I should have posted this yesterday on the National Day of Prayer, but oh well. Government authority usually comes up as we pray for our nation. Here is an alternative view of the subject which I am in favor of.
A father (like everyone else) must obey God's authority. This fact was affirmed by Jesus to the Roman official, Pontius Pilate: "you would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above." Paul famously affirmed the same concept:
" let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resist the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves."
Even the authority that God has delegated to rulers is valid only within the limited sphere that God has designated for them. When a ruler steps out of the sphere of authority given to him, he is pretending not to be under God, but to be something of a god himself. In that moment he is no ruler in God's sight, but an ordinary man. He is just another man with a private opinion about what others should do. No one is morally obligated to pay attention to him.
Some mistakenly think that Paul's words in Romans 13 invest rulers with absolute authority, and that Christians must obey every command of the ruler, regardless what it may be. Such unlimited authority has never been given by God to mere men. That total of authority is said to belong to Christ alone. It follows that every other appointed official is subject to him. This is why the disciples ignored the demand of the Sanhedrin, Israel's Supreme Court, when the latter commanded that they must not preach anymore in the name of Jesus. Peter disregarded the so-called authority of the Court, saying:" we ought to obey God rather than men. "
Notice that the apostles were not being rebellious against authority. They were simply being submissive to the highest Authority, that is Christ. He had given them clear instructions to do the very thing that the court was now forbidding. They recognized that rulers have no legitimate authority to countermand the authority of God. We see the same conscientious disobedience to rulers when the Hebrew midwives refused to kill Jewish babies at the Pharaoh's orders, as well as the refusal of Daniel and his three friends to obey the commands of pagan emperors requiring them to compromise in the area of idolatry.
When Jesus said, "render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's", He was affirming that Caesar has his own legitimate sphere of authority, but it must not be allowed to overstep the claims of God's authority- which is absolute. If we should ask what is the proper reach of the ruler's authority, as delegated by God, we find that the valid role of government is restricted to the national defense and the maintenance of civil justice through criminal law enforcement. As near as we can tell from scripture, this would seem to be the total realm of governmental authority. There are instances of intrusion into the lives of law abiding citizens which the government illegitimately claims for itself, for which there is no corresponding divine mandate or authority. The ruler issuing illegitimate orders is just another man with a personal preference.
Examples of a government operating beyond the boundaries of its legitimate sphere would include the state's granting of divorces that would not be justifiable by the standards of Jesus's teaching on the topic. Likewise, City Hall often licenses marriages between parties that God has declared ineligible for marriage to one another. The State sometimes forbids that Christians teach their children moral rectitude, proscribes the speaking of the truth on moral questions or forbids Christian assemblies. In doing so, the state acts beyond it's divinely appointed sphere. It is authorized only to penalize criminals and uphold justice for the innocent. These examples deal with behaviors concerning which God has given specific instruction to His followers. The State has no right to mandate matters beyond the realm of God's authorization, any more than the Sanhedrin had to forbid the apostles to preach. When rulers give such commands, the subjects of God's Kingdom have every moral right to defy them.
If a mother gives her credit card to her son with instructions to fill the car's gas tank with gas, he is authorized to perform that specific task using her credit. He is not authorized to take the card and purchase for himself a new smartphone. In filling the the tank he is acting within his legitimate authorized sphere. Yet, if he goes beyond that purchase, and uses his mother's card for anything else, he is acting illegitimately. It is often worse if he buys the smartphone and neglects to fuel the car!
We miss Paul's point if we take his words, "there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God" to mean that rulers have carte blanche to act as they will with God's endorsement. Paul is saying the same thing that Jesus said to Pilate, namely, that no one has any authority apart from what God appoints to them. If Caesar is one whom God appointed to maintain justice in society, then Caesar is obviously answerable to the one who appointed him for his conscientious performance of this duty. Those who are appointed are subject to those who appoint them. Secular rulers have no autonomous or independent claim to self-style authority. "For he is God's servant for your good. " The ruler is God servant, and servants must obey their masters, or else answer for their disobedience. The misuse of authority by government officials is the neglect of a divine mandate, and they must answer to God for it. When they enact laws contrary to God's, they are disobedient servants, acting on their own without authority, and needn't be heeded.
The message of the Kingdom of God is about authority - namely, the authority of Christ the King. The authority of Christ is absolute, and His followers recognize and honor this fact. At the same time, they recognize the limitations in the authority that has been delegated by Him to persons in various hierarchical systems. To support the authority of a man or woman whose decrees defy or contrast with God's commands is rebellion against the one who is the King over the kings, and the Lord over the Lords of the earth.
Excerpt from Empire of the Risen Son, Chapter 9, Authority of the King, by Steve Gregg
No comments:
Post a Comment