The Christian's Duty
- 1. The Christian’s Duty Toward Governmental Authority In recent weeks and months, I have been hearing those professing to be followers of Christ questioning local, state, and federal governments, the laws that arein place and our obligationtofollow those laws. Weare experiencing a growing spirit ofrebellion in thepursuit of “personal freedoms” and “individualrights.”I have even heard anarchistic arguments suggesting theneed to eliminateour submissionto law enforcement entirely. Whilegovernmentalinstitutionsarenot perfect and are oftentimesinefficient, greedyand even corrupt, we have a God-givenduty toward these entities. How do we know this? BecauseGod, Christ, and the apostlessaid it!As Christians, weare indeed set apart from the world. But we still have to live in the world. In Jesus’ prayer prior to His arrest, He said the following of His disciples: “I do not ask that you takethem out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them intruth;your word istruth.” (John 17:15- 17) We areindeed sanctified bythetruth of the gospel. However, we live in a country, state, and citythat hashumangovernmentsand, just becausewe are Christians, weare not exempt from that. The apostlePaulwrote: “Let every person be subject tothe governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resiststhe authoritiesresistswhat God has appointed, and those whoresist will incur judgment. For rulersare not a terror to good conduct, but tobad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Thendowhat is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carriesout God's wrath onthe wrongdoer.Therefore, one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of thisyou also pay taxes, for the authoritiesare ministersofGod, attending tothisvery thing.Pay toall what is owed to them:taxesto whom taxesare owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect isowed, honor to whom honor is owed.”(Romans 13:1-7)
- 2. Please note the text: EVERY PERSON, including Christiansaresubject to the governing authorities. Why? Becausetheyhave been institutedbyGod. Paulgoes on to plainly statethat those who resist these authoritieswill incur judgment. In simpleterms, a poor attitudetoward authorityonearth is a poor attitudetoward theGod of heaven. So, if a governmentalauthorityis corrupted inany way, arewe as Christians freeto ignore their authority? Jesusoften described thescribes and Phariseesashypocriticaland corrupt. However, consider his instructionstohisdisciplesregarding their authority: “The scribesand Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tellyou, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. Theytie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselvesare not willing to move them with their finger.”(Matthew 23:2-4) Indeed, their conduct was corrupted, hypocriticaland oftentimes deplorable. However, the discipleswere to do and observe whatever they were told to do. Their examples weren’t to be copied, but the order of their authoritywasto be upheld. By so doing, they would demonstrate their respect, not for them, but for God. Remember, governmentalauthorities are appointed byGod and thus their actionsand the fulfillment of their dutiesare performed on God’s behalf. Do we have the right tospeak evil of them? Socialmedia certainlyisfilled with such endeavors, even among those professing to be followers of the instructionsgiveninRomans 13 and Matthew 23. On a daily basis, you can read (or hear) slanderous statementsagainst thoseinauthority, whether based in truth or not. Peter spoke of “those whoindulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the gloriousones” (2 Peter 2:10) To many, clear teaching onthe error of slandering authoritystrikesno fear in them at all. Paulalso wrote: “Remind them to be submissive torulers and authorities, to be obedient, tobe ready for every good work,to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, tobe gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.” (Titus3:1-2) How would one describeyou? Submissive, obedient, gentle, etc.? Or, bitter, angry, accusatory, and expressing hatred?
- 3. “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every humaninstitution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those whodo evil and to praise those who do good. For thisis the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people whoare free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servantsof God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”(1 Peter 2:13-17) The effectivedeterrent to any unreasonable mancan be found in the positiveactionsof a faithfulfollower of Christ. You may choose to devote your timeto politicalcausesand becomewrapped up in “socialchange” by public activism. But, guard your timewisely. We are not going to change the world by picketing WashingtonD.C. We canchange the world by living and teaching thewill of God. What about taxes? Thisshould be an easy conclusiondrawnfrom plain teaching ofthe Bible. This is the questionasked of Jesus and His response on thesubject of taxes: “Tell us, then, what you think.Is it lawful to pay taxesto Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coinfor the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. And Jesussaid to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscriptionisthis?’ They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ Thenhe said to them, ‘Therefore render to Caesar the thingsthat are Caesar’s, and to God the thingsthat are God’s.’”(Matthew 22:17-21) Thereshould be no grayarea here. Nowherein the world has excessivetaxationbeenmoreegregiousthan during theRoman empire. However, taxeswere to be paid, according to Jesus. Whether it be federal, state, or even the businesslicenses required to fund local governments, they MUST be paid. To be clear, nowhere did Jesus say obey laws contrarytoGod’s will. That is not the issue at hand. The apostleswere imprisoned numeroustimesfor refusing to stop preaching thegospel of Jesus. Isn’t it interesting that much of theinspired teaching onthe subject of submissionto governmental authoritiescomesfrom men who were falsely imprisoned bythe very ones to whom submissionwasto be given? The lack of submissionand the growing socialmedia onslaught toward authorityistroubling. It does not appear tobe isolated. There is a spirit of rebellion to all governmentalauthority, federal, and statelawmakersand
- 4. even local police departments. Furthermore, it isfinding itsway into our schools, homes, and places of work. The most troubling part isthat it is not just slanderous rebellion against a president, governor, mayor, teacher, or a police chief. It is rebellion against God. Consider one more thing. Paulgives us further instructionsonsuch matters: “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivingsbe made for all people, for kings and all whoare in high positions, that we may lead a peacefuland quiet life, and godly and dignified inevery way.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Wehave been given the COMMANDtoprayfor our governmentalauthorities. Haveyou done so today? Thanks be to God that he has set up forms of government that allow us to live peaceablyamong menso that we can serve and devote our lives to Him. Let us pray that thiscontinues.