How does good government work?

God’s mandate for all governments is Romans 13:4. They are all “God’s servants to do you good.” So the focus of anyone in a government position, or any position of authority, like a policeman or teacher, is the good of the people they are serving. And the “common good” too, meaning what is best for everyone, not just the most vocal few. 

So the goal of anyone in a position of authority or responsibility is to find out what is best for everyone in their care. Unfortunately, many governments of late have been enacting legislation without the consent of their citizens, but claiming “We’re doing it for the common good.” But how do they decide what the common good is? 

If it’s “common” then it must be what most citizens agree to, right? So what mechanism have those in government positions put in place to find out what the common good is from the people’s perspective? Government can’t just decide what the common good is if it has no idea what the people are thinking. But nowadays we’ve even got non-elected officials with no government authority deciding in their globalist huddles what is best for us. 

But how do they know what’s best for us? Or have they simply taken it upon themselves to decide by their own definition what’s best, because, they claim, “The people don’t know what’s best for them, so they need us to decide for them.” I actually heard a Prime Minister say that back in 2008 during the last mess we were in. 

I’ve come to realize that both elected and non-elected individuals in our present system of influence and authority don’t know what’s best for us, because they’re not living in the real world we’re in. I’ve only had one politician visit my home for a chat before an election, and it was just an infomercial for their party platform, and not one question about what I thought. So much for searching out “the common good,” or knowing what it was from me.  

I’m so glad I found out the meaning of ekklesia as the word used for “church” in Scripture. Because it meant a town coming together to debate and discuss what was the right course to take in the best interests of all. And the people together did that, not some official deciding for them. Hopefully, then, it’s in God’s church that we see how good government works.