Monday, February 15, 2010

Not-so-easy Presidents' Day thoughts

Romans 13 is not easy on the electors or the elected...

1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4 for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.

for Social Security sensitive seniors, totally entitled Baby Boomers, or riled up Tea Partiers...

6 For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is due to them—taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honour to whom honour is due.

for anybody po'ed, polarized and politicized over just about anything (in other words, all of us)...

8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

...for churches so blinded by the urgencies of this age that they lose their vision of the age to come:

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armour of light; 13 let us live honourably as in the day, not in revelling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

2 comments:

BillB said...

Tim,

These are indeed very difficult words to deal with. If we had an obvious oligarchy headed by an authoritarian ruler, the words would be easy to consume. However as electors and elected with the ability to influence change in those that govern without resorting to force, I believe we have different responsibilities. We cannot allow the governing authority to declare evil as good and good as evil. We cannot allow "them" to take our taxes and use them for evil ends or self enrichment because we do have some say in matters.

TLF+ said...

deck you make a very good point. God has given us an incredible gift, one not enjoyed by most of the people who have lived on the earth!

The Founders had many insights about how the expansion of government for its own sake would take the gift away, so we need to find that place somewhere between rank submission and rebellion for its own sake.

We do have a say, and that is why it is important for people to have a Godly outlook that allows wise and beneficial choices.

Thanks so much for posting, and I pray you had a good day of rest and refreshment.