When I posted on social media, “Stop trying to make government bigger than God. You can’t, and it’s not,” I knew it might stir the pot. And the comments section proves me right. Some folks jumped in with “Truth!” and “Such a smart statement.” Others admitted they’ve lost family and friends just for saying things like that out loud. And then came the objections. Oh, the objections.
“Which religion are you talking about?” “Separation of church and state!” “This sounds like Christian nationalism to me.”
I’ve heard it all before, but it still amazes me how quickly a simple acknowledgment of God turns into DEFCON 1 for some people. You quote Scripture in public, and suddenly you’re plotting to turn City Hall into a cathedral. Please. The reality is exactly the opposite. For too long, Christians have been told to sit down, stay quiet, and keep their faith in the pews. We’ve been pushed out of public life under a phrase – “separation of church and state” – that doesn’t even appear in the Constitution. Jefferson’s letter to the Danbury Baptists was a polite reassurance, not a gag order. But courts twisted that into a doctrine that has people convinced a Bible verse near a courthouse is basically a coup d’état. It rings hollow.
Now, let’s talk Romans 13. Some folks in the thread tried to dismiss it as “MAGA theology.” That’s laughable. Paul wrote those words almost 2,000 years ago – long before Donald Trump was tweeting in all caps. Romans 13 says government exists as “God’s servant for your good.” That doesn’t mean government is supposed to bless every whim under the banner of tolerance. It means government has a job description: restrain evil, promote justice, and encourage virtue.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth: there’s no such thing as a “value-neutral” government. Every law reflects someone’s morality. Outlawing theft? Moral. Regulating marriage? Moral. Setting rules for schools? Moral. The question isn’t whether government is moral, it’s whose morals get baked into the cake. Pretending otherwise is just lying to yourself.
One commenter came at me with the usual, “If you want more religion in government, which one? Yours?” That sounds fair on the surface, but it misses the point. The First Amendment bars the government from creating an official church and bars it from stopping you from practicing your faith. That’s it. It doesn’t mean the government has to treat every worldview as equally true or equally good. Religious liberty means you can worship as your conscience leads – unless you’re breaking just laws in the process. Liberty isn’t “do whatever you want.” Liberty is freedom ordered toward the good.
Others said Scripture should unite people, not divide them. Nice sentiment. But Jesus Himself said He didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword. Truth divides before it heals. A surgeon’s scalpel cuts before it saves. Division doesn’t mean dehumanization. Christians should never twist Scripture into a weapon against our neighbors. But love without truth isn’t love – it’s surrender. Telling someone their confusion is clarity or their sin is virtue isn’t compassion. It’s abandonment.
Then, of course, came the “Christian nationalism” label. Apparently, every time an elected leader mentions God, it’s proof we’re one hymn away from a theocracy. Again – nonsense. Saying rights come from God isn’t fringe. It’s literally the Declaration of Independence. Washington, Adams, Lincoln, King – they all spoke openly of God and Scripture. By today’s standards, they’d all be branded “Christian nationalists.” What’s really happening is secularism trying to muscle its way into monopoly status. Funny thing is, the same people screaming about faith being dangerous treat their own ideologies – climate alarmism, gender dogma, woke politics – as religious creeds with high priests and heretics. They don’t want neutrality. They want their orthodoxy enthroned.
And here’s where I have to take off the gloves and speak plainly as a Weld County Commissioner. I see firsthand what government can and cannot do. And our problems are not from too little government. If anything, we’ve got government coming out of our ears. Our problems are from too little God. People have replaced God – and the role of the church – with government. They expect Washington, or Denver, or even Weld County to heal the brokenhearted, fix the family, form character, and provide meaning. Government isn’t built for that. It was never meant to be anyone’s savior. That’s why it swells, lurches, and fails when we force it into that role. People ask why things feel so chaotic. It’s because the more we shove God out, the more government tries to fill His shoes. And it’s terrible at it.
Some commenters got legal, tossing around Everson (1947) and Lemon (1971) like they’d settled everything. Even liberal justices admitted that Lemon was a mess, and in 2022, the Court finally walked away from it. The “wall of separation” metaphor has been duct-taped onto constitutional law for decades, but it was never in the text. And the text is simple: no national church, no prohibition of free exercise. That’s it. The rest has been legal Mad Libs, and in some cases, outright bad precedent.
Here’s what all the arguing in that thread showed me: people are hungry for clarity. Some want reassurance that faith and freedom can coexist. Others want to shout down any faith in public life as oppressive. But at the end of the day, my conviction is simple: government cannot be bigger than God, because government is not God. It is His servant. It will be judged by whether it promotes justice and virtue or exalts human pride and confusion. And Christians? We have to stop apologizing for bringing our faith into public life. That’s not unconstitutional, and it’s certainly not unbiblical.
Charlie Kirk spent his life calling people back to faith, courage, and truth in the public square. He knew liberty without virtue collapses into chaos. That one-line post – “Stop trying to make government bigger than God” – sparked a debate that proves how far we’ve drifted. But it also shows there are still plenty of us willing to push back, to speak truth, even when it stings.
So here’s where I land: I will keep serving openly as both a commissioner and a believer. I will not hide my faith. I will not apologize for quoting Scripture. And I will not buy the lie that liberty and faith are enemies. Liberty requires virtue, and virtue comes from God.
Stop trying to make government bigger than God. You can’t. And it’s not.
