Sunday, February 11, 2018

“Our Relationship to the State” (Romans 13:1-7) - Romans for Everyone XXII –

What Should You Do? 
Imagine that you are living in Babylon when King Nebuchadnezzar came to power. One day he built a gold statue, ninety feet high and nine feet thick. He then ordered everybody under the reign of his kingship to bow before that golden image and worship it. And you are aware that anyone who does not kneel and worship shall be thrown immediately into a roaring furnace. What should you do? How should we Christians relate to our government?

The General Principle 
Today’s passage, Romans 13:1-7, raises important issues concerning our relationship as Christians with the government. What about civil rights protest or revolution against a corrupt government? When is civil disobedience right, and what should it look like? Should Christians withhold part of their taxes to protest government misuse of our tax dollars? Those are not easy questions to answer. But Paul first lays down a general principle in verse 1: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.” Then he explains the reason behind this principle: “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” God removes kings and sets up other kings (Dan 2:21). All kings (governing authorities) are all under God’s control. The general principle, Romans 13:1, applies to all rulers good and bad. For instance, King Nebuchadnezzar’s army destroyed Jerusalem, including the temple, and slaughtered many Jewish people. But God calls him “my servant” and says that He gave all of the land he conquered into his hand (Jer. 27:6). The general principle is this: Since God has ordained government authority, we must be subject to it.

Civil Disobedience: When and How? 
But this raises the following questions: “What about civil disobedience against corrupt rulers and governments, or bad laws?” “When is civil disobedience right, and what should it look like?” Merriam-Webster defines civil disobedience in this way: “refusal to obey governmental demands or commands especially as a nonviolent and usually collective means of forcing concessions from the government.” Civil disobedience is based on a commitment to conscience. So those who practice civil disobedience is obedient to what they consider a higher law. We can find quite a few examples on civil disobedience in the Bible. In the age of King Nebuchadnezzar Daniel’s three friends – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were one of them. They practiced civil disobedience. When they were forced to bow down before the golden image, they answered, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up” (3:16-18, ESV). Here these men were saying “I must be disobedient to a king in order to be obedient to the King." In Acts 5:27-29 when Peter and the other apostles were questioned before Sanhedrin, they answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Then, what factors should we take into consideration to decide if we should do peaceful, nonviolent, civil disobedience? John Piper gives us four things to consider:[1] 

  1. The grievousness of the action sanctioned by law. How atrocious is it? Is it a traffic pattern that you think is dumb? Or is the law sanctioning killing? 
  2. The extent of the unjust law’s effect. Is it a person affected here or there? Or is it millions? Does the law have an incidental inconsistency? Or is it putting a whole group of people into bondage because of their ethnic origin? 
  3. The potential of civil disobedience for clear and effective witness to the truth. 
  4. The movement of the spirit of courage and conviction in God in people’s lives that indicates the time is right.
That kind of civil disobedience requires courage and commitment to truth, something eternally valuable. In Daniel 3 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could not give it up, saying, “I know that my God is able to deliver me, but if not, I’m going on anyhow. I’m going to stand up for it anyway.” Ultimately we must do right because it's right to do right. We must love because it’s right to love. We must be honest because it’s right to be honest. We must be just because it’s right to be just. In verse 5 Paul says, “Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience” – for a clear, Christian conscience, which obeys God and His law rather than man made law and tradition” (cf. Acts 24:16; 1 Tim 3:9). In his sermon, “But if not,” Dr. King commends us to stand up for truth no matter what in this way: “You may be 38 years old as I happen to be, and one day some great opportunity stands before you and calls upon you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause--and you refuse to do it because you are afraid; you refuse to do it because you want to live longer; you're afraid that you will lose your job, or you're afraid that you will be criticized or that you will lose your popularity or you're afraid that somebody will stab you or shoot at you or bomb your house, and so you refuse to take the stand. Well you may go on and live until you are 90, but you're just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90!... You died when you refused to stand up for right, you died when you refused to stand up for truth, you died when you refused to stand up for justice.”[2] In this respect, Christians are those who are disobedient to a king if necessary in order to be obedient to the King Jesus Christ. 

