as the Sons of our Father in Heaven, the Great Judge & King of all are act! We, as the subjects of the Great King, and the Sons & Daughters of our Heavenly Father, have no need to fear what these mere men may do, but, trusting in the One who truly upholds our Freedom, we may serve without fear, not as slaves, but as Kings of the Earth ourselves!

Charles Haddon Shank