We inescapably belong to two cities. We are citizens of the earthly city here below. We are at home in Athens and in Jerusalem. We dwell in a cosmos that is our responsibility to sustain. But we are also citizens of the heavenly city on high. We yearn for a holy city, a transformed Athens and a glorious Jerusalem. We are resident aliens sojourning towards the celestial realm. How do we handle dual citizenship on local and global levels?
The founders of our nation did not make Anglicanism the official church of the land. They did not give any one church a privileged seat at America’s lunch counter. Instead, they intended that there would be some kind of hedge between church and state. Each would have its role in the fledgling nation.
The founders did not want a rigid separation of church and state. In fact, the first time that the language of separation of church and state was used was in a decision handed down by the Supreme Court in the late 1940s. The founders left each citizen free to practice any or no religion. Every church contributed to the luster of the commonwealth by crafting good, responsible, and virtuous citizens.
What is the role of church and state? What are their spheres of influence? The church exists to help its members as they journey along their life’s pathway. It helps them in their desire for communion with God and their hope for salvation. It brings them into fellowship with others in building up the earthly city, the Athens and Jerusalem here below. Christians participate in the world, especially in the educational, social service, health care, and political spheres of the nation. Christians bring their gifts of expertise, integrity, and public service to environmental and human betterment. They dedicate themselves to justice and peace, compassion and charity.
The state concerns itself with civil society. It works for public order, creates laws that allow the nation to function justly and harmoniously, fosters public peace, provides for education, safety, labor-management cooperation, and health. The modern state also has assumed responsibility for the poor and the marginalized. It offers services and protects those who would be victimized.
In short, the church and the state have their own goals and spheres of influence. They affirm one another when each lives up to its role in society. They also critique and call each other to accountability. The idea of separation and state means that neither party should overstep its place in society or pretend to have competency in the other’s sphere of influence.
The question of the role and the relationship of church and the state began during the Gilded Age (1875-1901) when America and Western Europe entered the industrial age and encountered socialism for the first time. Millions lived without property and prosperity. The poor, especially immigrant workers, labored twelve hours a day in factories, in building canals and railroads, and in mining. Families lived in penury. Women and children were subjected to subhuman conditions. They were denied education and health care. Workplace health and safety standards and law did not exist. Tragedy and death stalked many of our forebears.