Chapter 37 — The Responsibility to Serve: Liberty Is Preserved by Those Who Accept Their Duties - Christian Citizenship and Service

A Weekly Devotional from The Founders’ Quill: Reclaiming America’s Judeo-Christian Heritage through Spirit and Truth.

Community members collaborate on building a fence in a colonial village, with women offering refreshments as men engage in carpentry under the warm afternoon sun.

In our last chapter, we considered the responsibility to limit power. We examined the danger of asking government to become more than government and the importance of preserving the boundaries that distinguish legitimate public authority from the responsibilities belonging to individuals, families, churches, and communities. We were reminded that even the best-designed government cannot manufacture a virtuous people or assume every responsibility upon which a free society depends.

But that conclusion leaves us with a question we cannot afford to ignore.

If government cannot do everything, who will do the work that remains?

It is easy to speak about the importance of limited government. It is considerably more demanding to accept the responsibilities that remain when government is properly limited. We may believe that families should be stronger, neighbors should care for one another, churches should serve their communities, and citizens should take greater responsibility for the common good.

Yet those convictions accomplish very little unless someone is willing to act upon them.

A healthy republic does not emerge merely because government refrains from doing certain things. It requires citizens who willingly do the things that belong to them.

That brings us to another essential responsibility of liberty. We must learn that freedom is not merely the right to be left alone. It is also the opportunity, and often the obligation, to give ourselves in service to others.

The Work That Remains - Christian Citizenship and Service

Imagine once more the modest early American town square we considered in Chapter 36. The courthouse stands in its proper place, representing the legitimate authority of civil government. Its responsibilities are important, but they are not unlimited. Around it, the ordinary life of the community unfolds.

A family is caring for an aging parent. A neighbor has fallen ill and cannot attend to his work. A widow struggles to maintain her household. A young man needs someone willing to teach him a trade. A family has suffered an unexpected loss, and a congregation has learned that one of its members is facing serious hardship.

These needs are not unusual. They are part of the ordinary human experience. Every generation encounters illness, poverty, grief, aging, uncertainty, and the difficulties that arise when life does not unfold as expected.

The question is not whether these needs exist. The question is how a free people will respond to them.

Government may have legitimate responsibilities in protecting vulnerable citizens, providing necessary public services, and addressing circumstances that exceed the capacity of individuals or communities. But the existence of public institutions does not eliminate the responsibilities of neighbors, families, congregations, and voluntary associations.

There are forms of care that cannot be reduced to legislation. A grieving person may need practical assistance, but he also needs the presence of someone willing to listen. A struggling family may need material help, but it may also need encouragement, friendship, and the assurance that it has not been forgotten. A young person may benefit from public education, but he may also need the wisdom and example of an adult willing to invest time in his life.

These are not merely services to be administered. They are expressions of human responsibility.

And they require people who are willing to give something of themselves.

The American Habit of Association

When Alexis de Tocqueville traveled through the United States in 1831 and 1832, he encountered a society that fascinated him. The French observer was interested in the political institutions of the young republic, but he also recognized that America's distinctive character could not be explained by its Constitution alone.

He noticed something about the way Americans responded to common needs.

They organized themselves.

In Democracy in America, Tocqueville described the remarkable tendency of Americans to form voluntary associations for a wide variety of purposes. They established religious, charitable, educational, commercial, and civic organizations. They gathered with others to accomplish things that individuals could not easily accomplish alone.

In one of his best-known observations, Tocqueville wrote, “Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all minds are constantly joining together in groups.”¹

He was describing more than a preference for meetings or organizations. He recognized that the practice of association taught citizens something essential about freedom.

When people voluntarily join together to accomplish a worthwhile purpose, they learn how to cooperate. They must listen to one another, share responsibilities, make decisions, fulfill commitments, and work toward goals that extend beyond their individual interests.

These habits are not acquired merely by reading about liberty or debating the proper responsibilities of government. They are developed through the ordinary practice of living and working with others.

Tocqueville understood that democratic societies could become vulnerable when individuals withdrew into private life and lost the habit of acting together. Isolated citizens might increasingly look toward centralized authority to accomplish what they no longer knew how to accomplish through cooperation.

Voluntary associations offered an important alternative. They created relationships and institutions through which citizens could exercise responsibility without depending entirely upon government.

Tocqueville was observing the United States several decades after its founding, and his descriptions should not be mistaken for proof that American society was universally generous, equal, or free from injustice. The nation he visited contained serious contradictions, including the institution of slavery and the exclusion of many people from full civic participation.

Nevertheless, he identified an important strength within American civic culture.

A free society needs more than individuals and government. It needs families, churches, charities, schools, neighborhood organizations, and other institutions through which people learn to serve and cooperate.

Without those relationships, liberty can gradually become little more than individual isolation.

And isolated people often discover that they are less free than they imagined.

Every Person Has a Load to Carry

The apostle Paul offers a remarkably practical understanding of responsibility in the sixth chapter of Galatians.

