In Defense of Equality
One of the best lessons I have ever learned was from a college professor of mine who taught me, "Don't let someone else become your god." I wondered what he meant by that. I realized that he was referring to what I found to be the most liberating verse in the Bible, Exodus 20:3, "You shall have no other gods before me." Just who is your god? It is a good question to ask yourself. It keeps you from becoming distracted.
There are those who would suggest that men are not equal. That everyone has a natural superior. That there is an hierarchical order to human society and ignoring it leads men astray. They lose focus. Every man must have a leader to keep him in line, and for most of us that leader is another man. My purpose in this article is to explain why this theory of hierarchy is wrong and to defend the old saying, "we have no king, but Jesus."
The theory of hierarchy suggests that if men are left to their own, they will organize themselves into a hierarchy where superiors will rule over inferiors and there would be one man at the top ruling over them all. But when we look at history, we cannot find a time in which this actually happened. In every system of government that has ruled over men since the beginning of civilization, there has always been a natural check on power. Sometimes this check is subtle, but it is always enough to stop a tyrant in his tracks.
For example, in England the King was forced to sign the Magna Carta. How was a king forced to do anything? Well, he needed money, and kings, like the rest of us, will do almost anything for money when he is broke. In the English system, the king had to ask the barons he ruled over for money. In 1215, the barons decided they would not meet the king's request until he signed the Magna Carta that guaranteed the rights of the barons against the king. And here the seed of Democracy was planted. In England and other countries, the king was further limited because of the need to raise an army from the nobles. If the nobles feel that they are being abused, they can exercise their check on their "natural superior." You see, the fundamental problem here is that a king without money is not a king, and a king without an army is not a king. A king that must ask his inferiors for money and an army is not an absolute ruler.
For a divinely ordained system, monarchy has never really helped the nations that have employed it. The inherent corruption of monarchy destroyed Rome, what was once the greatest republic in history. It bankrupted Spain, the vast empire that looted the Americas. The only example of a monarchy that actually flourished was England (though England's monarchy wasn't good for it's neighbors, Scotland and Ireland). But wait, England is not a good example. When England was at her height, the king shared power with Parliament. In fact, the complaints listed in the United States Declaration of Independence could be considered complaints against the British Parliament as much as the king.
A king gains and holds power with his army. Strip him of his army and he's just like the rest of us, weak and insecure. As individuals, we are all equals.
Let's suppose that we accept the idea that one man is superior to all others. How do we find out who that man is? Certainly we'll have to have some sort of tournament involving all the people of the nation. This competition must test physical strength, athletic ability, skill, and intelligence. Let's suppose we decide on a nationwide boxing tournament. The tournament will organize us all into a hierarchy with the overall champion at the top. There he will stay until a challenger moves up the ranks and defeats him. But then the question is, if this is how we choose our leaders, then who would have been our leader in the 1980's? Reagan or Tyson?
All groups need leaders. In the family, the husband is divinely appointed as the leader. But that doesn't mean he is superior to his wife. After all, man is born of woman just as woman is begotten of man (1Cor. 11:12).
In a group of equals, how do we find our leader? We elect him. We find the man we think will do the best job and give him power to govern for a while. After he's had some time to show us what he's capable of, we vote again to see if we should keep him or replace him with someone else. This is how we elect our President. The President is our leader, but he is not our superior. Just as a man is born of a woman, the President is elected by the people. This is Democracy. It keeps showing up in human society in one form or another. It is natural. It is divinely ordained.
God is a jealous god. He wants our undivided loyalty. Anything less is not worthy of Him. Jesus said, "no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other." Jesus was talking about wealth here, but the lesson works for government as well. Jesus is saying, "just who is your god?"
Aren't we all sinners? Aren't we all in need of salvation? We are all dirt, literally, in God's eyes. How can one man be superior to others? It is blasphemous to suggest that superiority is possible.
All men are created equal. This is not an idea that was started by equal rights activists like Thomas Jefferson. This is a divine commandment. We are all made in God's image. We all need salvation. We all have free will. We even have the freedom to deny God and to kill each other. This is a freedom that even God won't step on. Why should a king? Does God place one man above the others? No. Hierarchy is artificial and must be maintained by force. Therefore, we are all equal.
Love each other. This is God's commandment. Live this way and you will be happy. God has granted freedom to men, but there can be no freedom without equality. If a man must obey his natural superior, then he is not free. In a perfect world, there would be no need for leaders. All men would do the will of God. If our aim here is to establish the perfect system of government, then hierarchy is a step in the wrong direction. Men must be free to discover the will of God.
So, we come back to the question: "just who is our god?" Our god is God. Our King is Christ. Any man or institution that gets in the way is defying the will of God and is therefore, as Marcus Aurelius says, an abscess on creation in rebellion against nature.
© Copyright 2004, Jason E. Heath
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