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The Logic and Limits of Civil Obedience

July 5, 2020 Speaker: Brian Wilbur Series: Crucial Teachings for Chaotic Times

Topic: Christian Life Basics Passage: Romans 13:1–7

THE LOGIC AND LIMITS OF CIVIL OBEDIENCE

An Exposition of Romans 13:1-7

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date:   July 5, 2020

Series: Crucial Teachings for Chaotic Times

Note:   Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard   Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

INTRODUCTION: THE FOURTH OF JULY

It is written in America’s Declaration of Independence of July 1776:

“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.”

According to our Declaration of Independence, government exists to secure the rights of all people to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The government is not the originator or giver of these rights; God is. The government’s role is to safeguard these rights and not to infringe upon them. A government that becomes characterized by oppression and abuse is a government that ought to be dismantled.

Religious liberty is precious among the liberties that a government ought not to infringe upon. As set forth in the first two clauses of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

All of this is sensible and good, but there is a more important question that we must ask. What does the Bible say about the meaning and purpose of government? What does the Bible say about how people ought to relate to the governing authorities?

The title of this sermon is “The Logic and Limits of Civil Obedience.” By ‘civil obedience’ I mean the obedience that citizens render to the governing authorities. God’s Word teaches us why we ought to obey the authorities – these reasons constitute the logic of civil obedience. But there are limits to our civil obedience, because God’s Word also teaches us that only God is worthy of our absolute obedience. So we have to discern where to draw the line.

THE LOGIC OF CIVIL OBEDIENCE: WALKING THROUGH ROMANS 13:1-7

In Romans 13:1-7 the apostle Paul exhorts us to obey the government. This exhortation is stated at the beginning of the passage: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1a). This same command is re-stated in verse 5: “Therefore one must be in subjection” (Romans 13:5a). To be in subjection to government means that we willingly place ourselves under governmental authorities and walk in obedience to their laws and mandates. It also means paying taxes and revenue (v. 6-7) as well as paying respect and honor (v. 7).

To be a faithful and healthy Christian means that each and every one of us (“Let every person”) has a heartfelt disposition to respect, obey, and support “the governing authorities”. In fact, this heartfelt disposition of willing submission is actually supposed to be on display in all areas of life. God has arranged human life with a structure of authority and submission: God calls a wife to submit to her husband (Ephesians 5:22), a child to obey his parents (Ephesians 6:1), a servant to obey his earthly masters (Ephesians 6:5), a Christian to obey the leaders of the church (Hebrews 13:17), and a citizen to obey his government (Romans 13:1). Of course, for this pattern of authority and submission to be wholesome and healthy and life-giving, it must take place within the larger framework of humble obedience to God. When there is humble obedience to God, then God’s wisdom and God’s righteousness and God’s love infuse authority with benevolence and submission with beauty. But if you take God’s authority and God’s character out of the equation, then authority and submission become a recipe for endless conflict, envy, manipulation, and cruelty. If you want to assess the health of a society, measure how that society’s experience of authority and submission stacks up against the biblical vision. When our country is weighed on the scales, we are found to be sorely lacking!

As a Christian, however, our default disposition should be: ‘I want to obey whatever authorities God has placed over me.’ And if we are asked why, our answer should be: ‘Because God has placed those authorities over me, and He calls me to honor them.’

Indeed, God calls us to “be subject to the governing authorities” in Romans 13:1. And then He gives us four reasons to do so. These four reasons constitute the logic of civil obedience.

The Government is Established by God

First, we should obey the government because the government is established by God. Paul writes, “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1b) Regardless of the secondary factors involved in the establishment of a nation and its system of government, we should recognize that God’s hand is the ultimate establisher of human governments. Consider these words from holy Scripture:

“He changes times and seasons;

he removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21).

