What is (civil) authority?
If you have stayed with me this week enough to pull up this post, or if you regularly follow Culturewarcollege.com, you likely do not have issues with “authority” per se. Of course, you’re not faced with Paul’s Nero or Bonhoeffer’s Hitler or Solzhenitsyn’s Stalin.
In fact, in our country, if you’re not really satisfied with the civil authorities, you can vote or organize to replace them. That still may be a daunting task for you, but the freedoms we enjoy to remove from ourselves the shackles of incompetent authority must be exercised and defended, or it is freedom in name only.
Authority is generally the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. Often, authority is delegated to others, but all authority finds its source in God. And just as God has created us all in His image, and what we do with our lives makes us accountable to God, all who have been delegated authority by God, makes them accountable to God for what they have done with that authority.
Here are the primary sources regarding the power of authority:
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. – Romans 13: 1 – 7
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. – 1 Peter 2: 13 – 17
What Paul reminds us here is that there is no power that supersedes God’s power. When God establishes authority, it is a good thing. And those who misuse the authority God establishes are accountable to Him.
And while we may be free in Christ, we are not free from submission to the authority He establishes. God intends for authority to have the power to enforce the right over the wrong. But, make no mistake, the moment that duly-constituted and yet God-delegated authority comes between me and my God, or my ability to obey God’s commands, it is then that I must resist those whom God says will ultimately “bring judgment on themselves.”
Consider the verses in the 1 Peter passage above. By doing good, in this case respecting the civil authorities, we “silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.” How prepared are you to engage intellectually and present your story of Truth to silence the ignorant talk of foolish men in the public discourse today? Paul in the Romans passage talks in general terms. He does not make a case that supports an individual cause or issue. He does not take up the persecution brought on by the Romans. He does not complain in the media about the threat in Rome known as Nero. In fact, the one specific issue he raises has to do with the obligation to pay taxes.
And yet, we want to go there, don’t we? Christians have been singled out, businesses have been lost, and it seems that for years and years the “progressive community [has been attacking] Evangelical institutions.” We want justice when it seems that right has been worsted in the culture wars. And yet, when it comes to defining the civil authority here, Paul and Peter have suggested grace should be our response.
As we discuss in the Basic Course on this website, our opponents know that we are passionate in our advocacy for life and family and religious freedom. Frankly, they are passionate for their causes as well. But they would like nothing better to catch us on camera being passionate in our advocacy, when being Christlike in our response is what we need to offer.
Therefore, there has never been a better time to consider the definition of authority delegated by God and our respect for it. Should we offer up that Christlike response, we have nothing to fear when our opponents complain about our advocacy for life and family and religious freedom and the issues we are called to advocate. In fact, I am saddened for those I know who are misusing the authority God has given them to exercise, for they will be held accountable for their conduct and actions and will answer to God for what they have done.
Finally, civil disagreement in our public discourse does not constitute grounds for disrespecting those in authority. And the appropriate response to civil disagreement is not necessarily civil disobedience. More on that tomorrow.