Does Belief in God Matter in Society?

Imagine you are arrested and innocent.

Would you care whether the police who hold you and the judge who sentences you feared God?

Putting it another way, would it matter to you, an innocent prisoner, if the police and judge, who hold your life in their hands, took their appointed positions more seriously than they did their own lives?

Most of us, most of the time, don’t think about the fact that it is critical for the operation of a free society that enough people believe in God to protect everyone from falling under the tyrannical rule of a few, even if they were legitimately elected. We hope (to God, I might add respectfully) our leaders are not criminals who do whatever they please whenever they please, because, let’s face it, there are positions in every country, including ours, where it is well nigh impossible, under normal circumstances, for checks and balances to check and balance the elite few at the highest levels.  

A good question rarely asked, at least when people are young, before they have real responsibilities for the welfare of others, is — What would society look like if everyone thought the way I do about everything?

In other words, certainly magnify your strengths and see that society needs them, but also magnify your weaknesses. How would you like everyone not to care about school if you don’t? How would you like everyone not to care about being on time if this isn’t important to you? Or what about keeping commitments? The list goes on.

You see, believing in a just God, one who will ultimately judge the corrupt, regardless of title, is an absolute check on even unbelieving rulers. How so? Belief in the power of God in the heart of just one individual, even a young shepherd boy, can make all the difference.

1 Samuel 17