May 19, 2010
 
“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and
thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high
positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in
every way.” 1 Timothy 2:1-2
 
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority
except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.  Therefore whoever
resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur
judgment … Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue
to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor
is owed.” Romans 13:1-2, 7
 
Pretty simple … pray for them, obey them, respect them -- our governing authorities,
that is.  Paul doesn’t mince words.  As followers of Jesus, we have a
responsibility to pray for our leaders, to obey them, and to show them the
respect they deserve.
 
I know what some of you are saying.  In fact, you’re seething.  “This government of ours
doesn’t show any respect to us. We’re not going to show any respect to them!”  And I
know what you’re feeling … I, too, am a strong proponent of constitutional law and
government.  I am quite exasperated with attempts to rewrite our constitution, our
history, and the Sacred Word.
 
Problem is, Paul’s inspired commands, for the most part, weren’t conditional.
Prayer, submission to, and respect for leaders is mandated and purposeful, to help
bring about peaceful conditions, an environment conducive to godly living and the free
expression of the gospel.
 
Throughout history, followers of Jesus have sometimes become subversive or have
taken up arms against their own government with good reason.  In Romans 13:3-4,
Paul defines the role of government, in part, as one of God’s means of preserving
peace and avoiding terror.  When any government shirks that responsibility and
becomes, instead, the means of terror, then its citizens often act against
corruption to preserve peace.
 
Now, at any given time in history, against any given government, some people will be
convinced that that government has failed to obey their biblical mandate.  In our day,
many politically right-wing talk-show hosts (though primarily self-proclaimed entertainers)
are suggesting that we may be on the brink of … well, whatever they think we may be on
the brink of.
 
And they are entitled to share their thoughts freely and we are entitled to listen and
discern and join that public discussion. That is, after all, one of our great privileges
in the course of free and open discussion in a free society.
 
The question is, then, should political commentators (left-leaning or right-leaning)
define our convictions and actions as followers of Jesus OR should the Scriptures,
as far as they go, define our convictions and actions as followers of Jesus?
 
We may need to gauge and compare our time spent with these commentators on any
given day with time spent with God in his word on any given day, although amount of
time and percentage of hours do not tell the whole story.
 
Increasingly, I’ve been the unhappy recipient of emails designed to poke fun at our
leaders, to discredit their leadership, and, at least, to withdraw any kind of respect
for them.  I‘m sure we don’t mean much by them and, after all, everybody’s doing it …
and its fun!  On the other hand, the Scripture demands 1) that I show respect to my
leaders, however I may still choose to disagree with them, and 2) that I redeem my
time. Reading through these emails, waiting for the “surprise” ending, and
taking time to pass them on to five other “friends” and thus, not redeem their
time … well, it's kind of getting to me.
 
May I kindly (in the best Christian sense) suggest that if you have disagreements
with your government (and who doesn’t?), that you 1) pray for your leaders (always
start here!), 2) call or write your congressional representative to remind them of the
government’s biblical mandate and how they can better fulfill it (offer valid, practical
suggestions), 3) vote your conscience, 4) run for office or help someone with similar
convictions to run, 5) join with others on issues of conscience and actually do
something to hasten change, 6) spread some email cheer, perhaps even a quote
about praying for and showing respect for our leaders, and 7) delete one person from
your politics-related email list (guess who?!).
 
Otherwise, I love email chats about living and loving and making an impact for Jesus
in every aspect of our lives.  I love to dialogue about the believer’s role in all of society,
to discuss questions of biblical interpretation and application. And I love to encourage
people who need a lift in life.  In fact, I need your help (!) and you need mine to discern
our times and to inform and challenge each other in our own biblical world-view.
Meanwhile, let’s pray, obey, and respect … and see what changes God may make in
our leadership and in our society because we were obedient!
 
Pastor Don