Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] In 2008, July, my wife and I and our family moved to Bozeman, Montana, and began to adjust to life in the Gallatin Valley. And that year, the city council of Bozeman passed a decision to hire a company to install red light traffic cameras so that if someone ran through the red light, a photo would be taken of their license plate and be sent a ticket.
[00:00:30] When they did that, there was a little thing in me as a newcomer, there was like this little internal fist in me of defiance.
[00:00:41] I don't like the idea of them taking my photo.
[00:00:46] Sometimes the light's pink.
[00:00:51] I wasn't the only one. And they decided to back off from that. So. So that was 2008, 2009, state legislators in Helena passed a law that no city in the state of Montana could have red light cameras.
[00:01:09] And when they did that, I said to myself, I don't like Helena telling us what to do.
[00:01:18] Who do they think they are?
[00:01:22] Now when I see people run through red lights, I go, I wish we had those cameras.
[00:01:32] What is your posture toward governing authorities?
[00:01:37] Is there within you like this fist of defiance where you're saying, I don't like governing authorities.
[00:01:46] I want to do what I want to do.
[00:01:48] Well, as we continue in our study of Romans, we come to Romans, chapter 13, verses 1 through 7, will be our primary place of focus.
[00:01:58] And in this, we're going to look at the question, how should Christians relate to governing authorities?
[00:02:06] Should we perpetually shake our fist in defiance, or does the Gospel teach us a better way to live?
[00:02:15] And I believe so in this text. So here's what I want you to walk away with this morning. The Gospel frees Christians from political idolatry, idolatry and hostility so we can know and do God's will.
[00:02:31] So to Understand Romans chapter 13, verses 1 through 6, we need to take this text, I believe, and put it in its context.
[00:02:42] And everything begins to change. In the book of Romans, after 11 chapters of doctrine, in chapter 12, verse 1, he begins this idea with, Therefore, based upon 11 chapters of theology, therefore, this is what we're supposed to do.
[00:03:00] And that opens to us to Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2.
[00:03:05] This text is profoundly important in my life.
[00:03:13] When I was 19 years old, I dropped out of college. I was living with my parents.
[00:03:20] Every guy's dream.
[00:03:25] And I was living with my parents. And I had a Sunday school teacher that said, next week, bring a verse to share with the entire class.
[00:03:36] So that night I went to work at United Parcel Service.
[00:03:40] And as I was working, a verse came to Mind. And I couldn't figure out where it was, but it was somewhere about offering yourself.
[00:03:48] And so I got home from work and I found it. It was Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. And so as I read the text, one of the things we saw, it starts with this. Therefore this is working good, I urge you brothers and sisters. So he's talking to Christians and he's going to urge them to do something.
[00:04:12] So one of the things we can see from this, it's possible to be a Christian but not be doing this.
[00:04:21] So he urges Christians, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.
[00:04:30] When I saw that verse, I looked at that and said, I've not done that.
[00:04:41] I've never offered the totality of my being and said, I am a living sacrifice for you.
[00:04:51] I think what we call this here at Journey Church, being an all in follower of Jesus.
[00:04:59] See, it's possible to be a child of God, but not living as a sacrifice to God.
[00:05:07] So I realized I hadn't done that. And as I continued, it said, holy and pleasing to God.
[00:05:14] This is your true and proper worship.
[00:05:18] The version that I was reading when I was 19 said, which is your reasonable service.
[00:05:28] And as I looked at that, I remember going, well, he wants me to be a living sacrifice, and that's a big request that God makes of us.
[00:05:36] But Jesus was a dying sacrifice and it's just reasonable for one who was a dying sacrifice to ask me to be a living sacrifice for him.
[00:05:50] He goes on to say, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
[00:05:59] There's a little difference between these two. Where it says that you're to present yourself as a living sacrifice or offer yourself as a living sacrifice.
[00:06:08] The way the grammar is, it's a point in time decision.
[00:06:12] You know, I married Kim one time at one place and we became husband and wife. Boom, it's changed ever since.
[00:06:22] And I realized I hadn't done that.
[00:06:26] And so I went to the church building in the weekday and I said to Jesus, I give myself to you and you can do whatever you want with my life.
[00:06:40] This is when I moved from being a child of God to an all in follower of Jesus.
[00:06:46] And this true and living sacrifice is proper worship. The version I read, it was your reasonable service and it was reasonable for him to ask me to do that. And then he goes on to say, but do not conform to the patterns of this world, but transformed by the renew your mind. That is not a point in time. That's an ongoing thing, forever and ever and ever.
[00:07:07] So two things that Jesus wants you to do, if you're a child of God, is to present yourself to him, but then continually after that, be transformed by renewing your mind and not be conformed to this world. And then he says, this is what will happen.
