Let everyone be subject to the governing
authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has
established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently,
whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has
instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Over
the past few years numerous Christians have tried to discern the meaning of the
passage in Romans 13, depending on the party in power. Can we rebel against the
powers that be or do we simply accept their authority without question?
Well,
one thing to consider is that, at the dawn of the church, the Jewish people
(and by extension, the early Christians) harbored a deep resentment toward
Rome, which had begun occupying Israel about two centuries earlier. Indeed, the
prophecy of the Messiah held, wrongly as things turned out, that he would kick
out the Romans; when Jesus, who confessed that He was the true Messiah but only
after being prodded, didn’t do so that created some
disillusionment. Even after His resurrection some folks still
harbored that hope.
It’s
also in that context that Paul wrote Romans 12:2, the passage about “renewing
your mind.” Basically, he’s telling people to trust in the LORD regardless of
who’s in power.
And
I’m not simply saying this to folks who despised Presidents Clinton and Obama —
I took the very same tack with more liberal Christian friends after George W.
Bush was reelected in 2004, saying to them, in effect, “God’s still in
control.”
This
is not to say that we can’t say that our government is doing wrong, even though
it might be, and in Western democracies we have the power to change our
leadership and Christians can be a part of that process. The ultimate point is
that God is still on the throne and leaders are raised up and brought down only
according to His permissive will. And that should keep our faith in Him, not in
political leaders.