“[He] brings princes to nothing,

and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

when he blows on them, and they wither,

and the tempest carries them off like stubble.” (Isaiah 40:23-24)

“You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:11)

Regardless of the secondary factors, the severing of the colonies from Great Britain, the establishment of the United States of America and its system of government, its Constitutional framework and its laws (at both the federal and state level), and its past and present office-holders in all branches and at all levels of government, should all be viewed as coming from the sovereign hand of God. Therefore we take “the governing authorities” with profound seriousness, because they are there by God’s appointment – and this is true even if the authorities are wicked. God raised up the Babylonians for a purpose, and the Babylonians were no saints.

Resisting the Government is Tantamount to Resisting God

Second, we should obey the government because resisting governmental authority means that you are resisting God’s authority. This point is an obvious implication of the first point: if God established the government, then resisting it means resisting Him. Verse 2 begins:

“Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed” (Romans 13:2).

We should all agree that we have far better things to do than to complain and grumble and oppose the authorities that God Almighty has appointed. If you find in your heart an anti-authority bent, you really need to address that with God. We can be sympathetic with those who have an anti-authority bent because they have suffered abuse at the hands of authority, but you still need to deal straight-up with God and God’s Word and God’s authority.

Keep in mind that the apostle Paul had no illusions about the often unrighteous character of political institutions: Paul knew that the Roman empire had authorized the crucifixion of Jesus; Paul himself was beaten by governmental authorities; and Paul knew that Emperor Nero was no friend of God. But Paul had a clear view of a big God presiding over the little corrupt rulers of this world, and the question is whether you have the same vision of the King of glory. In your own practical and emotional mindset: is government small, and God big? Or is God big, and government small? Don’t miss the point: It is precisely because Paul had a big view of God that he told us to obey the government. The reason that Paul didn’t bristle against governmental authority is because he knew that governmental authority in itself is small, but behind that authority is God – and He is big. Do not resist God’s authority!

Disobeying the Government Incurs Judgment

Third, we should obey the government because disobedience to governmental authority incurs judgment. Paul talks about this from the end of verse 2 through the beginning of verse 5:

“… and those who resist [the governing authorities] will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection…” (Romans 13:2b-5a)

There is a lot here – but the basic idea is that governmental authorities are designed to make their territory safe for “good conduct.” A government and its laws and policies are meant to approve good behavior and disapprove bad behavior. The apostle Peter says the same thing in his first letter:

“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.” (1 Peter 2:13-14)

We should all be grateful to God for the gift of government, the gift of good and sensible laws, the gift of honest and honorable office-holders, the gift of responsible law enforcement, and the gift of criminal prosecution. Anarchy is not God’s way. We do not want vigilante justice. We do not want the mob or the mafia or the drug cartel or gangs calling the shots. We want a government that makes an honest effort to maintain law and order and peace within society. Fines, imprisonment, and capital punishment are intended to be an incentive to avoid bad conduct. But if you do engage in disorderly or lawless behavior, then you “will incur judgment” – and make no mistake about it, the judgment here is God’s judgment implemented by the government upon the evildoer. Don’t miss this: the government is “God’s servant” (v. 4) and as God’s servant the government “carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection… to avoid God’s wrath” (v. 4-5). What the Christian should fear is not the government’s wrath in and of itself, but God’s wrath that is mediated through the government: “But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God” (v. 4). Of course, God will pour out His wrath directly on unrepentant sinners at the final judgment. But the point here in Romans 13 is that there is a very real divine judgment that is poured out indirectly on evildoers through the government’s system of law, justice, and punishment.

Maintain a Clear Conscience

Fourth, we should obey the government in order to maintain a clear conscience. Look at verse 5:

“Therefore [because the government is a God-appointed “avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer,” v. 4] one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.” (Romans 13:5)

For the Christian, we seek to obey the government not only for the sake of avoiding external legal consequences – which again must be understood as an indirect but very real administration of God’s wrath. We do want to avoid those external legal consequences. But beyond that, we also seek to obey the government for the sake of avoiding a bad conscience. When we do something that we know to be wrong, even if we don’t get caught, our conscience accuses us (Romans 2:15). Our conscience gets afflicted and troubled.