[00:07:24] Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is.
[00:07:30] It's good, pleasing, and perfect will.
[00:07:34] And that is what you should want to do.
[00:07:44] A deep desire you should have in your heart if you're a follower of Jesus and committed to him, is you want to do the will of God, because God's will is good, pleasing, and perfect.
[00:08:00] And so this verse, when I was 19, started me on a trajectory of trying to do that which is pleasing to God. And it led me to this point in time where I'm talking to you, because this is what I've been created to do.
[00:08:15] And for me to preach this sermon is part of his good, pleasing and perfect will.
[00:08:22] And I can say that that is one of the best decisions I've made in my entire life.
[00:08:29] And I'm so thankful that at that age of 19, I began to reshape the trajectory of my life so that we can do what God's perfect and pleasing will is, that perfect will.
[00:08:42] So that's the text that kind of goes over all of this.
[00:08:46] And so it moves on, then Paul does with different spheres of life.
[00:08:52] And we have this diagram to show how it moves from 12, 1 and 2 through different areas of our life. In 1 and 2, he says we're to worship God through wholehearted surrender.
[00:09:04] Then in relationship to yourself, think rightly about yourself.
[00:09:10] Think of yourself with sober judgment.
[00:09:13] That means don't think too highly of yourself. But there's a corresponding thing. Don't think too lowly of yourself.
[00:09:20] Think of yourself with a sober judgment and take the gifts you have and use them to serve.
[00:09:30] So when you became a Christian, you received a set of gifts, unique abilities that you can use for God's glory, for the good of others, and for the joy of your soul.
[00:09:41] He moves on then from yourself, and he moves it out to the church.
[00:09:46] And so he gives instructions in chapter 12, verses 9 through 16. We're to love the family of God sincerely, to be dedicated to community of believers.
[00:09:57] In a church this size, you know, we can't know each other, but I can say that I'm part of this church and I'm part of you. Because if this is your church, this is our church, and I view you Differently because we attend the same church. We're believers together here in this local expression of the body of Christ.
[00:10:21] And then he goes on in as Ryan Prebe preached last week. Well, how do we respond to our enemies? And when in response to enemies, we're to overcome evil with good?
[00:10:31] Which now brings us to chapter 13, verses 1 through 7. And it shows our responsibility what God's good, pleasing and perfect will is in relationship to governing authorities.
[00:10:45] And what he does is he urges us to honor governing authorities as an act of obedience to God.
[00:10:52] Now, Paul's point is that the Gospel transforms every relationship in our lives.
[00:10:58] It changes how we relate to God, how we see ourselves, how we love the church, how we treat our enemies.
[00:11:05] And yes, it changes even how we respond to our political authorities.
[00:11:11] So here's the big question we want to grapple with. What is God's will for you regarding governing authorities?
[00:11:18] And in this section, then, as we move Forward in chapter 13, verses 1 and 2, we're going to see three things about God's will for our relationship to governing authorities. The first one is this is to respect its authority.
[00:11:34] Respect its authority.
[00:11:37] Verses 1 and 2 read, Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.
[00:11:49] The authorities that exist have been established by God.
[00:11:54] Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted.
[00:12:01] And those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
[00:12:08] That's a good word for those of us who have this clenched fist toward governmental authorities.
[00:12:15] Now, we obviously live in a much different government than they did in the first century.
[00:12:21] These Roman Christians who read this the first time were under the imperial monarchy of Nero.
[00:12:30] We live in a participatory democracy, so we have different rights that they had at their time.
[00:12:37] But the overarching theme is still, this is to respect people in authority. And he gives the reason for it because it says God is established, established by God, and God has instituted. And Paul's grounds of our respect for governmental authorities is the sovereignty of God.
[00:12:59] Now, one of the things we may ask about this well, do we have to do everything the government says?
[00:13:06] If they're the authority, are they the ultimate authority?
[00:13:10] And they're not.
[00:13:12] We don't necessarily have to obey everything the governmental authorities say to us if it is in agreement with the word of God, because there's a higher authority than government, God.
[00:13:25] And there's a classic example in Acts, chapter five, Peter, the apostles, they were preaching, and all of a sudden the government authorities said, you cannot preach in the name of Jesus. Any longer. And their classic line was this. In Acts, chapter 5, verse 29, it says that we ought to obey God rather than man.
[00:13:47] So the apostles themselves disobeyed governing authorities when obedience to the state meant disobedience to God.
[00:13:57] But seldom does government ask us to do what isn't God's will.
[00:14:03] And our general posture toward governmental authorities is that we're to acknowledge their authority and respect that authority.
