Does the State Owe Us Solidarity? Biblical Bearings on Church and Welfare

Introduction

France is a welfare state. Redistribution by public authority seems self-evident, and equality sits at the heart of the republican motto. But a number of Christians, particularly across the Atlantic, dispute in the name of the Bible the idea that solidarity toward the weakest falls directly, primarily, or ordinarily within the competence of the state. What does Scripture actually say? In this talk given at Église du Tabernacle (Paris 18th) as part of the Soirées du 72, Daniel Hillion, director of studies at SEL (Service d'Entraide et de Liaison), offers biblical bearings for thinking through the role of the state in matters of solidarity, not seeking to prove that the Bible is "right-wing" or "left-wing," but to show how the questions arise when we start from Scripture.

Outline of the Message

1. How to Refer to Scripture When Speaking of the State and Solidarity

• Some Christians want to reason by sola scriptura on social and political questions, as they do in theology, this is notably the approach of the theonomist movement, for which the civil law of the Old Testament should serve as the norm for every society.
• Such positions almost always favor a minimal state, because ancient Israel was a society with very little state apparatus (Émile Nicole).
• Daniel Hillion proposes another approach: the Bible is not a social, economic, political, or ecological manual. It does not provide precise technical guidance on what the state should or should not do.
• What it does give us are very general principles of universal validity, from which we can reason, notably through the creation / fall / redemption framework.

2. Creation: Does Political Authority Belong to Human Nature?

• The Belgic Confession ties political authority to the fall: God instituted it "because of the depravity of mankind," to "restrain the wicked" and "protect the good."
• Daniel Hillion, for his part, ties it to creation, drawing on the creation mandate of Genesis 1: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it. This mandate is necessarily collective, no individual, no family, no small group can fulfill it alone.
• God has placed among humans a "bond of society" (Calvin). The unity of humankind is neither a contract nor a mere biological fact: it is a bond of humanity established by God. We are not fundamentally isolated individuals who choose to associate.
• Solidarity is first of all a fact of our creation: "it isn't my hand that chose to be in solidarity with my foot, that's just how it is." This fact must then translate into our actions.
• Fulfilling the creation mandate collectively requires being organized, structured, coordinated. In this sense, political authority is needed, whose most fundamental role is to channel the fulfillment of the creation mandate in its broad, collective aspects.

3. The Image of the Shepherd: Ezekiel 34

• The most telling biblical image for illuminating the role of political authority is that of the shepherd, developed at length in Ezekiel 34.
• The shepherd gives the flock direction and marks out the ground on which the sheep may move. This is the "creation" function.
• After the fall, a new function is added: the repressive function. The shepherd must judge between one sheep and another, protecting the weak from the strong who injure them (Ezekiel 34:20-22).
• But the shepherd does not merely protect the physical safety of the weak: he also cares about their living conditions. He must "strengthen the weak, heal the sick, bring back the strays, seek the lost" (Ezekiel 34:4).

4. The Fall: The Repressive Function of the State

• Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 emphasize the repressive function: authority exists to punish those who do wrong.
• The positive side seems fairly limited there, "commend or praise those who do good." There is no explicit word about a duty to organize solidarity or reduce inequalities. The taxes Romans 13 speaks of are not those of a welfare state.
• Some American Christians then present the state as a mere referee: it enforces the rules of the game, it does not play. Civil society actors (individuals, families, churches, associations), take on the task of solidarity.
• This image contains a measure of truth: biblical justice is practiced far more than it is established. It concerns first our actions ("practice justice") rather than the state of the world ("make the world just").
• But this image also has a serious limit: life in society is not a game. It is the fulfillment of a divine calling. The shepherd cannot content himself with looking on as a spectator while a strong sheep reduces a weak sheep to misery, so long as the rules are respected.

5. The Law of Moses, Sanctions, and Solidarity

• One argument made by Christians who advocate for a minimal state: in the law of Moses, almost no provision concerning the poor is explicitly accompanied by a civil penalty. Gleaning, the jubilee, and the tithe of the third year carry no legal recourse in case of disobedience.
• This argument has some force: a distinction must be made between what is legal and what is moral. The state does not have to punish every sin, nor write into law everything that falls under God's commandments. "You shall not covet" is not a matter for the civil code.
• But this argument also has a limit: nothing in Scripture states this principle as the decisive criterion. The king of the Old Testament could add sanctions not provided for in the law of Moses (prisons, in fact, appear in the Old Testament even though no prison sentence is prescribed in the Torah).
• In a highly communal society, social pressure could suffice where, in an individualistic society like ours, more state involvement may be needed.
• Certain provisions of the law (the tithe of the third year (Deuteronomy 14), the fallow of the seventh year), already presuppose a communal functioning of some scope, close to a form of redistribution.

