Submit?

To Submit or Not to Submit? That IS The Question…

Whether truly seeking wisdom, or just trying to justify a pre-existing belief, Romans 13 has been and continues to be dissected, examined, and debated by theologians wanting answers for the questions about just how Christians are to operate in relation to the government.  Even after thousands of years of study by great and Godly minds, no clear cut directions have been gleaned, and contentious views resurge during every political high season.

I’m certainly not on equal footing with the church giants who have gone before me, dedicating countless hours to, exegesis, but I am a disciple of Christ, living in a world that has become an endless political high season, and, like the rest of Christ’s kids in the Covid Lockdown era, I have to seek truth and wisdom on this topic just in order to know how best to live my everyday life.  

These verses in Romans 13, as well as verses 1 Peter chapter 2, taken at the surface level, seem to clearly indicate that Christians are instructed to obey the government.  Just obey. End of debate.  Whether the leaders are just or evil, we are called to obey.  

But…

In looking at the Bible as a whole, however, this is not at all a consistent message.  Civil disobedience is the legacy of many Old Testament heroes as well as the martyred apostles and early church founders.  Civil disobedience brought an end to legal racial injustices through the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. Disobedience to the King of England led to the revolution which birthed America, and disobedience to worldly governments continues to be the only way to spread the gospel in anti-Christian countries such as China and Iran.  Are the missionaries in these areas naughty Christians for choosing not to obey the government of the land?  Was it wrong for Christians to hide and smuggle Jews to safety during the Nazi regime of WWII?  Was Martin Luther King Jr. out of line in leading a movement of civil disobedience?  After all, Romans 13:3 states, “Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

Throughout scripture we are also instructed to be slaves to the Lord, to have only one master, and over and over we are told to resist evil, turn away from evil, not associate with evildoers, to seek wisdom, seek justice, and to pursue righteousness.  When these instructions come head-to-head against the instructions of the ruling authorities, what’s a Jesus-loving, scripture-dependent Christian to do?

This is a complex issue to be sure, and we must rely on the Holy Spirit to be our guide in understanding and implementing the scriptures relating to Church and government. 

While some areas are murky, one thing we can be certain of is that nowhere in scripture are we instructed to submit our children to the world’s governing authorities or to turn our children over to evildoers. If we look to God, the Father, as a model for parenting, and seek to understand and replicate His desires for His children in our own families, then we will relentlessly protect our own.  We will keep them under our wings, guide them in the way of the Lord, keep their feet from stumbling.  We will teach and discipline them.  We will be with them and fight for them.  Parents don’t need to search the scriptures to know that this is their role.  It is a significant part of God’s design, and He has written these protective instincts into every parents’ DNA.  

I am confident that God does NOT intend for Christians – or any parents for that matter – to give the government authority over our children.  When laws regarding children are enacted, a Christ-following parent MUST exercise discernment.

I hope that we can agree that a government is not intended to have authority over our children, although it is obvious that years of incremental encroachment have won them excessive authority over the divine institution of the family.  Since we know from 1 Peter 5: that we need to “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour,” the wise Christian must continually ask, “In what other areas of life is the government expanding its authority inappropriately, infringing on God’s design?”  

How about bodily autonomy?  Is it right, in God’s plan, for the government to have authority over your body?  

1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us that our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit. Romans 12:2 instructs, “Therefore, offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.  This is your spiritual act of worship.”  

If our bodies are  a living offering to God and a temple of worship, then we can’t invite the world’s rulers to reign over them.  We wouldn’t willingly turn over our brick-and-mortar places of worship to government control. History abounds with examples of why this collusion is deadly to the purpose of the church.  This is why Christians fled Europe to come to a wild and unknown land – to seek asylum from the government-controlled church.  This is the reason that Christians have sought to maintain a separation of church and state here in the US.  But even while the governments of the world do regulate and dictate over places of worship, and during the times that they do succeed in closing the doors of our church buildings, they can’t stop God’s expanding kingdom because we carry the temple in our own bodies. No matter what laws or rules are passed, no government can remove the Holy Spirit living within us.  This is the place where God really wants to reign, in our hearts and minds. And this endlessly frustrates and motivates the devil.  The enemy of our souls attacks our corporate body, but even more than that, he relentlessly harasses us personally.  

When an evil authority figure enacts laws or rules that would force us to defile our bodies or those of our children, both of which we have pledged to God, our compliance becomes an act of idolatry.  And if you’ve read even a portion of the Bible, you know that God is not cool with His people engaging in idolatry!  It is spiritual adultery, betrayal of the worst kind.

The fact is, there is no simple, one-size-fits-all scriptural direction on how Christians should respond to the worldly government in any given situation.  We need to examine on a case by case basis how we should behave when unjust laws are forced upon us or others.  Following the example of God’s courageous leader, I echo the words of Joshua 24:15, “As for me and my family, we WILL serve the Lord.” In obedience to my one master, the Lord of my life, I confidently submit my body and my children to HIM ALONE.