Politics
Nov 11, 2008 Print This Post
At Riv this past weekend, I went as political as I get publicly. Here’s the 5ish minute clip:
After this message, I had tons of people ask me the same question:
“You said to ‘honor and respect’ our governmental authorities. What about evil governments?”
Because of the sheer number of times I got this question, I figured I’d post my response here.
First of all, this is not something “I said.” It is something “God said.” I’m not making this up, you can find these verses in your very own Bible.
Romans 13:1-2,6-7
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished…Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.
Again, these are not my words, they are God’s. We are to submit to, honor, and respect our governing authorities.
So, what about Evil empires?
Well, let’s go back to the time Paul was writing this letter. What was happening to the church? They were being persecuted. By whom? The government! Paul himself was being terrorized by the government! And yet he says we are to submit to, honor and respect our governing authorities.
The bottom line is our attitude. A Christ-follower’s attitude is to be above reproach. It is my opinion that we are to submit to our governmental authorities until such time comes that they usurp God’s authority and negate our freedom to obey him.
For example, if our government said I was required to perform gay marriages and they commanded me to do so, I would do two things:
1) I would disobey
2) I would bear the consequences with an honoring and respectful attitude
For more on this you can download a message I gave on a Christ-followers relationship to government by clicking here.
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