Martin Luther King, in his letter from Birmingham jail once wrote these words, “There are two types of laws, just and unjust” He declared, “One has a moral responsibility to disobey the unjust laws”, but we must also obey the just laws, respect the authorities and be responsible citizens.
As long as we have had human governments, people have disagreed with the policies, decisions, constitutions and the functions of the government. We also know that, we must have strict policies, procedures, rules & regulations to live peacefully in this world. Even with the current laws, rules & governments, we see so many issues of violence, disagreements, conflicts, court cases etc. We are living in a society which is corrupt, controlled by forces that are not sincere or truthful or simply won’t let us leave peacefully, no matter how good we treat each other. There are so many bad people who does not care about rules, authorities, laws or restrictions and they will commit any kind of crimes to fulfill their desires regardless of the consequences to others.
Times of dissent can escalate to crisis, disagreements can lead to violence, disrespect can lead to arguments and conflicts, disobeying the laws can lead to destruction and deaths. This is the time we need a good government to take control of the situation for the good of the people. The government may have to use the sword to force compliance. People also must let the government to function well and owe the government the discipline of due process, patience and respect of authority which is in place and approved by the people.
Throughout the history of this world, we know that, without a good government, without laws, regulations, courts, trial, punishments, jails, police, restrictions, warnings, constitutions, and written polices to follow, the society will be in utter conflicts, confusion and careless each other and no one is safe or secure and the consequences are incredible. Even with all of the above, we know things are not normal or peaceful because there are many bad people who simply do not care about others.
Followers of Christ are citizens of the kingdom of God as well as the Nations or Sate which we live. How do we respond to government? Do we just simply follow the words in the Bible and disregard the human laws which we have to comply? Not at all, we have to find a balance of our faith and the government laws. We simply cannot ignore the government because we are followers of Christ.
Jesus Christ said to His followers, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” (Mathew 22:21). Every person is subjected to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Romans13:1). These words from Christ and the Apostle Paul are the twin pillars that uphold genuine truth of our dual citizenship. We must know what belongs to God and what God has entrusted to the State or the Government authorities.
“In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The Old Testament book of Judges warns us the horrible things, such as assassinations, genocide, power grabs, sexual abuse, shattered families, pains, sufferings, wounds and torturing due to the result of government that was either too weak or nonexistent. We must have governments & laws against crimes, murder, rape, robbery, vandalism, bribery, fraud, abortion, immoral & unholy characters who destroys life of innocent people and that is vital of God’s value on human life and personal property rights.
Apostle Peter also joined Apostle Paul and tells us “Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the kings” (1st Peter 2:17) we may think it is possible to honor the office of governments official without respecting the person who has been elected by the citizens. No, that is not the intent of Jesus or the words of the Apostles tells us. We must respect the office and the person holding that office. “Paul Says, “Whoever resist the authority resists the ordinance of God” (Romans 13:2)
Both Old and New Testament in the Bible give us examples of how the people of God influences the pagan governments in their time. Joseph rose to apposition of great power in Egypt’s without changing the religious policy, Daniel an exiled Jew, gained respect as a great ruler and a man of unshakable character during the reigns of several kings, Nehemiah, the cupbearer to the king of Persia gained kings favor to rebuild Jerusalem, Apostle Paul appealed to Romans law for protection when he was treated bad even without a trial.
We as Christians, especially the so called Evangelists, the born again Christians must respect the laws of the land and the leaders of the land despite our religious convictions. We are living among people from all over the Nations and there are different Nationalities, faiths, cultures, characters, so we must live peacefully each other. Our calling is to be a unified body that provides salt and light to others (Mathew 5:13-16) 
Pray and respect the God appointed leaders. “Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives and pray to the Lord for it, for in its peace you will have peace” (Jeremiah 29:7). Even centuries later after Jeremiah’s words, Paul the Apostle tells to offer supplications, prayers, intersession and thanksgiving (1st Timothy 2:1) for the peace and prosperity of the place we live.
God established government to maintain order by making and enforcing laws that apprehend wrongdoers and provide services for law-abiding citizens. So we have to respect leaders & established laws for the good of all citizens. We have the right and duty to express our moral convictions and promote morality in society without violating the rights of non-believers around us. When it comes to participation in political issues, we must carefully avoid the tendency to demonize those who disagree with us.
We should not belong to any political party. Bible does not support any party. All we have to do is pray, support & select a leader who is qualified biblically, morally, legally & ethically to serve well and for the good of the Nation. There is no perfect person in this world, but we have to look the overall qualities in the candidate regardless of party affiliation. The Nation is more important than the party. The quality & character of the candidate should be considered above the party. Bible is all about holiness, character, purity, compassion etc.
The question arise, as a true Christian, how can I support a party that support abortion, homosexual life style, gay marriage etc. We can’t support these things at all and we must resist these things with full force. However, when it comes to abortion, there needs to be some exceptions if the mother’s life is in danger and the baby is not going to survive, also abortion caused by rape, incest etc. What if a criminal rapist in your neighborhood raped one of our own and made her pregnant, what if a father raped own daughter and she got pregnant, these are horrible experiences and let the family with the help of doctors decide what to do. Life inside the womb and life outside the womb are to be protected.
Homosexual life style, gay marriage etc. happens among both party groups equally. This is a poor choice some makes and we must pray for them to change these sinful habits to become normal. We cannot destroy them because we do not agree with their life style but rather pray for them. Only God can change them and we see even politicians in higher positions who are gays. This is a matter of choice just like people do other unholy things. The political party is never going to solve this issue, but God can change people.
There are people in both parties who lead sinful life and I have never seen any party when in power solve these issues. There are atheist, child abusers, gang members who kills mercilessly and violent criminals around us and they are in both party groups. All we can do is pray to God for their salvation. But if the leader of a party is so bad with so many criminal backgrounds, disregard laws and always praise himself, ignorant, arrogant and with fake faith etc. since that leader will destroy the whole Nation, so we must be cautious when supporting such an individual.
We also make the correct choice when we elect a new leader considering in our minds that the leaders must serve the people, work for the peace and wellness of all Citizens, the protection of all the people. A leader cannot be selfish, arrogant, ignorant, prideful, jealous egoistic and should have all great moral, ethical, decent character for people to respect. We cannot support or select a person with wrong motives, convicted of any crimes, a cult leader one who refuses to follow laws & constitutions, one who is praising dictators, one who ridicules others, who refuses to protect the people, who refuses elections results, not religious and one with so much faults & failures and refuses to take good advice from any one.
The Nation may select one day a person with first or last name, Swami, Pillai, Mohammed, Kumar, Chandran, Kamala, Mathew, Pence, Hernandez, Huang, Hailey or any other names from any religion, culture and so on but regardless who that is , we must respect him or her once they are in position as President, Vice President, Governor or Mayor etc. Anyone can be elected in this Nation to the highest position and that is a great opportunity for anyone in this wonderful Nation.
Until our Savior, Jesus Christ comes back to rule, let us be the light & salt of this corrupt world. Our king is on His way and the government will be upon His shoulder and His name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. While we are eagerly preparing to see Him, let us do our part in this world, make the correct choice regardless of any party for the sake of the Nation. Love people, love your Country above a person or party and above all love God. May God bless the United States of America.