De Facto, De Jure, DiGiorno

There is an important distinction that I use to look at the world. It is the difference between de facto and de jure.  Taking important concepts and giving them artificial names in another language can be a helpful step in one’s understanding of things. Here is how Wikipedia describes the difference between the two terms. 

De facto is a Latin expression that means “concerning fact.” In law, it often means “in practice but not necessarily ordained by law” or “in practice or actuality, but not officially established.” It is commonly used in contrast to de jure (which means “concerning the law”) when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique (such as standards) that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation. When discussing a legal situation, de jure designates what the law says, while de facto designates action of what happens in practice. It is analogous and similar to the expressions “for all intents and purposes” or “in fact”. The term can also be used in the context of conducting activity as a “matter of course” e.g. copying an individual on an email de facto.

This point even comes up in Biblical interpretation. Here is Romans 13 (The Message version): 

^{Here is where the Roman Government took Christians to die. 1-3} Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.

^3-5 Do you want to be on good terms with the government? Be a responsible citizen and you’ll get on just fine, the government working to your advantage. But if you’re breaking the rules right and left, watch out. The police aren’t there just to be admired in their uniforms. God also has an interest in keeping order, and he uses them to do it. That’s why you must live responsibly—not just to avoid punishment but also because it’s the right way to live.

^6-7 That’s also why you pay taxes—so that an orderly way of life can be maintained. Fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your leaders.

Is Paul talking about human government in a de facto or de jure way? In other words is there an official relationship between God and human governments or instead, is it that as a general rule, governments leave you alone unless you are up to something? 

Two examples may help us understand which Paul means. I am going to violate an internet meme and bring up Hitler. The King James says this, “For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Was Hitler ordained of God? I remember a long Facebook disagreement I had over this. Finally my frenemy admitted that he thought that Hitler was ordained of God. When you come to an absurd conclusion, I suggest that you have made a mistake somewhere. 

Are governments God’s agents, or Satan’s agents? Ephesians 6 tells us who we as Christians should fight against. 

¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,

I chose the King James Version here because it retains the phrasing of the Greek of “principalities and powers.” There is an “underworld.” No, I am not talking about the stereotypical Dante’s Hell. There are spiritual forces at work and these forces control governments. 

So should we then disobey government? Titus 3:1 tells us:

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work

Even though the world is Satan’s world, we still need to obey governments. In general, in a de facto way, that is just the way the world works. If you oppose the Beast, it will eventually get you. If you try to ride the Beast, it will turn on you and devour you. This is good practical advice.  

My other example is that just a short time after Roman 13 was written, Paul was beheaded. Nero, the Hitler of his age, took Christians and impaled them on stakes, covered them with tar, and set them afire, while they were still alive. This would light his parties. Was Nero ordained of God to do this? Was turning Christians into human tiki torches what God had in mind? 

So then can we as Christians serve in the police and the military? In a de jure way, yes we can. There is nothing in the Bible to forbid it. But in a practical de facto way, Christians should not serve in these functions. If you are a member of the military you are giving your assent to the illegal acts of the government you serve. Will you refuse an unlawful order? A soldier is supposed to have this right, in a de jure way. In a de facto way, if you try this you will be arrested. In my view illegal and immoral acts of the military are relatively common. In fact the last legal war, in a de jure way, was WWII. 

A Christian Policeman has these same issues. Police perjury is relatively common in the judicial system. The idea is to frame the guilty. This is common enough that it has a name—“testilying.” 

If you as a police officer see police brutality, will you report it? Will you as a police officer, report other officers who get freebies from prostitutes? Will you cross that “thin blue line” and snitch on your fellow officers? No one likes a snitch. If you do, in a de facto way your career is over. I do not see how someone can serve in either the military or a police force and retain one’s conscience—“having their conscience seared with a hot iron” as Paul puts it in 1 Timothy 4.  

Can a Christian serve in either job? Absolutely. Should a Christian do so, hell no. You can’t leave Babylon the Great by serving it.