God’s plan for us is not to walk through life with a compromised or guilty or unclean conscience. As Paul wrote to Timothy, “The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5) And later in that same chapter Paul charged Timothy to “wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience.” (1 Timothy 1:18-19) And as we read in Romans 14 last week: “Blessed is the one who has no reason to pass judgment on himself for what he approves.” (Romans 14:22) In other words, we don’t want to do something that we actually believe is something we shouldn’t do. We must be good stewards of our conscience, we must seek to do what we understand to be right, we must seek to avoid what we understand to be wrong – whether the government is likely to catch us or not. The government may not see our wrongdoing. But we see it! And even more importantly, God sees it! And having a guilty conscience makes it impossible to live a fruitful and holy life.

These four reasons represent the logic of civil obedience. And for these four reasons, we ought to walk in obedience to governing authorities (v. 1), pay our taxes to them (v. 6-7), and show honor to them (v. 7).

As we seek to obey the governing authorities, we should emphasize two aspects of our obedience:

1) Submission is not based on our agreement with the authority’s decision. Our initial encounter with governmental directives should be characterized by humility, seriousness, and a desire to obey. One of the most important principles of submission is that submission isn’t based on whether I agree or like what the person-in-authority has done. This is really important. If a wife only submits to her husband when her husband is leading in the way that she already wanted to go, or if a child only obeys his parents when they instruct him to do the very thing that he already wanted to do, or if an employee only follows the boss’s order when it lines up with his own game plan – that doesn’t reveal a submissive heart. True, beautiful, and humble submission is a genuine willingness to cheerfully comply with the decision of the person-in-authority whether you agree with it or not, whether you like it or not. When I say ‘Let’s go get ice cream’ and my kids say ‘Yes!’ – what is revealed is not their submission but their love of ice cream. But when I direct them to do something that doesn’t fit with their wonderful plan for the next 10 minutes – a compliant response reveals submission, an oppositional response reveals rebellion. If you have no capacity to cheerfully comply with decisions you don’t like, then you really do have a heart-problem, and I urge you do address it. The sinless Jesus never chafed against the authority of his sinful parents. The sinless Jesus didn’t want to drink the cup of God’s wrath, and it wasn’t a sin for him to humbly say so, but he never dug in his heels: he submitted to the Father’s wisdom and willingly drank the cup. His attitude was, ‘Not my will, but Yours be done.’ The heart of your sin-problem and the heart of my sin-problem is that we so often don’t have the Savior’s attitude. Too often, we hold too closely to our own self-will, and our heart is not soft and tender and conformable to God’s will. And so like a toddler we throw ourselves down on the floor kicking and screaming. Can you picture the Lord Jesus doing that at any age? Then why do you do it? Remember what He said: “Follow me”!

2) True obedience is prompt obedience. It is also worth saying that in relating to any legitimate authority, it is good and right to offer prompt obedience if there is no obvious reason not to. True obedience is prompt obedience, not delayed obedience. If a deputy from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office showed up in 10 minutes and said, ‘We just received a report from the United States Geological Survey. They have good reasons to believe that this two-mile area is likely to implode within the next two hours. You need to disperse immediately and head south.’ What would we do? Convene a meeting and talk about it? No, the sensible course of action would be to give the authorities the benefit of the doubt and shuttle ourselves south. There is nothing ungodly about making a good faith effort to preserve life in the face of imminent danger. So those who responded to the authority’s directives in mid-March and early-April with a compliant heart, should be commended for having done so. Prompt obedience is a healthy instinct.

Even so, there is more to the story.

MORE TO THE STORY: THE LIMITS OF CIVIL OBEDIENCE

In fact, there are limits to civil obedience, and we need to ponder that as well. But before we do that, let’s make it clear that we are not dealing with abstract theology here. I have thought about civil disobedience in the past, but I always did so in the comfortable lounge of the ivory tower. But these last few months I have had to wrestle with it in the heat of affliction – and that is a very different experience!   

