LIVING GODLY LIVES IN A PAGAN SOCIETY, PART 2
After reminding his readers that they are citizens of another kingdom, Paul tackles some very difficult issues about living within that pagan culture. The first has to do with authority. 1 Peter 2,13-18 reads–
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
I am both an American and a person who came of age in the Sixties with its strong anti-authoritarian and iconoclastic proclivities. Verses 13-14 seem to throw down the gauntlet, challenging my willingness to be obedient to God’s will.
1. What does Paul say about our attitude towards human authority, including that of the government?
2. The latter half of verse 14 gives the reason for that. What is it?
3. Remembering that the emperor in this case was very probably the mad meglomaniac Nero, is Paul saying that all humanity authorities are good?
4. It is clear that our concern for our personal rights, personal justice, etc. are not the highest concern of God in these instances. Verses 15-18 tell us what is on God’s mind when he commands us to honor those who are responsible for the well-being of society. What are those reasons?
5. What are the challenges here?
6. Why is it so important to be obedient to God’s will in these situations (think about living in our nation today)?
I’ll have more to say in the next post.
I think that when the “authorities” violate God’s Laws, we are under no obligation to submit to them. I look at Daniel who violated King Darius’ laws and got thrown into the den of lions. There are many examples of Follower’s of Christ violating “authorities” rules/laws. We are called to be different…..so I do not know why Peter (you use “Paul” instead of “Peter” a couple of times in your questions) tells us to submit to them when our submittance (hehehe that is not even a word) would violate God’s law or will. I look forward to your view and help on this.
Tim Clutter - November 18, 2011 at 7:47 pm |
Peter (not Paul, sorry) is talking about an entirely different situation than Daniel and Darius. There are some things that a good citizen should do regardless of who is in power–not steal, not murder your neighbor, obey the traffic laws, pay your taxes, keep your water and sewer clean, treat your children properly. These are all things that societies insist upon and punish those who do not comply. These are things that belong to Caesar (per Jesus’ render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s) and only “bad people” (law-breakers, etc) scoff at. These are things we do whether the one in power is Caesar, Obama, or Abraham Lincoln. This does not mitigate our right and obligation to civil disobedience or even active rebellion against an evil power–but we must always be sure that how we do these latter things does not undermine the basic Christ-like character of our life’s witness.
sdunnpastor - November 19, 2011 at 4:58 pm |