On Obedience to Civil Government, Part 1: Who, Them?

" 1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor."

- Romans 13:1-7

The United States will have its off-year elections next week, so for that and some other reasons, I find it necessary here to address civil government and how the Bible says Christians ought to interact with their governing authorities.

Various sects within Christendom - Biblical and otherwise - have a wide variety of ways of viewing the Christian's involvement in politics. Some are wholly apolitical. Some submit to the government but endlessly rant about their unhappiness about the government. And some sects emphasize rebellion against the government, prophesy about the government being overthrown, and envision a state where Christians rule their country and/or the world.

Today, I would describe myself as mostly apolitical. In American parlance, I identified as a Republican until President George W. Bush's speech on the evening of September 11, 2001, announcing a "war on terrorism". I bolted from the party within weeks, saying that a war against an abstract concept rather than a specific group of people was an unwinnable war. I spent most of my college days as an unabashed "small-l libertarian", taking the time to read the entire U.S. Constitution and the entire Patriot Act in one sitting. What did it profit me? I became angry about the existing government, yet completely unable to do anything about it. So I ranted about it on campus with those who agreed with me, attended a protest against the Iraq War (where all I really did was laugh at the Bush impersonator), and let my life announce my identity. Computer science major first - I study hard; I stay up late seven days a week to write code; I never party. Libertarian second - big government is stupid and wasteful; these wars are not necessary; neither Republicans nor Democrats really let my voice be heard. Christian third - yeah, I attend a Bible study too.

I identified as a "minarchist" - one step below "anarchist". I wanted to have a government but viewed it as a necessary evil that needed to be stripped down to its most necessary functions: military, courts, prisons. And I wanted nothing to do with empires.

Then God switched my identity around and told me, "You are a Christian first."

The problem with being wholly indifferent to politics is that the Bible speaks much of government and how we ought to respond to those in authority. And here, we hear Romans 13:1-7 as a classic text on how we ought to deal with authority. First, we see that God is the One who establishes any and all kinds of civil authority. This includes any kind of ruler, Christian and otherwise.

For Americans, this means that we would not be right to say that Barack Obama should be our President, John McCain should be our President, or someone else should be our President. If we say such a thing, we go against the fact that God is sovereign over election results and He will put His chosen rulers in each position - whether they are Christians or not; whether they make society better or not; whether they are seen as capable rulers or not.

In Israel, He saw fit to allow kings to die and new kings to start reigning as mere boys, qualified by nothing other than their standing as kings' sons. And yet, God remembers King Josiah, who started reigning in Israel as a young boy, as the last king of Judah who did right in the eyes of God. Let us remember that when we want to incessantly argue from worldly wisdom that a candidate for office is unqualified based on their previous experience. God can and will use anybody to accomplish His purposes, whether it is a Daniel of great intelligence or Balaam's donkey, to whom He gave a voice.