The ultimate separation of powers

Are people really the source of civil authority? Our U.S. system of checks and balances is intended to keep power from concentrating, then corrupting, in the hands of a few. Not many people stop to think about the worldview behind that structure. Its key assumption is "power corrupts, period." Not everyone subscribes to this. Some believe in the "basic goodness of man," or that man is perfectable. Several thousand years of recorded history would seem enough to call into question such a leap of logic, but still the idea persists.

The Christian worldview is a realistic one, in that it acknowledges the pull of corruption on everyone. No one is exempt from self-centeredness and pride. We act surprised when role models turn out to have feet of clay. Disappointment, not surprise, is appropriate in such cases. The real surprise is the exceptional life that DOESN'T wipe out in a spectacular, public moral failure--the person who clings so tightly to God's principles that he or she may have their momentary personal failings, but they are so "minor" as to escape man's notice.

God delegated his sovereignty over the world to Man...who then promptly abused it and went off the tracks. In His wisdom, God then made His sovereignty manifest through three human institutions with overlapping jurisdictions: the individual/family, the Church and the State. Each check the others and are directly accountable to God for their actions. In simple terms, the family is for the nurturing of the next generation; the Church is for the instruction of the Body of Christ and the Work of the Spirit; and the State is intended to wield the sword to restrain and punish evil. When one of the three predominates over the others, or exercises power outside its legitimate scope, classes of abuse and evil peculiar to that maladjustment will occur.

History can be viewed through the interplay of these three areas of sovereignty. And while many might say today is an age where the Church is out of bounds, I argue we're actually in an age of State uber alles. The fact the Church tries to exercise moral suasion through the organs of the State, versus its own congregational authority, is illustrative of this point. Man is quite capable of abusing all three institutions, but the State seems to be where he puts the most faith in his own power and perceived wisdom to 'control.' So many look to the State for provision it can easily be argued the State has a strong tendency to become a false god of sorts.

Only by remembering the Source of ALL authority can any balance be maintained. The State cannot perfect anyone, as the 20th Century grandly illustrates. The Church (in its earthly manifestation) cannot perfect anyone, as 2000 years of history can attest. And the family is equally powerless. Only when all three work in harmony, subject to the will of the One who CAN save, is there peace and justice.