[00:14:12] Tim Keller I like how he summarizes our response to civil disobedience in the Gospel. He says, so the Bible gives a very clear basis for civil disobedience, namely, if the state commands what God forbids, or if the state forbids what God commands, then civil disobedience is a Christian duty.
[00:14:34] So what does Romans 13:1 2 mean to us?
[00:14:39] Well, God has established governments and governing authorities for the greater good and protection of society.
[00:14:45] And when we are needlessly oppositional to government, you're fighting against what God has established for the greater good of society.
[00:14:55] That's basically the point of verses one and two.
[00:14:58] So we need to realize that Paul wasn't naive about the political atmosphere when he wrote be subject to the governing authorities, because in all probability, he may have written this epistle around A.D. 57.
[00:15:13] And the emperor at that time was Nero.
[00:15:17] And Nero was not exactly an honorable man.
[00:15:23] He was a horrible person, even to the degree that he arranged for his mother to be murdered.
[00:15:32] He was known for his cruelty and his corruption.
[00:15:36] And then about seven years later, after the Great Fire of Rome, Nero blamed Christians for the fire and then had several believers executed because they were followers of Jesus Christ.
[00:15:53] And here's the reality. It's very possible that some of these Christians who lived in Rome where Nero was and read this text when Paul's letter arrived, were later persecuted by Nero himself.
[00:16:09] So I don't understand it, but sometimes God allows evil leaders to be in place.
[00:16:17] And Nero was an evil person, but he still says to them, be subject to the authorities.
[00:16:26] So in fight of all those atrocities that he was doing, we're to respect authorities.
[00:16:32] And so when we disagree, we need to disagree respectfully.
[00:16:37] And in our participatory democracy, we can speak up and say certain things, but still we need to do so with respect.
[00:16:45] So here's another question. What is good's will for God regarding governing authorities?
[00:16:52] Respect its authority and also recognize its purpose.
[00:16:56] Verse 3.
[00:16:58] For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but to those who do wrong.
[00:17:05] Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is Right, and you will be commended.
[00:17:14] He's just saying something really simple as Christ followers obey the laws.
[00:17:20] If the law doesn't disobey God's law, just be a good citizen and obey the law, do what is right because that is part of our responsibility to support our governing authorities in their establishment of a just society where people's needs are met. Then he goes on to verse 4. For the one authority is God's servant for your good.
[00:17:47] If you do wrong, be afraid.
[00:17:49] For rulers do not bear the sword for no reason.
[00:17:53] They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
[00:18:00] So what he's saying is quit fighting authority if it's needless to fight it.
[00:18:07] Or as one of my favorite rock stars, John Mellicamp says, I fight authority and authority always wins.
[00:18:18] And so do not needlessly rebel against authority unless they violate the word of God.
[00:18:25] And so when we recognize this, we avoid these two mistakes. One is a political idolatry where we think too highly of them, they can do whatever they want.
[00:18:34] Or hostility where we're rejecting its authority and its God given purpose.
[00:18:41] Here's the third way we should relate to governing authorities is to respond with Christlike character.
[00:18:49] Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities not only because of possible punishment, but also as a matter of conscience.
[00:19:00] See, we're not only to obey out of fear of the consequences, but also out of a good conscience that we want to do what is right because this is the proper thing to do.
[00:19:16] So one of the things that he outlines is these are two responses that Christians can make with Christlike character to governing authorities.
[00:19:29] First was this, pay your taxes.
[00:19:33] Second is pay respect.
[00:19:37] Pay your taxes, pay respect.
[00:19:40] So let's look at verse 6.
[00:19:42] This is also why you pay taxes.
[00:19:45] For the authorities are God's servants who give their full time to governing.
[00:19:52] Give to everyone what you owe them. If you owe taxes, pay taxes. If revenue, then revenue, if respect, then respect, if honor.
[00:20:04] So if you want to be Christlike, one of the things you should do is be like Jesus and pay your taxes.
[00:20:15] Jesus was a tax paying non citizen to the Roman Empire.
[00:20:22] There's this fascinating little story where they were trying to catch Jesus, some of his adversaries, and they said is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?
[00:20:33] Which was a controversial thing because here they're Jewish and they have these pagan governing authorities over them. What do you do?
[00:20:43] And Jesus didn't fall for that trap.
[00:20:47] And he asked for someone to bring a coin and he held it up and he said, render to Caesar's the things that are Caesar's and to God the things are God.
[00:21:00] And so what he's saying is, give to the governing authorities what they deserve and give to God what you deserve.
[00:21:08] Here's the irony of what Jesus did.
[00:21:12] He paid taxes to the government that crucified him, and he knew it.
[00:21:25] And if Jesus can pay taxes to those who crucified him, maybe we can pay our taxes, too.