Whatever one may think of the difficulties of the past few months, we need to have a principled understanding that there really are times when following Jesus may involve a clash with governmental authority. So it is important to consider where to draw the line: when is it permissible or necessary to disobey the governing authorities?

We must banish any thought that says we must ‘obey the governing authorities at all costs, no questions asked’. Even though our disposition is indeed to obey the government, our devotion to the government is not absolute. Do you remember what Jesus taught us? He said, “[Render] to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Matthew 22:21). In other words, give the governing authorities their due. But it is a limited due. For Jesus immediately added, “[Render]… to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). What belongs to God? You! You belong to God!

And before Romans 13, there is Romans 12. And how does Romans 12 begin?

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2)

You – your internal life (your mind) and your external life (your body) – must be completed devoted to God. Your embodied life – meaning all that you do bodily, all your words and all your doings and all your goings – your embodied life is to be carried along by “the will of God”. You are to be a holy, God-pleasing worshiper in every facet of your life.

So yes, in general we must “be subject to the governing authorities” as one manifestation of our obedience to God. But sometimes the governing authorities govern unjustly or wickedly, and at such times we must remain faithful to God even if that means disobeying the government. God, the highest authority in the universe, must always be obeyed. If lower authorities lead us on the path of rebellion against God, we cannot follow those lower authorities.

There are a number of examples in Scripture when God’s faithful servants were right to disobey the governing authorities. Let’s call attention to them. We’re not going to take an in-depth look at any one example, but we need to realize that these examples are in Scripture and they should encourage us to remain faithful to our God.  

Example #1: The Hebrew Midwives

In Exodus 1, the king of Egypt commanded the Hebrew midwives to murder the baby boys born to the Hebrew moms (Exodus 1:15-16). “But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.” (Exodus 1:17)

Example #2: The Servants of King Saul

In 1 Samuel 22, King Saul told his servants to “kill the priests of the LORD”, but they refused to do it (1 Samuel 22:17).

Example #3: Esther

In Esther 3, the wicked Persian official named Haman authorized a plan to annihilate the Jews. In Esther 4, Mordecai appealed to Esther, the Jewish woman who had become the queen of Persia, to intercede with king of Persia in the inner court of the palace. There was a law, however, that forbid anyone from approaching the king in the inner court without an invitation. Those who came uninvited were subject to the death penalty – unless the king showed mercy by holding out his golden scepter. Esther prioritized the rescue of her people over her own personal comfort, and she took the risk: “I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

Example #4: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar had a large golden image set up and everyone was commanded “to fall down and worship the golden image” (Daniel 3:5). Anyone who refused to pay homage to the image would “immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace” (Daniel 3:6). There were three young Jewish men who knew that God alone is worthy of our worship, and they would not bow down to the pagan idol. “O Nebuchadnezzar,” they said, “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.” (Daniel 3:16-18) O church, how we need this same depth of conviction!

Example #5: Daniel

In Daniel 6, King Darius established a generally applicable law that for a period of thirty days, no one could utter a prayer request to anyone other than the king himself. For thirty days it was unlawful to pray “to any god or man” (Daniel 6:7). Anyone who refused to comply with this law would “be cast into the den of lions” (Daniel 6:7). Daniel is one of the most exemplary men in all of Scripture. Do you remember what he did? “When Daniel knew that the document had been signed [into law], he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.” (Daniel 6:10) Better to be faithful and thrown to the lions, than to be unfaithful and safe at home.

