“Separation of church and state”: what it means for the Christian
The term was made popular by the American president Thomas Jefferson. Its context was that, as the First Amendment of the Constitution stipulates, the US Congress should not make any law favouring one religion (which could result in that religion dominating government), or prohibiting the free exercise of any one’s religious rights. It precludes the kind of situation found in Medieval Europe where monarchs frequently claimed divine right and used religion to subjugate the people, or the Pope claimed spiritual authority over the head of state and wielded political power. These days, the phrase is often misinterpreted to mean “churches should not get involved with anything concerning politics”. It is frequently used by Christians (perhaps particularly by those of us of Chinese heritage) to justify our ingrained philosophy of “minding our own business in the interest of self-preservation” when it comes to hot social and political issues. However, far from suggesting that religious people and motivations should be exiled from public debate, its original intention was to promote the freedom for them to be championed to shape public policy.
The meaning of the term “politics” now carries negative connotations due to usage in phrases like “playing politics”, and the prevalent underhand practices in the political arena. However, “politics” covers all the activities of the government, organisations, and people who participate in influencing the way a country is governed. Nearly all significant issues that affect people’s lives in a country are political. Issues like social justice, health policies (e.g. COVID management strategies), abortion and euthanasia legislations and migration policy, , are all examples of political issues and there are biblical principles that apply to them that we should champion. For Christians to exercise our function of being salt and light of the world, it is not possible to detach ourselves from the life of society, which is bound up in myriads of contemporary political issues at any one time. Recent and current examples include legalisation of same sex marriage and euthanasia legislation in NSW.
This week, the government has unveiled the Religious Discrimination Bill 2021. This Bill will greatly impact our religious freedom to speak out and uphold biblical truth in this society which has been drifting further and further away from the Lord. The Bill will soon be debated in parliament, and may be enacted sometime next year. Let us be informed and concerned with this and other relevant contemporary social issues, and be faithfully prayerful about them. Let us be bold to voice the truth.
In our recent sermon on Jeremiah 29, through His prophet, God exhorted His people in exile to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.” (v.7) We are also citizens of the heavenly kingdom “in exile” in a sinful world. Our mandate is to care for this city and nation, and be salt and light here. Salt serves a preservation function for food, and light illuminates in darkness to reveal the truth. Let us exercise these functions diligently with God’s love, so that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven.
「政教分離」：對基督徒的意義
這個詞是由美國總統傑斐遜引用後而走紅。其背景是美國憲法修定時，宣告國會不應制定偏袒於任何一種宗教的法律（這可能導致該宗教主導政府），或禁止任何宗教人士發表言論的權利。這政策排除了中世紀歐洲的那種情況，即君主經常聲稱是神所任命，藉此利用宗教欺壓平民，或教皇聲稱國家元首都須服於他的屬靈權柄下，藉此行使政治權力。如今，這句話經常被誤解為「教會不應該參與任何與政治有關的事情」。它也經常被基督徒（也許特別是我們這些有中國傳統思想的人）用來支持我們根深蒂固的觀念，即在涉及爭議性的社會和政治問題上，應「莫管閒事，明哲保身」。然而，「政教分離」遠非提倡將宗教人士和其觀點從公共辯論中驅逐，相反地, 其初衷是保衛宗教言論自由，以對公共政策有所貢獻。
現今「政治」一詞的帶有非常負面的含義，這是由於「玩弄政治」等詞成為了日常用語，以及政治舞臺上普遍常見的卑鄙手段。然而，「政治」涵蓋了政府，組織或個人參與任何影響一個國家治理方式的所有活動。幾乎所有影響着一個國家民生的重要問題都是政治性的。例如，社會公義各方面，衛生政策（例如新冠病毒管理策略），墮胎和安樂死立法，移民政策等問題都是政治性的。聖經對這些問題也有相關的原則是我們须提倡的。對於基督徒來說，要行使我們作為世上的鹽和光的功能，我們就不可能將自己與社會生活隔離，而社會生活在任何時候都面臨着無數的時下政治問題。 近期的例子包括同性結婚合法化和紐省2021年自願協助死亡（安樂死）法案。
本周，政府公佈了《2021年宗教歧視法案》。這項法案可以很大地影響我們的宗教自由，包括在這個離主越來越遠的社會中發表言論並高舉聖經真理。該法案將很快會在議院進行辯論，並可能在明年頒布。讓我們深入瞭解和關注這個和其他重要的當代社會問題，並忠實地為它們祈禱。讓我們有勇氣為眞理疾呼。
在我們最近耶利米書29章的講道中，看見神藉先知勸勉祂被擄的子民「我所使你們被擄到的那城、你們要為那城求平安、為那城禱告耶和華…」（7節）。我們也是「流亡」在這罪惡世界的天國的公民。我們的任務是關愛這個城市和國家，在這裡成為鹽和光。鹽對食物有防腐作用，光的功能是在黑暗中照出真相。讓我們用神的愛勤奮地在社會行使這些功能，使主的旨意成就在地，如同成就在天。