He begins with an instruction that lies at the heart of Christian community: “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 NIV).

Yet only a few verses later, Paul writes that “each one should carry their own load” (Galatians 6:5 NIV).

At first glance, these statements may appear to contradict one another. Are we responsible for carrying our own burdens, or are we responsible for helping carry the burdens of others?

Paul's answer is that Christian life requires both.

Every person has responsibilities that properly belong to him. We are accountable for our choices, commitments, relationships, and conduct. We cannot simply transfer every obligation to someone else because carrying it requires effort or sacrifice.

A husband and wife have responsibilities toward one another. Parents have responsibilities toward their children. Workers have obligations to fulfill their commitments honestly. Citizens have duties toward their communities. Christians have responsibilities arising from their calling to follow Christ.

These are loads we must learn to carry.

But there are also burdens that exceed what a person can reasonably bear alone.

Illness may overwhelm a household. The death of a loved one may leave someone struggling to manage the simplest responsibilities. Financial hardship may arise from circumstances that no amount of careful planning could have prevented. Age, disability, disaster, and unexpected loss may create needs that require the help of others.

In those moments, Christian community is called to respond.

Paul is not teaching that we should remove every responsibility from another person's life. Neither is he suggesting that people who struggle should simply be left to manage their difficulties alone.

He is teaching that personal responsibility and mutual care belong together.

The Christian does not have to choose between responsibility and compassion. Scripture commands both.

That is a distinction worth recovering in a society where these virtues are sometimes presented as though they belong to opposing sides of a political argument. One side may emphasize the importance of individual responsibility while the other emphasizes the obligation to help those in need.

But Christian discipleship refuses to separate what God has joined together.

We must carry our own loads.

And we must help carry one another's burdens.

Service Is the School of Citizenship

There is another reason voluntary service matters to the health of a republic.

Service forms character.

When a person agrees to help organize a community project, he discovers that good intentions are not enough. Someone must make plans, gather resources, communicate clearly, keep commitments, and complete the work. When neighbors cooperate to address a common problem, they learn that disagreement does not have to prevent useful action.

When a congregation serves a family in need, its members must look beyond their own convenience. When citizens volunteer in their communities, they encounter people whose circumstances, experiences, and opinions may differ from their own.

These experiences cultivate habits that are essential to self-government.

They teach patience, cooperation, humility, accountability, generosity, and perseverance.

They also remind us that citizenship is more than the possession of political opinions.

A person may speak passionately about the failures of government while contributing very little to the well-being of his community. He may insist that families should be stronger while neglecting his own. He may argue that neighbors ought to care for one another while remaining largely indifferent to the needs of the people living nearest him.

It is possible to be politically vocal without being particularly useful.

That observation is not intended to diminish the importance of public debate or political participation. Citizens should remain informed, advocate their convictions, vote, and hold public officials accountable. These are legitimate responsibilities within a constitutional republic.

But public speech is not a substitute for personal service.

The citizen who quietly helps an elderly neighbor, mentors a young person, supports a struggling family, or volunteers to meet a community need may be strengthening the moral foundations of the republic in ways that never attract public attention.

Tocqueville recognized that the practice of association helped Americans learn how to accomplish things together. Christian teaching reminds us that the purpose of such cooperation should extend beyond institutional success to the genuine good of others.

Citizenship is something we practice, not merely something we discuss.

And service is one of the places where that practice begins.

The Church Must Remember Its Calling

The church has a particular responsibility in this discussion.

Christian congregations are not merely institutions that comment upon the moral condition of society. They are communities called to demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel through the lives of their members.

The New Testament repeatedly connects faith with practical love.

James challenges believers who offer kind words to someone lacking food or clothing while doing nothing to meet the person's needs. He asks what good such expressions of concern accomplish when they are not accompanied by action (James 2:14–17).

Peter instructs believers to use whatever gifts they have received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms (1 Peter 4:10).

Paul calls Christians to look not only to their own interests but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3–4).

These instructions leave little room for a Christianity content merely to criticize the failures of society while neglecting the needs of the people within its reach.

The early church demonstrated this responsibility through acts of generosity, hospitality, mutual support, and care for vulnerable members. The New Testament also records failures and disputes within those communities, reminding us that Christian service has always required correction, perseverance, and renewed faithfulness.

Nevertheless, the calling remains unmistakable.

If Christians believe that government cannot replace the church, then churches must be willing to fulfill the responsibilities that belong to them.

If we believe families are essential to the formation of character, we must strengthen families.

If we believe neighbors should care for one another, we must become neighbors who care.

If we believe voluntary charity is an important expression of freedom, we must become people who freely give.

This is not an argument that private charity can meet every need or that government has no legitimate responsibility toward vulnerable citizens. Some problems require public action, and a wise society must consider the appropriate roles of its various institutions.

But we should not use that complexity to excuse our own unwillingness to serve.