6. Redemption: Common Grace and the Role of the State

• The role of the state falls within common grace, the action by which God restrains sin and its consequences, and makes life possible in a fallen world.
• Paul asks that we pray for authorities "that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity" (1 Timothy 2:1-4). A central purpose of the great Roman empire, says Ron Sider, was to provide a space for the proclamation of the Gospel.
• But common grace is not saving grace. The role of the state is not to communicate the grace of salvation, nor to establish the Kingdom of God.
• Daniel Hillion refuses both to make the civil law of the Old Testament the norm for France's civil law, and to make the Sermon on the Mount the norm for civil law. The temptation today, he says, may not so much be idolatry of the welfare state, but rather expecting from the state what belongs to the coming of the Kingdom.

Key Takeaways

• The Bible is not a technical manual of economic policy, but it offers universal principles that shed light on the question of the state and solidarity.
• Solidarity is not a choice: it is a fact of our creation. God has placed a bond of society between us, prior to any contract.
• The fundamental role of political authority, in light of the Bible, is to channel the fulfillment of the creation mandate in its broad, collective aspects, protecting, coordinating, rendering justice, and at times organizing solidarity.
• The image of the "referee state" contains some truth, but it fails to account for the biblical image of the shepherd, who heals, brings back, and strengthens the weak.
• The greatest temptation of our French social model may not be idolizing the welfare state, but expecting from it what only Christ can give: reconciliation, peace, abundant life.

Personal Application

1. What is your spontaneous reaction when the role of the state in solidarity comes up? Where does it come from, your background, your interests, your political convictions, or reflection grounded in Scripture?
2. Do you perceive solidarity first as a free choice, or as a fact of your creation that binds you to others prior to any contract?
3. At what level does your own practice of solidarity play out: personal generosity, involvement in your church, support for associations, civic participation?
4. Do you sometimes expect from the state what belongs to the Kingdom (reconciliation, restoration, abundant life), rather than seeking it in an encounter with Jesus?
5. How can your church be the kind of community whose mutual love "overflows into society and accomplishes there a kind of good that can only result from an encounter with Jesus"?

Bible References

• Genesis 1 · The creation mandate
• Genesis 9 · The mandate after the fall
• Genesis 41:55 · Joseph and Pharaoh facing famine
• Deuteronomy 14 · The tithe of the third year
• Deuteronomy 15 · The eradication of poverty
• Ezekiel 34 · The shepherd of Israel
• Romans 13 · Civil authorities
• 1 Peter 2 · Submitting to authorities
• 1 Timothy 2:1-4 · Praying for authorities

Further reading

• Home Group Themes: 30 Ideas
• Welcoming New Participants in a Small Group
• How to Lead a Bible Discussion

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Bible teach that a welfare state is legitimate?

The Bible does not provide precise instructions for the economic organization of a country. Daniel Hillion argues that no biblical principle forbids a state from organizing a social protection system or funding public development aid, if that is what is most appropriate in a given context. But the Bible does not require this model either: what is essential is that the role of political authority remains to channel the fulfillment of the creation mandate, not to establish the Kingdom of God.

Is the theonomist argument, which seeks to apply the law of Moses as civil norm, biblical?

Daniel Hillion distances himself from this approach. He recalls that ancient Israel had a unique status (both the people of God and an ethnic-political people), and that the civil law of the Old Testament had a typological role that prepared the way for Christ. Trying to transpose it directly onto twenty-first-century France is to be under an illusion about the very meaning of the presence of these texts in Scripture.

How can a Christian concretely live out solidarity today?

The Christian's unique contribution plays out first at the interpersonal level, because his or her heart has begun to be transformed by grace. The Church is a kind of community where mutual love (the "new commandment"), should be so intense that it overflows into society. Faced with the vastness of the problem of poverty, "the most radical solution remains a personal encounter with Jesus." This does not stop Christians from contributing to social debates, but their first field of solidarity is the concrete relationships they live out with those around them.