Romans 13:1 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
God will have to give me much more patience….
This passage from Romans is trotted out countless times by Christian
leaders, and infinitely more than this in recent weeks. I will use
as an example something offered by Becky Akers, who has been excellent on this
topic of churches closing during this time. She writes a piece
entitled Lobbyists From Hell.
In it she cites, as one example
out of…oh, I don’t know…one-hundred thousand, a statement from the
Joseph Council of the “Citizens for Community Values” of Columbus,
Ohio. The Joseph Council identifies as “an
Evangelical and Catholic coalition of Christian leaders in
Ohio.” Romans 13 is one of the “Scriptural Reflections” they offer
as justification for closing houses of worship to God.
Read that last sentence
again. They are offering Biblical justification for closing houses
of worship.
Back to Romans
13. The reference above, which many Christians seem to love, is from
the New International Version. What does the King James say?
Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject unto the
higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are
ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power,
resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves
damnation.
Higher powers vs. governing
authorities. That’s a bit different. I have also read,
from Gerard Casey, a further examination on this point. He offers:
Whereas some English
translations use the word “governing” in verse 1, the Greek text does
not. It reads “Let every soul be subject to the superior powers.”
Well, that might make a
difference as well.
There are countless examples in
the Bible of individuals ignoring and violating the commands of the “governing
authorities” (in the meaning that countless Christians take this
phrase). I will only offer one, perhaps the most meaningful because
if these orders were not violated, well none of this would really matter.
In Matthew 2 we read of Herod questioning
the chief priests and scribes: where is the child to be born? He
questioned the wise men: when did the star appear? Once he had his
answers, he asked the wise men to return to him after they had seen this
newborn “King of the Jews.”
Of course, the wise men –
anticipating today’s modern Christians – did exactly as Herod
asked. After all, they were subject to the governing
authorities. No, not exactly. Instead, they took a
different route home. Now, was it against Scripture to walk back the
way one came? No. God told them to disobey the governing
authority.
Meanwhile, God appeared to
Joseph and told Joseph to obey Herod. Just kidding. God
told Joseph to take Mary and the baby and flee to Egypt.
Let’s look at more of the
passage from Romans, from the NIV:
3 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 you will be commended.
Mmmm. What if
rulers do hold terror for those who do right? It’s
not like it doesn’t happen. Was God (or Paul) naïve? No. There
is only one “governing” authority that consistently does not hold terror for
those who do good – that being God. With this in mind, continuing:
4 For the one in authority is
God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not
bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring
punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the
authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of
conscience.
Can this be read without the
context of the preceding verse? Would that make any sense to
you? The Apostle Paul, after all, was an extremely learned
scholar. Is he just stringing together random thoughts?
6 This is also why you pay
taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to
governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes;
if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
I won’t get into the taxes
part, other than reminding of 1 Samuel 8, when God warned Israel that the
king that they are desiring would have the nerve to take all of 10% of their
crop. Ten-percent!
But, past this: we owe respect
to those for whom we respect. We own honor for those deserving of
honor. Close churches on Sunday. Is it possible that it
is to such as these that God, through Paul, is commanding us to respect and
honor? Really?
But it gets worse.
This statement of “Scriptural
Reflection” from the Joseph Council is loaded with excuses, all referencing
Biblical passages. I will only summarize, because it makes me gag.
Colossians 3:23 Whatever you
do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.
This is actually the first
excuse offered, even before Romans 13! The Council offers:
“Christian’s first and foremost responsibility is to God” and “Only when the
civic law violates our faith are we called to practice civil disobedience,” and
somehow, from here, they conclude that shutting down churches is the thing to
do?
What is it when civil law calls
for shutting down churches? Are we not violating our
faith? We used to associate these things with godless communists and
Nazis. I guess we still should.
As to their justification via
Romans 13, they offer that “in times of national emergency, submission to
temporary Stay-at-Home orders, for example, is God-honoring.” To my
understanding, parish churches did not close in London during the blitz;
Armenian church leaders did not abandon their flock during the
Genocide.
During the countless “national
emergencies” of plague and pandemic in the last two-thousand years, the church
did not close its doors (OK, even if you find one counter-example, the point
still stands); in fact, it was the Christians that cared for the sick. All
of a sudden, in the twenty-first century, it has become “God-honoring” to
shelter in place?
Finally, from the Joseph
Council, from Hebrews 10:25: “We should ‘not [be] neglecting to meet together,
as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another…’” Yes, this
verse is used to justify NOT MEETING TOGETHER!
And if this isn’t enough, they
throw in some other beneficial thoughts (emphasis in original):
Determine not
to respond in fear, but through faith go forth in power, love and self-control,
making it our practice to serve our fellow man.
Forgive my language, but
WTF! Having responded in fear, and failing to serve their fellow
man, they dare to write these words?
Emerge from
challenges with our testimony, having matured and blossomed, stronger and more
influential than ever.
Your testimony is one of
abandoning the faith and abandoning the flock. What little influence
you had has been pissed away.
Conclusion
I will close with a comment I made at another site a couple of weeks
ago; it was in the context of pastors being concerned about some of their
elderly parishioners, therefor taking these church-closing actions out of
concern for their health:
I have come to learn something about concern for the health of the
elderly by their younger counterparts through my father. There are
things more meaningful to him than any risk imposed by the things we, with -
God willing - many years on this earth still ahead of us concern ourselves with
on their behalf. There are some fates worse than (the risk of) death
when you know your time on this earth is short in any case. My
father - well past what is considered the normal expiration date for a male -
taught me this lesson; he is the strongest man I know.