We cannot reasonably complain that other institutions have assumed responsibilities we ourselves refuse to fulfill.

The Christian witness becomes most credible when the truth we proclaim is reflected in the lives we live.

The Freedom to Give Ourselves Away

There is a beautiful connection between the liberty we have been discussing and the freedom described in Paul's letter to the Galatians.

In the fifth chapter, Paul writes:

“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13 NIV).

Paul was speaking about the freedom believers possess in Christ, not outlining a theory of constitutional government. We should not confuse those two subjects. Yet his instruction reveals a moral truth that should shape how Christians exercise every freedom entrusted to them.

Freedom is not permission to live without regard for others.

It creates the opportunity to serve without compulsion.

A person may use his freedom to pursue only his own comfort, possessions, and ambitions. He may withdraw from the needs of his community and regard every obligation to others as an unwelcome intrusion upon his independence.

But Christian liberty points in another direction.

We are free to love.

We are free to give.

We are free to serve.

We are free to accept responsibilities that no law could adequately compel and no government program could fully replace.

The most meaningful expressions of service often arise not because someone has been ordered to act but because someone has recognized a need and chosen to respond.

A neighbor sees another neighbor struggling and offers assistance. A family makes room at its table. A congregation gathers around someone experiencing grief. A citizen volunteers time and ability to improve the community.

These acts may seem small when compared with the great political questions that dominate public conversation.

But the character of a republic is formed through countless ordinary decisions made by people whose names may never appear in a history book.

And those decisions reveal what freedom means to the people who possess it.

What Kind of Community Would We Have?

Let us return once more to the early American town square.

The courthouse remains in the background, fulfilling the responsibilities properly entrusted to civil government. Its presence is necessary, but it does not dominate the entire life of the community.

Around it, the ordinary work of a free people continues.

A neighbor helps repair a damaged roof. A family brings food to someone recovering from illness. A tradesman teaches a young apprentice. A congregation provides assistance to a widow. Citizens gather to address a problem affecting their community.

No one has mistaken government for the source of every good thing.

Neither has anyone mistaken liberty for freedom from every obligation.

They understand that a healthy community depends upon people who accept responsibility for themselves and willingly share the burdens of others.

That is the kind of society in which constitutional limitations become more than restrictions upon government. They preserve room for individuals, families, churches, and communities to exercise the responsibilities that belong to them.

Yet such a society does not appear automatically.

It must be built through the habits of its people.

The American experiment in ordered liberty requires more than citizens who know their rights. It requires citizens who recognize their duties. It needs people who understand that freedom is not merely something to defend against interference but something to exercise for the good of others.

For Christians, that responsibility is even more personal. We follow a Savior who taught that greatness is found in service and who demonstrated the depth of divine love through His willingness to give Himself for others.

Our liberty should therefore make us more generous, not less. More attentive to the needs around us, not more isolated. More willing to shoulder responsibility, not more determined to transfer every burden elsewhere.

And so the mirror returns.

If every citizen served his neighbors with the same willingness I demonstrate, what kind of community would we have?

Would our neighborhoods become more compassionate?

Would struggling families find greater encouragement?

Would our churches become more faithful witnesses?

Would our communities grow stronger because people like us were willing to give something of ourselves?

Or would we discover that we have become far more skilled at explaining what others should do than at doing what belongs to us?

A free people must know the limits of government.

But they must also possess the character to fulfill the responsibilities that remain.

Liberty is preserved not only by those who defend their rights, but by those who willingly accept their duties.

Spirit & Truth,

Thom H. Paine

Notes

1. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, trans. Henry Reeve, rev. Francis Bowen, ed. Phillips Bradley, 2 vols. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945), 2:106. Tocqueville's discussion of Americans' tendency to form associations appears in volume 2, part 2, chapter 5, “Of the Use Which the Americans Make of Public Associations in Civil Life.” The quotation follows the familiar Reeve translation; wording differs among English translations.

2. Tocqueville, Democracy in America, vol. 2, part 2, chaps. 4–7. Tocqueville examines the relationship between democratic individualism, voluntary associations, civic cooperation, and the tendency toward reliance upon centralized authority.

3. The Holy Bible, New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Galatians 6:2–10. Paul's instructions concerning mutual burdens and individual responsibility provide the primary biblical foundation for this chapter.

4. The Holy Bible, New International Version, Galatians 5:13; James 2:14–17; Philippians 2:3–4; 1 Peter 4:10. These passages connect Christian freedom, genuine faith, and the practical responsibility to serve others.

   
   

Bibliography

The Holy Bible, New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011.

Tocqueville, Alexis de. Democracy in America. Translated by Henry Reeve. Revised by Francis Bowen. Edited by Phillips Bradley. 2 vols. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1945.

The Founders’ Quill seeks to recover the spiritual and moral foundations that shaped the American experiment in ordered liberty. By returning to Scripture, history, and the wisdom of those who came before us, we are invited not merely to admire our inheritance but to become people capable of preserving it.