“Respect the Authorities”: Summary Thoughts
- Introduction
- Scriptural framework
Summary Thoughts
In
relation to the civil magistrates whom God has appointed, the Lord’s
pilgrim people live in the space between our Christ’s declaration that
His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) and His command that we
are to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things
that are God’s (Matt. 22:21). There is a divinely appointed and
righteous tension at this point. We are of the kingdom of Christ, and
that situates us finally and ultimately in and of Christ in the
heavenlies. While we are here, that allegiance must be reflected in our
giving to God’s appointed authorities what is their rightful due as well
as rendering to the Lord that which belongs to Him alone.
It is
precisely because Jesus Christ’s kingdom is not of this world that we
obtain perspective on the world and its authorities. It is because we
serve the eternal King, being citizens of heaven, that we are the best
citizens on earth, measured by divine standards. I remember the story of
a pastor called before a communist dictator in Eastern Europe before
the collapse of the Iron Curtain. The autocrat upbraided the man of God
for being subversive and rebellious. “Not at all,” answered the pastor
humbly. “We Christians respect our leaders. We are faithful citizens,
and we pray for you every day.” What if we were brought before men like
Claudius Caesar or Nero Caesar, men like Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pol
Pot, Ceausescu, and others who may yet be raised up in our nations,
perhaps superintending and even directing what we are persuaded is a
moral decline and advancing wickedness? Would we be able to say with a
clear conscience, “Sir, I am one of your best citizens. I hear what you
say even when I cannot heed it, and I pray to my God for you every day”?
As
citizens of heaven we recognize that we are sojourners here and that
our convictions, character, and conduct should reflect our true homeland
and bring honor to our true King. Part of our duty as we make our way
through the world is to regard and respect rulers and authorities as
God’s appointed temporal vicegerents in the civil sphere to promote
righteousness and to prevent wickedness. At their best, they provide a
peaceful environment in which the church can go about its gospel
business in peace, simply being what God has called us to be. At their
worst, the civil authorities make themselves the agitators and
architects of all that is most vicious and violent about opposition to
the church, employing all the machinery of government in an attempt to
crush the people of God.
If the influence of the authorities is
benign, we should be genuinely thankful and express that thanks to God,
but we should not make the mistake of yoking our hopes for Christ’s
heavenly kingdom to the vehicles of political, social, or economic power
or renewal. Our confidence does not lie in the politics and parties and
pressure groups of any culture. If the rulers over us are malign, we
should not orchestrate campaigns of civil resistance or rebellion nor
despair of the kingdom of God because that does not rise or fall
depending on the state of any nation or nations. In one sense, the
progress of God’s kingdom has nothing to do with the civil authorities.
Christ is our king, and His kingdom is not of this world.
Even if
we face explicit opposition, even if a government should forbid what God
commands or command what God forbids, even if we reach the point of
confessing that “we ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29), the
Christian’s noncompliance should reflect his supreme commitment to the
God who governs all and who will one day subdue all. As such, his
demeanor, behavior, and speech should all communicate an acknowledgment
of the subordinate authority, even as he obeys the higher one.
The
Christian’s spirit is to be one of cheerful, willing, comprehensive
submission as required of him by God. We are to offer legitimate support
and reverence wherever we are able to the rulers appointed over us by
our sovereign Lord, and to pray for them and for ourselves, that the
gospel may readily advance as the church pursues the mission entrusted
to her by her Redeemer.
Excerpted from the book Passing Through: Pilgrim Life in the Wilderness (Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com or Westminster Bookstore or RHB).
