The Responsibility of Citizenship

What is the role of a citizen in shaping the government?

Preamble of Constitution

We live in a representative democracy in the United States, in which “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”

In the United States of America we are not just the citizenry of the nation we live in; we are the government as well. We have the right as well as the responsibility to help shape the laws that govern this nation.

What is government and why is it necessary?

Administration of life in an organized society as well as the body of officials
that presides over the process. Human beings discovered at an early stage in
their history that a social situation in which "everyone did as he saw fit" (Judges 21:25) proved to be an unstable, disorganized, and
frequently even a dangerous one, in which unenlightened self-interest took
precedence over the concerns of other citizens. Baker's Evangelical
Dictionary of Biblical Theology

What is God’s purpose for government?

1Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have
been placed in power by God. 2So those who refuse to obey the laws of the
land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow. 3For the
authorities do not frighten people who are doing right, but they frighten those
who do wrong. So do what they say, and you will get along well. 4The
authorities are sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong,
of course you should be afraid, for you will be punished. The authorities are
established by God for that very purpose, to punish tho+se who do
wrong. 5So you must obey the government for two reasons: to keep from being
punished and to keep a clear conscience. 6Pay your taxes, too, for these
same reasons. For government workers need to be paid so they can keep on doing
the work God intended them to do. 7Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay
your taxes and import duties, and give respect and honor to all to whom it is
due. Romans 13 NLT

What responsibilities do we have as Christians in the United States?

Since we as citizens of the United States are the government, as established in the Pre-amble of the Constitution, and government is meant to administer life in an organized society, do we not have a responsibility to make laws that will benefit the well-being of the entire society. Judges 21:25 states that “there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Is that not what we find in our own nation today? There can be no set standard of right and wrong, because that standard is said to be unloving or intolerant. In the end though, isn’t the unloving act to allow society to deteriorate in such a way that “self interest” takes “precedence over the concerns of other citizens.” If government has been established and ordained by God, (not simply the authority of government but the type of government that any nation is under) for the protection and the punishment of its citizens, then do we not have a responsibility as Christians in a representative democracy to form laws for the benefit of that society?

It is our responsibility as citizens, as well as Christians, to seriously consider the positions of those running for political office. Voting is a right that should not be taken lightly, but it is not an overwhelming act either. The platform of each party reveals their beliefs clearly, as well as the voting record of each candidate. Compare those positions with your convictions and vote. If each American fulfilled their governing responsibility, we would defiantly begin to live in “a more perfect union.”