Example #6: The Apostles

Although the situation in Acts 4-5 is slightly different because it involves the Jewish religious authorities instead of the Roman political authorities, it is still instructive. In fact, the Jewish religious authorities did have a measure of political authority – they had the ability to arrest, imprison, and inflict physical punishment. In Acts 4, they arrested the apostles Peter and John, kept them in custody overnight, interrogated them, and “charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). But Peter and the other apostles continued to preach the gospel, so in Acts 5 the religious leaders “arrested the apostles and put them in public prison.” (Acts 5:18) Then an angel from heaven got involved and in a wonderful act of resistance to the Jewish leadership, the angel “opened the prison doors and brought them out” (Acts 5:19). Don’t miss the obvious: sometimes God orchestrates a jail break! Thus freed, the apostles continued to teach in the name of Jesus. Soon the religious leadership council brought them in for questioning, and Peter and the apostles got right to the point: “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

Where do we draw the line? When do we refuse to obey the governing authorities? We disobey the governing authorities when obeying the governing authorities would mean that we are disobeying God. When the government commands us to do something that God forbids, we must not yield to the government’s order: “We must obey God rather than men.” When the government prohibits us from doing something that God commands, we must not cave to the government’s prohibition: “We must obey God rather than men.”

In the above examples, there were times when the authorities had commanded the unjust slaughter of human beings. The Hebrew midwives, the servants of King Saul, and Queen Esther took their stand in favor of life. At another time, the political authority commanded people to worship a false god, which is something that God has forbidden – and the three faithful men of Daniel 3 stood their ground and refused to bow the knee. And on two occasions the authorities sought to prevent people from doing what God has commanded be done – to pray and to preach – and the prophet Daniel and the New Testament apostles stayed on the path of obedience and disregarded the laws of men.

A WORD TO THE WISE

Now as we attempt to dig more deeply into the Scripture’s teaching that “[we] must obey God rather than men,” I want to highlight one of the challenges that we face. It is easy for us to look back on these Scriptural examples and say that the issues were clear, and we know that they did what was right, and perhaps we would like to think that we would have had the same courage if we had been in their shoes. But I want us to appreciate the reality that seeing things clearly is often difficult when you are in the moment. It is easy to experience confusion. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by emotion. It is easy to justify various courses of action, especially courses of action that preserve our own comfort.

So I want to encourage all of us, whatever your current perspective is – and my own perspective has actually been undergoing significant change over the past couple of months – but whatever your current perspective is on the government’s pandemic rules, to have a healthy suspicion of your own thought processes. Scripture says, “Never be wise in your own sight.” (Romans 12:16) And again,

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not lean on your own understanding.      

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths.

Be not wise in your own eyes;

fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

If God grants us to see clearly, then let’s live courageously in accordance with what He shows us. But to get there, we need to make sure that we are not leaning on our own intelligence, and we need to assume that left to ourselves we are not wise. So let us “fear the LORD” and trust Him to cut a straight path.

APPLYING THE TRUTH TO OUR PRESENT SITUATION

Okay, so over the past few months – what I refer to as The Great Trial of 2020 – the government has issued orders related to business activities, staying at home, social distancing, wearing masks, gatherings and gathering sizes, among other things. In certain instances, there isn’t much we can do about it except to go along for the ride. But in other instances, you must make a choice about whether or not to comply. Without attempting to pin down anyone’s overall view, it is quite clear that some of us have landed more on the side of compliance while others of us have landed more on the side of non-compliance. I assume that various factors have informed our perspectives: there are theological factors, there are health factors, there are political factors, there are personal factors, and perhaps there are very pragmatic factors. What I’m interested right now is the theological factors – and how a passage like Romans 13, as well as the other passages that we have looked at, should shape our understanding.

So what I want to do in the rest of this sermon is to call attention to two important things that can help us as Christians and as a church family to think through these important issues. In both applications we are attempting to interact with the principles of Romans 13:1-7.

Application #1: Correctly Identify the Governing Authorities

First, it is important that we correctly identify who or what the governing authorities actually are. “[Being] subject to the governing authorities” means much more than obeying an officer-holder such as the governor. We have to be attentive to what “the governing authorities” actually are.

