Giving tribute to God/connecting with God comes from within. Luke 20:20-26 [spies, trying to get Jesus in trouble with local authorities asked him]…22Is it lawful for us to pay taxes [give tribute] to the emperor, or not?” 23[He replied…], 24“Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?” They said, “The emperor’s.” 25He said to them, “Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”… Matthew, Mark, and Luke recount this story. The question contains a nuance that gets lost in translation. Imperial cults that promoted Caesar as a deity, encouraged viewing taxes as an “offering” to Caesar. Many OT stories point out that paying tribute to other gods is WRONG! In an agrarian, barter-based culture, where currency isn’t needed for EVERYTHING, and where taxes were minimal compared to modern life, currency was a good proxy for identifying the benefits of being a Roman citizen vs what blessings came from God: Who paid the army vs How does your food grow? Who built roads vs your health/life? … Taxes made societal benefits possible, but that is entirely different from what God provides. Fast forward to a future mythical time where “Caesar” controls all access to food, health care, education, where you may reside, all purchases are monitored and subject to government approval and taxation. Some argue that in such an environment by Jesus’ retort you should “worship” that “Caesar”. Concentration camp survivor Victor Frankl had some firsthand experience with this. Oversimplifying one of his points, He observes in his book “Man’s Search for Meaning,” that people use 3 approaches to find meaning in life: 1. Work, contributions, leaving a legacy; 2. Experience, ideas, art, nature, social structures; 3. Rising above suffering, nourishing an inner life. Governments, Bad bosses, social/family terrorists, … (“Caesar”) can try to control/hurt us by messing with items 1 & 2. Perhaps here Victor Frankl and Jesus are on the same page: Identify the things that “Caesar” can impact/control. Then give to “Caesar” that which is “Caesar’s”; BUT if you keep your boundaries clearly defined, Caesar can’t impact your “inner life”. Rise above the physical, be sensitive to developing the inner opportunities God gives you, and give unto God that tribute which is due God. Frankl found people doing this survived better than those who didn’t. Just a thought. All insights and comments welcome.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 13:40:01 +0000