Why I Don't Want To Be A Bureaucrat
The lights are on, the cars are parked outside. The clerks are inside but no one will open the door. "We are closed." I would have to come back tomorrow and deliver the papers, for which, I had just driven ten miles. As I drove away, one of my subcontractors called and told me that the health inspector would not inspect the septic system on another job until we renewed the permit. I had purchased this project on foreclosure. During my investigation and when picking up the permit, the official had assured me that although the time was close, he would not charge us a renewal. Now, according to my installer, the official admitted to changing his mind.
In my real life (when I am not writing this column) I build homes for a living. Many people think that all contractors are rich (maybe if I didn't spend so much time writing and working in the political arena). Bureaucrats especially seem to think builders are rich and that it is their job to strip that wealth. Because I am an entrepreneur, I have the potential to acquire wealth but I have as great a potential of losing everything I own. I do not have the advantage of a well-paid government job, where I am assured of being paid timely, every month, including paid vacation time and sick leave, getting paid to attend meetings, retreats and seminars and where I am guaranteed a better than average pension. If I don't produce, nobody pays me a dime. I can't afford to be sick. If I want a pension, I must invest my own spare capital and there is no one to match my funds.
The Bible tells us God established His law to last forever (Psa 119:152). This does not change for the whims of man, regardless whether we are more enlightened than our predecessors. God established the requirements, or boundaries, for mans' laws. This is pronounced throughout the Scriptures and restated in the book of Jeremiah chapter twenty-two. I will outline it here because the foundation for any argument regarding mans' authority must conform to God's word, for He alone gives man authority to rule over man (Gen 9:6; Dan 2:20-22; 4:32; Psa 47:9; Joh 19:11). The terms of mans' authority are: 1) Do what is just and right; 2) Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed; 3) Do no wrong or violence to those who are weak and/or lack political power; and 4) Do not shed innocent blood. The Bible does not give authority to man to redistribute wealth or regulate lawful enterprise. Or, as our Founding Fathers stated in the Declaration of Independence, no civil government has the authoritty to interfere with our God-given right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness (sorry folks, this does not mean self indulgence, it means property, commerce and the pursuit of an estate).
Before I continue, let me say this: I am not anti-government. However, I do believe as our Founding Fathers did that the Bible limits the authority of civil government; that the civil authorities have no authority over self government, family government and church government. Furthermore, the purpose of this article is not to impugn Christian bureaucrats. For although I may disagree whether their departments are justified, it is well that a Christian occupies that position as long as they do not forget the limits on their authority. Some are well aware of their accountability to God in this matter and are serving as Daniels in a pagan culture. Most others, however, are caught up in the power of their position and, lacking a foundation in the Scripture, are not even aware how contrary their actions are to God's commands.
Through business dealings and church affiliations, I have met many a bureaucrat that professes to be Christian and will verbally proclaim that Jesus is Lord; yet, their actions confirm they believe the state is god. Some of these people sincerely believe they can make the world a better place through government programs and infrastructure building. They neglect that man's life and livelihood are between him and God and that not all men want to live within two miles of government schools, police departments, fire stations and stores. Some bureaucrats believe they can solve poverty by paying out welfare. When in fact, they have created generations of state-dependant victims and chased fathers out of the home, all-the-while stripping the wealth from productive families-making them dependant upon the state as well. Some believe they can protect our planet by regulation. They have ignored the Scriptures that God made the earth to last (Psa 93:1; 119:90; Ecc 1:4), that man cannot destroy it, that the basis for every occupation originates with the production of natural resources and that we are commanded to be productive (Gen 1:28). Every example I could list and every argument any Christian bureaucrat could give in defense boils down to this: civil government regulations rob wealth and create a dependency, or allegiance, to the state, reducing, or eliminating, man's accountability to God.
Several years ago, I traveled around the state of Washington speaking in public forums promoting an initiative that would roll back the rate of tax and fee increases (I-601). During that time, a bureaucrat at my church told me that I would destroy public government. He cared little that taxes and public spending (26% the prior two-year biennium) were stripping the lifeblood from families and business. He was concerned that government jobs would be reduced.
More recently, while talking to a Christian bureaucrat in another town, our conversation centered around growth. She was upset about all the new homes, because now at rush hour the traffic on the main road can backup three or four blocks. This was a small town and rush hour is less than one hour. I tried to convince her this growth meant there were good jobs and the children could find work in the town they were raised rather than have to move away. She was excited, however, that the transit system was now in place. The grants were funded, the routes established and the buses were here. I told her I thought that was great, "now the welfare crowd can spend their checks at WalMart. That is really going to be a boon to the local economy." She was stunned (not at me, we are still friends). I think that made her think.
Everywhere I go, I try to make these bureaucrats think, especially if they are Christian. That is one reason I could not take the job. Not only would I have to compromise everything I believe in but I would be in constant verbal debate over the validity of my department's actions. (One thing I believe: God commanded us to be productive using the resources of the earth, rather than eating out the substance of those who do.) I remember a conversation I had with some building officials, biologists and planners in a large county in Washington. We were discussing the rightful role of government regulation and the taking of property through Native Growth Protection Areas on private lots and property. They were all trying to sound somewhat conservative and respectful of property (most acknowledged this was God-given). I brought up the fact that more and more of the new regulations are involving prison terms for violations. They rejected the premise that prison sentences were being enforced. So I reminded them of the high-profile case in Florida of a father and son who are doing a six-year term in the pen for dumping a couple truckloads of sand in a small swale. Immediately, the building official wanted me to understand that the only reason they are in prison, and that they deserved to be so, was because they were warned several times and ignored the warnings. My response was to ask them if I believed there is a higher law than civil regulations, do I deserve to be in prison as well. I could tell by the look on his face, the building official, who had always tried to be a fair man, immediate got my point. The biologist and the planners were gnashing their teeth.
Bureaucracy is growing because we have left the laws of God. We want to create a perfect world, a new Tower of Babel. The state will solve our problems and conflicts, even raise our families. Then we believe we will be truly free. But the Bible warns of the cost, "We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. . . . Slaves rule over us, and there is none to free us from their hands. We get our bread at the risk of our lives." (Lam 5:4-9 NIV). My soul yearns for the day when I can exercise my trade without the micro-management and interference of civil regulators. When I am not penalized for normal daily operations and not left at the mercy of the weak, trying to justify their existence. The Bible tells me that day will come. "In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: 'Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?' You will see those arrogant people no more, those people of an obscure speech, with their strange, incomprehensible tongue." (Isa 33:18-19 NIV).
Furthermore, God promises when His judgment comes upon the nations, the shepherds, leaders and bureaucrats will have no one left to fleece. Their cushion will be gone. "At that time those slain by the LORD will be everywhere-from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned or gathered up or buried, but will be like refuse lying on the ground. Weep and wail, you shepherds; roll in the dust, you leaders of the flock. For your time to be slaughtered has come; you will fall and be shattered like fine pottery. The shepherds will have nowhere to flee, the leaders of the flock no place to escape. Hear the cry of the shepherds, the wailing of the leaders of the flock, for the LORD is destroying their pasture." (Jer 25:33-36 NIV). The Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God (Heb 10:31). Every man will be accountable for his own actions, whether the fruit of his life professed that he believed that Jesus is the Son of God. Or did his life acknowledge the wonderful things we can accomplish through government direction.
God save our nation.
[©2000 Dean Isaacson]