The truth of the matter is that the United States of America is not a monarchy in which a king rules by royal decree. The kingdom of God is a monarchy, and I delight in it! The new heaven and new earth will be a monarchy, and I delight in it! But these United States are bound together as a constitutional republic. In our nation, the power to govern is located in the people. Our form of government is based on the principle that “we the people” bear responsibility to govern ourselves, and that “we the people” institute governments as a tool of governance that safeguards the rights and liberties of the people, and that “we the people” elect representatives to represent us and serve us in the passage and enforcement of sensible laws under the agreed-upon authority of the federal Constitution and the state Constitution. For us as Mainers, “the governing authorities” is first the federal Constitution and the laws enacted under it, and second the state Constitution and the laws enacted under it. No federal or state office-holder has the authority to do anything that is inconsistent with our constitution and our body of laws. If a governor issues an executive order that is truly consistent with our constitution and laws, so be it. But if a governor issues an executive order that is inconsistent with our constitution and laws, then the order is in fact unconstitutional and unlawful (even if a court upholds the order).

Here’s the point: do not allow yourself to be unreflectively bullied by lesser authorities. Let me give you a practical example. A friend of mine in another state recently described a troubling situation. His wife had traveled to out-of-state and then returned to her home state, and then she went to vote. At the polling station, one of the workers asked her a few health-related questions, including: ‘Have you traveled out-of-state?’ She answered honestly: ‘Yes’. Then the polling station worker said: ‘Then you cannot vote’. How many people might mistakenly assume that “[being] subject to the governing authorities” means that if a polling station workers says ‘Go home,’ then you must go home. Fortunately, my friend’s wife knew better and said, ‘I most certainly can vote!’ A complaint was made to the Board of Elections, and they agreed that the polling station worker was out of line. Here’s the thing: polling station workers, mayors, governors, presidents, legislatures, and courts are all capable of being out of line. Your job is to stay in line. Under God as the ultimate authority, always obey the highest human authority that is in the right, and don’t be bullied by lesser human authorities who are actually rebelling against a right and proper and higher human authority.

Of course, I should also mention that sometimes the lesser authority is the one that has it right! The highest authority in the universe is God. If the Supreme Court of the United States gets it wrong, and Congress gets it wrong, and the state legislature gets it wrong, and the governor gets it wrong, and yet one small-town clerk stands with God against the avalanche of wrong and refuses to solemnize what God says is an improper union, then it is that small-town clerk who has God’s approval. If you stand before God on judgment day and say that when you used your official position to facilitate abortions or same-sex unions, you were only acting under the authority of the United States Supreme Court, you will be in big trouble – because your most basic calling is to act under God’s authority. As one wise man put it, “Let the lie come into the world… but not through me.”[1] 

Of course, I’m not telling you exactly what to think about the present situation. But I am attempting to teach you how to think. Remember who or what “the governing authorities” actually are.

Application #2: Know and Love and Do What is Good

Second, and so very important, you must have a growing knowledge of what is truly good. God’s will for us is to discern and “approve what is excellent” (Philippians 1:10) – and this kind of discernment brings up an very important issue in Romans 13. What does Paul say in Romans 13:3-4? He writes:

“For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good.”

Do you perceive the potential problem? And this isn’t just a potential problem – it is an actual problem. It is an actual problem right now, and has been for the past few months. What does God call us to do? “[Do] what is good.” Who gets to define “what is good”? God does. God defines what is good. In Romans 7, Paul writes: “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.” (Romans 7:12) God’s Word tells us what conduct is right and good.

So here’s the problem: what do you do when the governing authorities become a terror to good conduct? What do you do when the governing authorities refuse to approve of good behavior? While the government is called to be “God’s servant for [our] good,” all too often it gets corrupted and abandons its calling. For the past few months, far too many governing authorities in this land have become a terror to good conduct – and it troubles me deeply. It also troubles me at how many Christian leaders have been silent about this – and yet I cannot reprove them without reproving myself. So I reprove both myself and them.

I gladly affirm that it is good to take reasonable precautions to preserve life. No Christians should object to this. But let me clearly and unequivocally state a number of other things that are also good.

