I have some countering beliefs to offer and would appreciate hearing your responses.
"...sometimes there are major consequences when [numbering] is done without God's blessing and direction (2 Samuel 24)." I'm struggling to see how the Bible reference supports your point. David was numbering the people for the sake of military knowledge and security rather than finding security in Christ. The SSNs are for identification purposes, and, I believe, aid in the process of law and order.
You speak of "God-given rights". I'd love to see a reference for that. "Fear God, honor the king, love the brotherhood" is (one of) our command as Christians. Rights that Americans find themselves entitled to are just that: American. Which cannot equate to God-given rights as there are Christians world wide who don't have those freedoms.
You also said a ssn is an economical sin because it is socialism. Is socialism a sin? Without selfishness and power hungry grubbiness (i.e. sin) corrupting the system, socialism would work very well, almost akin to the early church in Acts.
The American Dream that you hold so dearly stands lacking Biblical support. Nowhere does the Bible say God wants "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" for us. He wants us to be holy. Granted He loves when we are happy and enjoy freedoms, but that's not entitled to us. It's a gift from God and God along. Not America, not the government.
"...only under God's rule." The government gets their authority from God. That doesn't equate to being "God's rule", but it does mean we "honor the king". Yes, they abuse that authority. No, I don't agree with everything they do. I don't agree with where my tax dollars go, however Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." My responsibility is to follow Jesus' commands and to pray for the government, not necessarily support them.
In closing, I did appreciate your conclusion. Finding freedom in Christ is the only way to have life!
We live in America, a country that has broken away from religious based governments whose constitution states we have god-given rights. Were I to live in another country, I would argue that these God-given rights are of less weight because there’s no constitution to back them up. However, here in America that’s not the case. Here we aren’t actually entitled to pay allegiance to Caesar since we have no Caesar.
I have some countering beliefs to offer and would appreciate hearing your responses.
"...sometimes there are major consequences when [numbering] is done without God's blessing and direction (2 Samuel 24)." I'm struggling to see how the Bible reference supports your point. David was numbering the people for the sake of military knowledge and security rather than finding security in Christ. The SSNs are for identification purposes, and, I believe, aid in the process of law and order.
You speak of "God-given rights". I'd love to see a reference for that. "Fear God, honor the king, love the brotherhood" is (one of) our command as Christians. Rights that Americans find themselves entitled to are just that: American. Which cannot equate to God-given rights as there are Christians world wide who don't have those freedoms.
You also said a ssn is an economical sin because it is socialism. Is socialism a sin? Without selfishness and power hungry grubbiness (i.e. sin) corrupting the system, socialism would work very well, almost akin to the early church in Acts.
The American Dream that you hold so dearly stands lacking Biblical support. Nowhere does the Bible say God wants "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" for us. He wants us to be holy. Granted He loves when we are happy and enjoy freedoms, but that's not entitled to us. It's a gift from God and God along. Not America, not the government.
"...only under God's rule." The government gets their authority from God. That doesn't equate to being "God's rule", but it does mean we "honor the king". Yes, they abuse that authority. No, I don't agree with everything they do. I don't agree with where my tax dollars go, however Jesus said, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." My responsibility is to follow Jesus' commands and to pray for the government, not necessarily support them.
In closing, I did appreciate your conclusion. Finding freedom in Christ is the only way to have life!
We live in America, a country that has broken away from religious based governments whose constitution states we have god-given rights. Were I to live in another country, I would argue that these God-given rights are of less weight because there’s no constitution to back them up. However, here in America that’s not the case. Here we aren’t actually entitled to pay allegiance to Caesar since we have no Caesar.