Authority
Authority is one of those words that most of us only like if we’re the ones with it. Most of us aren’t too fond of submitting to someone else’s authority. However, in this life, we all spend more time under someone else’s authority than we do in authority over other people, so we may as well get used to it. There are three main figures that are in authority over us.
First, our parents are in authority over us. Not only is it one of the Ten Commandments, but Paul himself comments on it in Ephesians 6:1 saying that children need to obey their parents because it’s the right thing to do. Now, if one’s parents ask us to do something that’s directly contrary to Scripture, we don’t need to listen, but I’m pretty sure most of us aren’t going to be in that situation. What parents say to do doesn’t always make sense, but keep in mind that they’ve lived a lot longer than us, and have a lot more experience in life than we do. Now, some of you are probably wondering about what happens when we move out of our parents home. Well, they’re not in authority over us as much, but rather they deserve our respect and honor, and we definitely should seek their advice with the tough stuff. Because they’ve had more experience than we do, it’s better to learn from their experience and their mistakes than to do it all ourselves.
The second authority that we need to submit to is the government. We live in a day and age where the taxes are high and the government isn’t popular. However, Peter makes it clear in 1 Peter 2:13 that we need to submit to every ordinance of the government. Again, if the ordinance is contrary to Scripture, we don’t have to obey it, but aside from that one exception, we need to be the model citizens. We need to follow all the laws, even the ones that seem stupid or unfair. A lot of people these days complain about taxes, and talk about how they’re getting around them. Yeah, taxes may seem high or unreasonable, but even Jesus said we had to pay taxes. Are you wiser than He? It’s sad to look at the news, and see Christians going to jail for tax evasion because they don’t believe that they have to pay them. Is this the witness that we want to give the rest of the world?
Not only are we to honor the laws, we need to respect the leaders of our country as well. Regardless of who wins the election this year, we need to respect them and show them honor. If we’re constantly digging up bad press on the candidates, are we really any better than they are? It’s one thing to point out their politics that go against what God says, but to compare them to Satan, the antichrist, and so on? Is that really even that accurate? Yeah, the other side always ridicules our candidates, but we should be the bigger person, and be better than that.
The final authority, in more ways than one, is God. We need to obey God. It sounds trite; perhaps overused, but it needs to be remembered. Obeying God is much more than just following the letter of what the Bible says. Obeying God needs to be done happily, with the right attitude. Otherwise, it doesn’t matter. Look at the Pharisees. The followed the law that God gave the Israelites to the letter. They went beyond that, and did even more. But, they did it for themselves, and looked down on anyone who wasn’t as “good” as they were. Even though they were doing all the right things, they were doing them for all the wrong reasons. When you obey God, you need to do it not only because it’s what you’re supposed to do, you need to do it happily. Otherwise, it’s meaningless. And no, God’s laws aren’t always easy to follow. Loving your enemy, and doing good to those who curse and hate you is quite hard. But, with God’s help we can do it.
In the end of it all, if we obey God, we’re going to obey the government and our parents and anyone else who has authority over us. Pray for God to give us all the strength we need to do so.
