Political Transformation

History has shown that centralization of governmental power destroys the liberty and the rights of man. The way to have good and safe government is to divide the power among the people and the localities, instead of entrusting it to one body. Civil government in a country should be subdivided into many levels (local, regional, national) with the majority of the power resting at the local level. The power of each level should be clearly defined and sovereign in those defined areas. No level of government should be able to usurp the jurisdiction of another.

The limited powers of the national government should be clearly defined in a constitution and limited to those things which affect the country as a whole, such as defense, foreign policy, regulation of interregional and foreign commerce, citizenship laws, coining money, and copyrights. All other powers should remain with the people, or with the local, and regional governments. The powers of local and regional government can be written in a regional constitution and include such things as traffic regulations, business regulations, public works, voting procedures, law and order.

Jesus Christ taught the principle of limited government and sphere sovereignty in Matthew 22:36-40 where he said we must render “to Caesar [i.e. the government] the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matt. 22:17-21). Caesar’s image on the coin represented his rightful jurisdiction over tax issues, but in like manner God’s image would represent an area of life that God alone had jurisdiction. In the same way, government only has authority within a defined area, and the other institutions, such as the church and the family, have authority in their defined areas. The practical outworking of Jesus’ answer was revolutionary at the time and contrary to the common idea of a government that claimed jurisdiction over every sphere of life.