WHAT DO WE OWE THE GOVERNMENT? When a group of religious leaders asked Jesus if Jewish citizens should pay taxes to Caesar, He gave a startling response. He asked His audience to look at two sides of a Roman coin and said, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

What does that mean for us 2,000 years later? Whether we live within the social order of a democracy, republic, monarchy, military dictatorship, or communistic system, how do we balance our duties as citizens with our accountability to Christ?

The following pages will help us think through the challenge of not giving to Caesar what belongs to God, or to God what He has entrusted to Caesar.

—Martin R. DeHaan II