Tributes to Caesar and to God
When Jesus shut the mouths of the chief priests and the scribes by answering their questions out of His wisdom, they that very hour sought to lay hands on Him but they feared the people for they knew He had spoken the parables against them. Then they sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor (Luke 20:19-26). After eulogizing Jesus, they asked Him whether it was lawful for them to give tribute to Caesar or not. But Jesus perceived their craftiness and asked them to show Him a denarius. He then asked them to tell whose image and inscription it had. When they said, “Caesar’s”, He told them, “Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s". With this answer, they were silenced. Jesus marked the line of demarcation between the things of the king and the things of God. In our life, we are not very clear in mind about our duty to our nation and about our duty to God in the matter of payment of tributes. We blur the line of demarcation drawn by Jesus Himself.
As the law-abiding citizens, we have to pay our taxes to the governmental authorities. The account books of churches or Christian organizations should be transparent. It should not be fudged. But, at the same time, we should pay what is due to the Church. We pay to the governmental authorities out of fear. In case of default, the law will catch us. So, we pay our tributes to the government. But we falter to give to God when we receive appeals from churches or mission fields seeking financial support. Churches or mission fields have no sanction of law for enforcing payment of tributes to them. Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit exhorts us to pay our free-will offerings cheerfully and not grudgingly.
In the same manner we pay tributes to the Government, we have to pay tributes to God, but with a cheerful heart. Churches and Christian organizations need resources for proclaiming the glorious gospel. They cannot look to the millionaires of this world for financial support. Only the people of God have to give to God liberally and cheerfully. As we give to God’s ministers, we should not treat them as mendicants with begging bowls. They are the servants of the Most High. As per Heb.6: 10, God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love which you show toward His Name in that you minister to the saints. It is indeed a ministry to the saints. By ministering to them, you are showing your love toward God.
In this regard, I would like to testify to a dear servant of God in Nilgris, India who is not popular in the Christian world. My early days of Christian life were influenced by the life of this dear servant of God. Every year he visits the Himalayan countries at the risk of his life for preaching the glorious gospel, carrying and smuggling heavy bundles of Gospel literature into these countries where propagation of the gospel is prohibited. Many years ago, this dear servant of God after finishing his evangelical work in the Himalayan countries was on his way to the South India via Delhi. His train stopped at Delhi. At that time, the Holy Spirit led me to call on him in the Railway Station. Immediately, I went to the Railway Station and ministered to him by giving him some money. When I offered him money, he told me that since he had no money left with him, he had decided to travel in the train without taking any food, and to tell God “If it is Thy will that I should go hungry, I will do so”. For a number of years, he has been publishing a Tamil Monthly, which contains messages giving an account of his experiences in the evangelical field, similar to the Acts of Apostles. He has never bothered to build or establish his own magazine ministry, because he treats his magazine ministry only as a means to the Kingdom of God.
- Job Anbalagan