Tao Te Ching 66

Why do the hundred rivers turn and rush toward the sea?

Because it naturally stays below them

He who wishes to rule over the people must speak as if below them

He who wishes to lead the people must walk as if behind them

So the Sage rules over the people but he does not weigh them down

He leads the people but he does not block their way

The Sage stays low so the world never tires of exalting him

He remains a servant so the world never tires of making him its king

 

Some more quotes from Apostles’ Creed

We inoculate the world with a mild form of Christianity so that it will be immune from the real thing. -E. Stanley Jones

Christians have never killed as willingly as when they have been asked to do so for “freedom.” I take it, therefore, that one of the most important challenges facing Christians today is to remember that the democratic state is still a state that would ask us to qualify our loyalty to God in the name of some lesser loyalty. -Stanley Hauerwas

When it comes to the point where the majority decides what constitutes truth, it will not be long before they take to deciding it with their fists. -Søren Kierkegaard

Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. -C. S. Lewis

 

Compare and Contrast

Just think about the context of these passages. Goverment will always say that it is doing good while it takes on authority – even while destoying the people it conquers.

And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant.”

That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

 

Parable of the Trees

Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and called out. Thus he said to them, “Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come, reign over us!’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?’ Then the trees said to the vine, ‘You come, reign over us!’ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?’ Finally all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come, reign over us!’ The bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.’”

Judges 9