authority

Citizenship is hard. I want to contribute to society rather than burden it. I also want to carry out my civic responsibility to participate in the national dialogue and shape the direction of my community, my state and my nation. But mostly that just gets me into fights.

One reason that happens, I think, is that few of us want to honor God’s direction as given to us through the Apostle Paul. Paul wrote this, in Romans 13:1 “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.”

You see, when Bill Clinton was my commander in chief and implement Don't Ask, Don’t Tell as the military policies toward gays, I didn’t want to go along. I didn’t like President Clinton, so I didn’t feel I should have to follow him. And as a businessman, I had (have) some serious issues with the Affordable Care Act. Now, I’m struggling to embrace our current president.

It can be hard to remember that elections aren’t random, and there isn’t anything that happens on earth that God doesn’t see and control, and use for his purposes. We humans want that to mean that it’s God’s will to have Christian leaders, but even when he was here on earth he took no interest in politics. He left the Roman occupiers and the Jewish Pharisees in place when he ascended.

Paul is clear: the authority of President of the United States comes from God. A stable government and a peaceful society are part of God’s plan, part of common grace, if you will. Government mandates for religion seem not to be. Can it be that God wants us to win souls, not legislate obedience?

Despite my reservations, I think I do OK because I learned as a young officer candidate that you respect the role and the rank even if you wonder about the person. I think that’s what Paul is saying. As hard as Obama was to swallow for the right, and Trump is for the left, God doesn’t want chaos and anarchy. We all submit to a democratic, fairly-elected government.

Due respect to the office of President is an important component of civil order, and civil order is necessary for justice to be available to all. And it’s plain from scripture that God cares a lot about justice.