Who Gives You the Rights?
Do civil liberties come from God? Which ones?
November, 2022
November is the typical month for elections in the United States. As is the trend, this election cycle has been as breathless, bitter, and baffling as ever. Each side seeks to not only ground its position in common sense, but also in essential morality. The "other side" cannot merely be wrong, or inaccurate. Political rivals must be depravedly evil—willfully and hatefully corrupt—wretched examples of the worst humanity can offer. If that seems like exaggeration, you've been able to avoid the barrage of advertisements flowing through every media source these last few weeks.
An idea often raised in political debates is which side is protecting the people's "rights" correctly. That, itself, leads to questions about the source of rights. Namely, do they come purely from the government, or the consent of culture? Or are they morally obligated by some higher level? The phrase most often connected to this discussion is "God-given rights." Similar phrases were even used by those who drafted the United States constitution. Some feel every civil liberty enshrined in existing law is holy: it's sacrosanct and beyond debate. Others suggest some of those are preferences and can be removed as the people see fit.
So, what are "God-given rights?" Do they exist? And if so, how do they relate to politics—particularly from a Christian perspective? Or, are all "rights" simply man-made and not a matter of morality?
In blunt terms, the Bible does not command earthly governments to allow civil freedoms. Nor does Scripture explicitly approve revolution against governments perceived as restrictive. Of course, a "moral" government ought to reflect the moral God. So, it's reasonable to say governments "ought to" reserve certain rights. Yet that's a different issue from whether we, as human beings, are authorized to respond in any preferred way when a government is restrictive.
The Declaration of Independence makes this distinction in a subtle, but important way, saying men:
…are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form…"
Note that Jefferson, the author, does not claim governments were a source of rights. Rather, he says manmade states were instituted to protect existing freedoms. He also claims the people have a "right," implying something God allows or expects, to replace governments which don't protect those liberties appropriately. The first assertion seems biblical: Scripture's depiction of proper government implies those basic ideals. The second is more controversial, as the Bible instructs Christians to submit to government even when those rights are not being secured.
Christians in permissive nations should be careful about using the term "rights" carelessly. Being given permission to do something does not, itself, mean doing that thing is always a good idea (1 Corinthians 6:12; 8:9; 9:15). That's especially true when speaking of finer details. Western Christians often equate privileges afforded by a stable, prosperous culture with moral principles. That is, they assume the world "owes" certain permissions and freedoms. A better attitude is to see such freedoms as part of the "talents" God has given us (Matthew 25:29). They should be appreciated and spent accordingly.
This means the phrase "God-given rights" can't directly describe something political. God does not promise certain civil freedoms during life on earth. Nor does He explicitly say such freedoms "should" be allowed or legislated. In blunt terms, God does not mandate a "right to healthcare," nor "a right to bear arms," nor "a right to free speech," or privacy, voting, labor laws, assembly, press, democracy, and so forth.
Rather, God allows humanity a set of self-governed aspects of life. These are spheres where His interference seems minimal. Relevant to the United States, those are certainly the ability to be alive, the ability to make choices, and the ability to pursue our relationship with God. The word "happiness" is seen in the Declaration of Independence, but few realize the term is derived from the idea of outcomes and occurrences. The same idea is present in words such as perhaps, mayhap, happening, happenstance, and so forth. In Jefferson's era, the term "happiness" carried a sense of divine blessing; "the pursuit of happiness," then, was understood at that time more like "the pursuit of blessedness" than "the pursuit of good feelings." The freedom being sought was very much the right to pursue a godly and moral life as each person saw fit.
Ultimately, those "rights" are only guaranteed to function between us and God. A just government supports and enables certain rights. An unjust government interferes with them. Whether God "expects" governments to offer certain rights is also a separate question from whether we should "expect" or "demand" those freedoms from earthly authorities.
God makes no statement about a particular political system, theory, or statute. All we have are two clear principles. First, "government in general" is appointed by God to restrain evil (Romans 13:1–7). Second, God is a higher authority than any earthly government, so when government commands a believer to sin, that government should be disobeyed (Acts 5:29). The general summary of these ideas is that believers are obligated to obey government, and law, unless doing so would explicitly violate some biblical or moral principle.
This is where we see the difference between "submission" and "obedience." As believers, we can insist on obeying God, and accepting whatever legal consequences follow. On one hand, we need to respect the legitimate purpose of government, and "submit" to it. Biblical examples indicate instances of Christians refusing to cooperate with unholy laws. Yet they didn't start an armed revolution against the government. They took punishments assigned to them, then went out and obeyed God again, especially speaking truth about the gospel. We're not given license to attempt an overthrow because we don't like rules imposed by the state. Scripture gives a balanced view of government.
Yet "submit" does not always mean "obey." We honor God rather than men when government demands conflict with our faith. And we are fully empowered to use secular laws to our advantage, as much as anyone else (Acts 5:27–29; 5:40–42; 16:37–39; 22:25–29). It's perfectly legitimate for modern Christians to claim whatever civil rights the state offers as part of freely living out our faith.
Also not carved out in detail, but seen in the background, is how important it is to influence our culture. Ultimately, government is just people. In broad strokes, the government only does what the population wants or allows it to do. When enough people in a culture want things a certain way—and are willing to act on that desire—laws and regulations will eventually change accordingly. This is exactly why we see such growing hostility to Christianity: laws have not substantially changed, but the culture has shifted dramatically. Legal changes to civil rights happen after cultural shifts. So, as believers, we need to be aware of how important it is to pursue the Great Commission among friends, family, and co-workers (Matthew 28:19–20). That's ultimately a more powerful means of transformation than civil disobedience or politics (Mark 5:19).
No matter what happens, we also need to maintain perspective. The world at large will always hate legitimate Christianity (John 15:18–19). Some level of persecution is to be expected anywhere and everywhere (John 16:1–4). The Bible also predicts a time of rampant ungodliness prior to the return of Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:3). Ultimately, all things will be accounted for (Revelation 20:11–15). This world is not our home (Philippians 3:20) or our final destiny (Hebrews 11:13). Keeping that in mind allows us to strive for God, in godly ways, without losing hope or resorting to un-Christian tactics (John 16:33; 18:36).
-- Editor
