Exodus 1:17–But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them, but let the boys live.
Acts 5:28-29–We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us responsible for this man’s blood.” But Peter and the other apostle replied, “We must obey God rather than men.”
Romans 13:1, 6–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. . .Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. . . . This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.
I Timothy 2:1-2–First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered on behalf of all men, for kings and all those in authority, so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.
And, because I often find The Message to be very helpful and clear, here’s its translation of the above verses:
The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.
Now a quotation from the Declaration of Independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
On a first reading, these passages would seem to be contradictory. The midwives are praised for disobeying Pharaoh’s command. The two Apostles obviously have their priorities straight by putting God first in their allegiance and obedience. But how do these situations square with Paul’s admonition to “obey them that have the rule over you”? And his idea in the I Timothy passage that Christians should aspire to a “tranquil and quiet” life? Is that we should want? Just to be left in peace? And was it wrong for Christians to participate in the Revolutionary War? Weren’t they violating the Romans 13 passage?
I’m not a theologian, and real ones have wrestled with these questions and come up with various answers. But it’s always a good thing for Christians to be challenged to search the Scriptures and see what it really says and how it applies to their own lives. Here are some initial thoughts, in no particular order, with much more to come:
1. Paul can’t be accused of just wanting a quiet, comfortable life. He put himself in the way of grave danger as a preacher of the Gospel and ended up a martyr under the very ruler who was in power when he wrote I Timothy: Nero. I will mention John the Baptist here, too, who paid with his head for rebuking Herod’s sexual immorality.
2. Paul was outspoken first of all about the Gospel, but he was also outspoken about his rights as a Roman citizen. That’s how he ended up on trial in Rome to begin with, because he appealed to Caesar. “Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar shalt thou go” (Acts 25:12 KJV).
3. Disobedience to civil authorities is authorized in Scripture only when there is a clear overriding mandate. The Egyptian midwives acted directly to save lives (and so did thousands of Christians during WWII who hid Jews and thereby disobeyed the law). The Apostles acted directly to proclaim the true way of salvation. But God does not always, or indeed usually, deliver those who obey Him from civil penalties.
So where does that leave people like me, who are profoundly disquieted by the result of this election but who believe fervently that God is sovereign and works all things for good to those who love Him?
1. I must recognize that Donald Trump is going to become President in a couple of months. I will call him President Trump. I am obligated to pray for him, and what should I pray? Not some generic “God bless President Trump.” That is meaningless. The best prayer might be a paraphrase of “Lord, open thou the King of England’s eyes,” spoken by William Tyndale just before his death at the stake as ordered by King Henry VIII. (Not that I’m in the least danger of going to the stake myself. In fact, my husband and I may do very well under a Trump tax plan. Aside from the dire threat of being unfriended on Facebook, I will almost certainly pay no personal price for speaking out as I have.)
2. I must give the office of President my respect. Therefore, I will not directly post any articles on my sites that call the President-elect names, nor have I done so myself in anything I have written thus far. (Name-calling is in a different category from labeling actions and words accurately.) There was an excellent item I read today that was interesting and incisive, from a website I respect, but I felt that its tone and language were not such that I felt comfortable posting it. There was far too much name-calling and personal ridicule of our current President by so-called Christians/conservatives during the past eight years. If you’ve enjoyed calling President Obama “Oh Bomber” or “Oh Bummer,” if you’ve thought that cartoons depicting him as an orangutan were funny, or if you weren’t appalled that there’s such a thing as toilet paper printed with his picture, well, you can’t very well complain now if those who opposed your candidate do the same kind of thing.
3. I will recognize and support the fact that in America, under God, our true ruler is the law, not people. “Lex Rex”: “The law is king.” As a citizen I pay our elected officials their salaries through my taxes. I am responsible for working to make sure that those officials carry out their duties well, to use every lawful means at my disposal to oppose those who do not, and to refuse to withdraw from the public square. I have been far too passive and uninvolved up until now, and I freely admit that I have been at fault.
Well, that’s enough for today. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!