In response to the wide-scale shut-down that led to the unemployment of 40 million people, I say:

  1. It is good for human beings to work, to provide for themselves and their families, to run their businesses and employ other workers.

In response to the prohibition on public gatherings, I say:

  1. It is good for Christians to gather together in sacred assembly – for worship and for prayer.

In response to the restriction on gathering sizes, I say:

  1. It is good for the whole church to gather together to worship the Lord as one body.

In response to recommendations against and in some cases prohibitions against singing, I say:

  1. It is good for the church to sing.

In response to stay-at-home orders, social distancing rules, and sweeping restrictions, I say:

  1. It is good for Christians to practice hospitality as a context for fellowship, mutual encouragement, and ministry to others.
  1. It is good for Christians, including pastors and elders, to visit the sick and to pray for the sick and to anoint the sick with oil.
  1. It is good for human beings to demonstrate physical affection toward one another. Christians are instructed to greet each other with a holy kiss, which we may translate culturally into warm hugs and handshakes.
  1. It is good to care for the dying by having loved ones – especially immediate family members – physically present.
  1. It is good to care for the lonely and for widows in their distress through embodied presence.
  1. It is good to love our extended family members by being physically present.
  1. It is good not to spread the coronavirus, I grant that. But it is good to spread the gospel, to spread faith and hope and love – and these are often spread through social converging.

In response to the pandemic preoccupation that is treating people like physical fixtures whose main purpose is to avoid contracting or transmitting a disease, I say:

  1. It is good to act like human beings. The Bible teaches us to understand the richness of our humanity: yes, we are physical beings, but we are also relational and social beings, we are intellectual and emotional beings – and all of this is woven together as our integrated and embodied humanity.

And if one’s response to these twelve good things is ‘except in a pandemic’ or ‘except when the government declares a public health emergency’, my answer is: by what authority do you grant this exception? Does God’s declaration of what is good for human flourishing have a ‘pandemic exception’?

I do not doubt for a single moment that knowledge of the coronavirus ought to inform our lives. I am not suggesting ‘easy answers’ for the governing authorities, and exactly how to balance all factors. But I will push back against the Covid-centered life. Yes, we want to love our neighbors holistically – and for this reason some efforts to preserve our neighbors’ physical health is good. But precisely because we must love our neighbors holistically, I want to be very clear in saying that it is wrongheaded to let the coronavirus govern our lives. I find it deeply unsettling that so many of our society’s agenda-setters seem willing to set aside mental health, emotional health, relational health, economic health, ministry health, and church health, and instead put all their eggs into the one basket of physical health. What does it profit a country to protect its physical health but lose its soul?

One of the best things our country could do is call upon the people to gather together in churches all over this country in order to earnestly seek God’s face, repent of our sins, and plead for mercy. But doing that would require taking God seriously and trusting Him. Sad to say, our nation most certainly does not trust God, and that is the problem.

As for us, what should we do when our government is a terror to good conduct? We ought to stay the course: “do what is good” (v. 3) – not as the government defines it, not as popular opinion defines it, but as God defines it. We should go about it quietly and circumspectly, always seeking to honor our brothers and sisters whose consciences vary with one another (Romans 14:1–15:7!).

It is always safe to “do what is good” – because the highest authority in the universe has our back. And it is never safe to abandon what is good, for then we put ourselves at odds with the living God.

STAY ON THE COURSE OF DOING GOOD!

My purpose is not to tell you exactly what to do, but I am attempting to help you think biblically. I honor your conscience as you sort through these complex matters. And yet, don’t take refuge in ‘the complexity of it all’. Aim for the simplicity of devotion to Christ. Make an honest effort to think faithfully and Christianly about all these things, and be resolved to stay true to the Lord. And with God’s Word as the standard of good conduct, “let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9)

There are many things that we ought to be willing to give up. Doing good as God defines it is not one of them.

  

ENDNOTES

[1] Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Quoted in Os Guinness, Time for Truth: Living Free in a World of Lies, Hype & Spin. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2000: p. 19.

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