Authority

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. Romans 13:1-2

IT MIGHT BE EASIER to dismiss Paul’s instructions to submit to governing authorities if we could argue that the rulers in his day were so just and good that they deserved such submission. But of course Jesus was executed on the pretext of treason, and Paul himself was accused of insurrection. A time of intense persecution for Christians in Rome was around the corner. It was into that reality that Paul instructed those who were the recipients of the saving grace of God in Christ to respond in submission to civil government. “The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good,” Paul wrote in verse 4. Paul recognized that even unjust civil authorities restrain the tidal wave of evil that would break over the world without them.

Of course, there is an even larger principle in this passage that has import for the way we raise our children. It is that God puts all authority in place. To live in full recognition of God’s sovereignty over the world is to recognize, and to help our children recognize, that every authority they come under has been put there by God. It’s easy for us to encourage our kids to respect the authority of teachers we admire, coaches we appreciate, and bosses we look up to. But when our child tells us about an unworthy teacher, when we observe a coach treating our child unfairly, or when we recognize that a boss has done little to earn our child’s respect, it is so much harder to encourage our kids to rightly submit to this authority. That’s when we must remember that submission is not primarily motivated by the person to whom we submit, but is an act of obedience and submission to the Lord himself.

Lord, we want ________ to learn to live under your authority. And that means submitting to human leaders —even, and perhaps especially, those who don’t earn her respect. Most of all, we want ________ to gladly submit to your authority. So help ________ to make the connection. Grant ________ the grace to submit to every authority as unto you.