The first portion of Romans 13 was of interest to me today, coming the day after a provincial election. There is no authority except that which God has established. So our government would not be what it is today if it were not part of God's plan. (I am speaking generally, not country-specifically.) I can accept that.
{But what about Hitler? Stalin? Other dictators who were responsible for the deaths of millions of people through genocide or war? (See History's worst dictators page, if you are curious.) I theorized once at Bible study that if Hitler survived 15 assassination attempts, there is no conclusion to be drawn other than it was part of God's plan for his government, his army, and their collective atrocities to continue as long as they did and therefore it is entirely possible that Hitler was protected by God. This theory offended some people's sensibilities and they felt it must have been Satan or his demons protecting Hitler. But if we truly believe that evil has no authority other than what God allows, does it not follow that Hitler and the Nazis' authority, terrible as it was, was in fact, established by God regardless of what beings actually did the protecting? Anyway, that's not really the point of what Paul was getting at in this passage - it was more of a tangent, so, bringing us back to our current times...}
The Christian and Civil Government by Bob Deffinbaugh talks about the first 7 verses of Romans 13. A lot of people, Christian and non-Christian alike, speak disrespectfully about politicians and the goverment quite often. You hear many derogatory statements about certain politicians or political parties on a regular basis. Having just had an election in Manitoba yesterday, we've been hearing more than most lately around here. This politician says that party's agenda is crap. That party says this party's platform or stance on such-and-such an issue is ridiculous, and so on and so forth. We hear this stuff regularly, and don't you find, even if you don't participate in candidate or party bashing, that your internal dialogue starts to reflect disrespect and a general disdain for the entire political system in general? Does it matter? Does my opinion of or attitude towards the current political party in power or the president or prime minister make any difference in anything?
Excerpt from the above-mentioned study:
Paul’s teaching on subordination is no interruption of his theme or emphasis, but rather an extension of it. From verse 1 of chapter 12, Paul has been teaching the importance of subordination. We must subordinate our lives to God, presenting our bodies as living sacrifices to Him. We must subordinate our interests to the interests of others if we are to walk in love. We must also subordinate our lives to those in authority over us as civil servants.
There is a very important principle underlying all of Paul’s teaching on subordination, which we are now able to identify: SUBORDINATION IS A PREREQUISITE TO SERVICE AND A MINDSET WITHOUT WHICH SERVICE IS EITHER IMPOSSIBLE OR UNFRUITFUL.
As said earlier, Christians are rapidly moving in the direction of opposing government more than submitting to it and serving it with a pure heart and a clear conscience. We have lost our respect for those in authority and have come to disdain, en masse, those in public office. We have come to view government as God’s opponent rather than as God’s divinely ordained instrument. There may be reason for disobedience to certain laws, but there is no excuse for our spirit of insubordination and for an obedience which is more compliant than it is cooperative and supportive.
Christianity is, at the moment, much more intent upon producing Christian leaders than it is in producing Christian followers. While His disciples had their heads filled with thoughts of position, power, and prestige, Jesus constantly talked to them about subordination and service. While we think much about leaders, Jesus talked most about being followers, disciples. Ironically, the way men become good leaders is by learning to become good followers.
Contemporary Christianity is probably more purposeful and aggressive in seeking to influence government and legislation than ever before. And yet I fear that we are less effective than in previous times. How can this be? On the one hand, we seem to be relying on the “arm of the flesh,” on human mechanisms and motivations, rather than on those which are spiritual.
Subordination is the key to loving God and others. It is not the inclination of our flesh. It is not the spirit of our age. But it is what God requires and what the Spirit enables when we walk in Him. (emphasis mine)
I don't know about you, but I often pray that I would be a better servant. I ask for eyes to see the opportunities around me to serve others and show God's love to them through these acts of service. I know that in our society we've all been taught to put too high a value on our individual rights and what we "deserve" and I try to counteract this attitude by looking for ways to serve others. And yet, I struggle more than I should with submitting to authority. I never really put the two together before. I preach to my kids that "we have rules for a reason" and then promptly turn around and decide for myself which rules of the authorities God has placed over me am I going to follow and which am I not. (My last speeding ticket was over $400, fyi. In my defense, I was not intentionally speeding, but I wasn't careful not to speed either.) I read Romans 13:8-10 about all other laws falling under the one rule "Love your neighbour as yourself" and I thought "Wow! That is really a simple concept. Difficult to live out minute by minute and day by day, but a simple, important truth." Which it is. But in order to live out this simple truth, I must work on my attitude towards serving, and in order to truly desire to serve others, I must subordinate to the laws and authorities over me, which were set in place by God.
Happy Thursday!
Tomorrow's passage: Hosea 1-4; Romans 14.
5 comments:
Great post, Miriam! I never really thought about the double-standard we have with our kids strictly following ALL our rules while we allow ourselves to pick and choose among government rules. Very good point. Really, this is another authority/submission discussion. Submitting is HARD, especially when those in authority aren't really providing and protecting the way they should.
I like your point about Hitler's survival, too. I guess it all boils down to whether or not we believe God plans events that don't make Him immediately happy.
Hosea 8:4a They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval.
Not sure how to fit that in with Romans 13.
And, another word for subordination would probably be submission. Same idea I think. Great thoughts here Miriam.
Hmmm, interesting, Tammy. Perhaps Paul was speaking in general terms of government and not specifically of the individuals elected.
Still, it doesn't change the sovereignty of God and the fact that He chooses to allow those individuals to be elected -- all that occurs during their time in office is woven into His overall tapestry.
It's tricky because if you look at it solely from the point of view that God brings those individuals to power, you could argue that we shouldn't have gone to war against Hitler because God placed him there. And going to war against him is different than simply not obeying him if he asked you to do something immoral.
But it seems to me that God raised up the allies to defeat Hitler so that the Jews would not all be destroyed.
Well, I don't for one second believe the Allies shouldn't have gone to war against Hitler. Obviously there was great evil in his policies that go against God's laws and it was right to fight against that, regardless whether Hitler's coming to power was God's doing.
I don't think the point here is to say that any individual ruler's policies shouldn't be fought against if they are contrary to God's laws. The point of Paul's argument, as I understand it, is that authority is put over us by God, and as long as it doesn't require us to break God's laws, we are to submit to it.
While Hitler and the Nazis coming to power may have been part of God's plan, then the Allies and their victory must have been as well, since ultimately they won.
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