Should Christians obey magistrates?

During this current era of society, many people are often faced with difficult questions where it seems as though they are forced to do things against their will…in order to comply with government regulations.  There are endless examples of situations where people may feel coerced to compromise their faith, such as employers in how they stand by their religious convictions and apply those values to their businesses or individuals standing up for their individual beliefs and convictions in a world full of regulations.  As a result, where should believers draw the line in the sand and stand up for what they believe in matters of faith and practice?

   

For example, many Christian-owned businesses in the United States are struggling with the issue of whether they should provide company-paid health insurance to their employees, if the government makes them buy insurance with birth-control options…since many of these same business owners may have strong religious convictions against abortion and/or contraceptives.  In the same sense, numerous individual believers also feel violated as these same government mandates are trying to force them into buying individual health insurance policies with required birth-control and abortion coverage, even though they would never use such coverage and have religious convictions against using their own money to help supplement these controversial insurance policies.

Similarly, a female athlete from a Kentucky high school in the United States was recently forced to make a hard decision.  This lady was randomly assigned a racing bib for a cross-country running competition with the number “666.”  However, she had strong religious convictions against wearing this particular number during a cross-country race and she asked the racing officials for a different bib number, who declined her request.  As a result, this female athlete was unable to compete in the competition…for standing by her religious convictions.

Obviously, the Word of God teaches that believers are to obey their magistrates.  However, where should believers draw the line in the sand and stand up for what they believe in matters of faith and practice?    

“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.  Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2 NIV)

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.” (Titus 3:1-2 NIV)

Well, looking back to the Old Testament, there are two great examples of people standing by their faith regardless of the cost.  These individuals understood the importance of obeying their civil leaders, but they would not follow any orders that made them compromise their faith.  In other words, the leaders of their era forced them to make difficult positions about whether they should obey them, at the expense of disobeying God.

In the Book of Daniel, there are the three Jewish men – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – who stood by their religious convictions, by not bowing down to worship the golden image of King Nebuchadnezzar as commanded by his decrees…with the penalty of getting tossed into the middle of a fiery furnace.  After the king personally confronted these Jewish men about not bowing down to worship his gods and reiterated his threat about tossing them in a fiery furnace, the three Jewish men still stood by their convictions by saying the following.

“’King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand.  But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.’” (Daniel 3:16-18 NIV, italics added for emphasis)

As the story continues, the king became furious at their response and had these three Jewish men thrown in a fiery furnace.  Nevertheless, the king was later in awe as he witnessed the three Jewish men walking around in the fiery furnace, along with a fourth person who looked like a son of the gods.  In the end, King Nebuchadnezzar had a change of heart by making a decree to the people of any nation or language who said anything against the God of these three Jewish men, that they would be cut into pieces and have their houses turned into piles of rubble.

After the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, King Darius took over the kingdom and he wanted to place the Prophet Daniel in a leadership position over the whole kingdom.  However, there were a few of the king’s administrators and leaders who wanted to have Daniel removed, but could find nothing against his virtuous character.  So they realized the only way they could make Daniel break a law was by having the king make a temporary decree, forcing Daniel to obey his God instead of the king, which would result in Daniel getting punished and killed in a lion’s den.  These corrupt officials managed to trick the king into passing this temporary decree, and subsequently notified the king that Daniel was disobeying his decree by praying to God…not the gods of the king.  As a result, the men manipulated King Darius into tossing Daniel into a lion’s den, for his alleged disobedience to the king.  Fortunately, the God of Daniel took away the lion’s appetite, evident by Daniel’s conversation with the king the following morning.

“At the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den.  When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’  Daniel answered, ‘May the king live forever!  My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.’  The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” (Daniel 6:19-23 NIV)

Once King Darius realized the power of Daniel’s faith and God, he released Daniel and placed the men who falsely accused him, along with their wives and children, into the den of lions…where the lions overpowered them before they even hit the floor.  Much like King Nebuchadnezzar’s response, King Darius issued a decree to the peoples, nations and men of every language that all of his kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel.

In summary, Christians need to remember that we have a responsibility to obey our civil leaders and magistrates, as a testimony of our faith in God.  In contrast, we may need to use wisdom in discerning some laws and orders – such as the ones that may just irritate us and the ones that may make us compromise the more important matters of our faith, our relationship with God.  Overall, Christians are to remain obedient to our civil magistrates; however, our obedience to God trumps any man-made rules that may make us compromise our faith and disobey God.

Should Christians obey their pastors?

After attending a church over a period of time, believers often have to confront a common question about how they should perceive their pastors’ authority.  Do they just blindly submit to every whim and woe of their pastor?  Do they look up to their pastors as mentors, and take everything with a grain of salt?  The question concerning pastoral authority may seem simple and unnecessary, but the end results of how believers respond to their pastors tend may have major implications and ramifications...if pastors accidentally, or intentionally, skew their teachings away from the Word of God.

So how should we interpret the following instructions, presumably written by the Apostle Paul, to the Hebrews?

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.  They keep watch over you as men who must give account.  Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” (Hebrews 13:17 NIV)

In regard to the above passage, if you look at the origin of the word obey in the Greek language, it actually means many things – such as obeying, making friends, having confidence, trusting and so on.  In the same sense, submit means to yield.  In other words, there are different ways of looking at this passage, but the overall them remains the same…believers are to show some sort of respect to their pastors in order that they better fulfill their purpose in leading others, with joy and not as a burden.

As for submitting to leaders, we can argue about how much submission is healthy and realistic.  However, why should believers submit to leaders?  The old adage found in the Book of Proverbs – “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” – explains how people can learn from one another and become stronger in their faith, just by being accountable to one another. (Proverbs 27:17 NIV)

On the other side of the argument, many believers will graciously follow their pastors to a degree…but not “blindly” follow their pastors to the extreme.  The reason being, they believe that the Bible teaches that believers should remain accountable to their pastors.  However, they also believe that people are ultimately accountable to God for their actions, and they cannot blame anyone else (even pastors) for their inactions…especially when most people spend their time outside of the church, except for worship-related activities.

In the Book of Matthew, you find Jesus Christ explaining that people will have to give account for every careless word they have spoken, not just how they conducted themselves in a church environment.  Likewise, you find the Apostle Paul reiterating this same point in his letter to the Romans.

“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” (Matthew 12:36 NIV)

“So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” (Romans 14:12 NIV)

As for the main question, to whom are we accountable…and for what?  Jesus Christ makes it clear that we are ultimately accountable to God.  In contrast, pastors watching over us are still accountable for how they minister to our spiritual needs, and we are to submit to them in making their work in the ministry a joy…so that they can help easier help others.

 

In other words, the pastors’ roles are overseeing their respective congregations, by helping ensure everyone utilizes their individual talents and spiritual gifts in a beneficial manner to the overall purpose of the church.  As a result, believers should yield themselves to their pastors out of respect in helping them fulfill the mission of the church.  While at the same time, believers need to remember that their pastors are still only human, just like themselves, and subject making errors in judgment.

 

Therefore, the believers’ accountability to God trumps any accountability to their respective pastors, in that their personal convictions may a times cause them to disagree with the pastors.  At the same time it does not diminish believers from respecting the leadership roles of the pastors in regard to their respective congregations.  In summary, most believers will naturally want to help support the work of pastors in overseeing the growth of their churches with joy and not as a burden…as long as the pastors’ character and heart for the ministry remains above reproach.