Living as Citizens of Heaven 
We Christians are not first citizens of any human nation but citizens of heaven, the kingdom of God. In Philippians 3:20 Paul says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” We are subject to the government for the Lord’s sake. In the same way, we may have to disobey the governing authorities for Christ’s sake. So every time we say yes to any law, it should be a yes to Jesus. And every time we say no to certain law, it should be still a yes to Jesus. We live on the earth as citizens of heaven.

So as we read Romans 13, more important question to ask is this: “How can we as citizens of heaven glorify King Jesus Christ on the earth?” rather than just “How can we fix unjust laws?” In this regard, William Wilberforce can be a good example. He became a politician in his 20s. But soon after, he considered giving up on his career because of deeply corrupt reality of politics at that time. But John Newton, one of his mentors, advised him to stay and said, “Congress is your parish!” Then, one great cause caught Wilberforce’s attention, that was the issue of slavery. And he resolved to stand up for truth. In his diary Wilberforce wrote: “So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the [slave] trade's wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition. Let the consequences be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.”[3] Since then, pro-slavery forces targeted him. The opposition became so fierce. People would say, “Wilberforce will be carbonated [broiled] by Indian planters, barbecued by African merchants, and eaten by Guinea captains.” All the bills introduced by Wilberforce were defeated for many years. But Wilberforce never gave up. He made a speech more than 150 times before the Congress. And finally, he heard three days before he died that slavery in the British Empire was abolished. This happened not only because he said the right thing, but he lived as a citizen of heaven. His life was filled with the light and aroma of Christ. People called him “the conscience of England.” Influenced by Wilberforce, about a third of younger congress men became Christians. Wilberforce’s life goal and holy ambition was not just to abolish unjust laws or overturn corrupt government. It was to magnify, glorify King Jesus Christ in his life and to live as his citizen under his leadership.

According to Romans 13, living as a citizen of heaven begins with one step. It is to pay proper taxes. It is to honor those in authority. It is to pray for government authorities. It is to do right and cooperate with them whenever possible. But most of all, we always ought to keep in mind: Christ must be Lord of all, including our political views and our government authorities.

I would like to close with a poem written by Pastor Kim Joon-Kon. At that time, in 1970s the military dictator came into power in South Korea. Most people were afraid of the government, and they were not able to stand up for truth. Pastor Kim was one of the Christian leaders, and he put his holy desire and ambition for the nation into the words of prayer. And later it became a song. As more and more Christians had the same vision, they began to stand up for truth. Some went out to the street to attend civil protest. Some went back to school for the future of the nation. Some went back home to take care of their family. Different forms, but one thing in common: Lordship of Jesus Christ. Christ was their Lord of all. “Yes” for Christ’s sake, and “No” for Christ’s sake. “If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.” (Rom 14:8) That’s my prayer for Houlton, our church, and our nation.


May Christ make his home 
in the hearts of all people 
all the spheres of society and culture 
May season for Christ come 
Evergreen, everlasting! 

May your Kingdom come; 
May employers confess Jesus is their owner. 
May employees sing praises to your name. 
At home, at school, at church, at work, at Congress, 
May Christ be Lord of all! 

Let the dew of your youth come to you. 
Let us dream your dreams 
Let us see your visions for all nations 
The gospel in one hand, love in the other, 
May we never rest until the season for Christ comes 
In every corner of the world! 

[1] John Piper, “Subjection to God and Subjection to the State, Part 3,” https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/subjection-to-god-and-subjection-to-the-state-part-3
[2] Martin Luther King Jr., “But If Not,” http://notoriousbiggins.blogspot.com/2010/01/but-if-not-sermon-by-martin-luther-king.html
[3] “William Wilberforce,” Christianity Today, http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/activists/william-wilberforce.html

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