[00:21:35] Jesus models this for us, and we should do so willfully.
[00:21:42] There was a preacher I used to listen to years ago, and he was preaching on this topic, and he told how the Holy Spirit began to deal with him and his attitude toward paying taxes.
[00:21:57] And this was back in the day when you finished your tax preparation and if you owed any money, you would have to write a physical check and mail it to the irs.
[00:22:09] And so as his little act of civil disobedience, as he sent his check in, he made the checkout to the Infernal Revenue Service, and he sent it off.
[00:22:24] They cashed the check next year. He was still upset about it. So he decided to do something a little bit different. He wrote the check to the Eternal Revenue Service.
[00:22:38] They cashed the check.
[00:22:41] But then the Holy Spirit convicted him of his fist of rebellion against the government, and he began to write out Internal Revenue Service.
[00:22:54] If Jesus paid taxes, we should pay taxes.
[00:22:58] And so one of the things that's really important is that we pay our taxes because we want a functioning society.
[00:23:08] Will you just move back for a moment? For those of us who live here in the Gallatin Valley, do you see all the goods and services that we are beneficiaries of because we pay taxes?
[00:23:21] I so appreciate our police and sheriffs.
[00:23:26] There's just a calmness in my heart, and I know that if something tragic happens, I can call and. And they will be. There are the firefighters who will control the fire.
[00:23:39] I appreciate our public educational system who are educating the populace and students here in Bozeman so that they can be educated and contribute to society.
[00:23:56] I appreciate giving money to Montana State University through some of my taxes as well, because they educate and equip people.
[00:24:07] I like driving on nice roads.
[00:24:10] I don't like stoplights.
[00:24:14] I like them.
[00:24:17] But we are the beneficiaries of it.
[00:24:20] And our attitude toward our governing authorities is not our fists raised in rebellion, but accepting the fact that God has placed them in authority and we're to pay your taxes. But the other thing is this. He says, and pay respect.
[00:24:35] If respect, then respect.
[00:24:37] If honor, then honor.
[00:24:40] And in Other words, when he wrote this to the first century Roman church, he was saying, I want you to respect and honor a dishonorable person.
[00:24:53] Because Nero was.
[00:24:56] He was not a good man.
[00:25:01] But you still can respect the position.
[00:25:06] And it is not helpful in cultured society to be disrespectful for governmental leaders, whether you like them or not.
[00:25:17] Because what, God has established them. God has established them. And God has established them.
[00:25:22] Now, I have no idea why God lets certain people in public office.
[00:25:36] I look at some people and I go, how did they get there?
[00:25:42] And this is where I have to trust a sovereign God, that God can use anyone for his sovereign purposes.
[00:25:52] When we get to glory, it'll make sense.
[00:25:58] Right now, I walk by faith, not by sight.
[00:26:03] But the beautiful thing is this, is that since we're not in an imperial monarchy and a participatory democracy, we'd engage in the process.
[00:26:15] And there's some folks I'd like replaced, and maybe you should run for public office to replace them.
[00:26:25] We can be involved with governmental authorities. And so Nero was no George Washington. He was no Abraham Lincoln. And even to him, there is to be this respectful attitude for the person.
[00:26:39] I've never been in the military, but I heard there's a saying in the military that sometimes you salute the uniform, not the person, because the uniform says they have authority.
[00:26:53] And so here we see this. What's God's will regarding your governing authorities? Well, first of all, respect its authority. The second thing is recognize its purpose.
[00:27:03] And the third is respond with Christlike character.
[00:27:07] Now, I preached my first sermon in 1991, and I started pastoring, you know, full time in.
[00:27:21] Yeah, in 1999 when I actually started this. I want to preach my first sermon when I became a pastor.
[00:27:28] So I've been preaching quite a while. And one of the things that I think that sermons are more effective is when you, the listener, find it applicable to your life in what you're going through.
[00:27:44] So here's one of my secrets to making sermons apply to you in your life. Today I study the text, Romans 13:1 7.
[00:27:55] The text studies me, and then it convicts me of sin in my life.
[00:28:04] And then I just assume that you have the same sins in your life.
[00:28:09] So basically what I do is I just preach up to myself and I let you listen because the reality is you struggle with the same things I do. And the Holy Spirit convicts me of the same sins the Holy Spirit convicts you of.
[00:28:27] And so when we look at this text, what it does is it's convicting us in A good way of showing us what God is calling us to do, of what God's will is in our life.
[00:28:38] And that's answering that question, what is God's will for me concerning governing authority?
[00:28:44] And here's the reality. I have not always obeyed it well.
[00:28:50] There are times that I have been conformed to the pattern of this world rather than being transformed by the Holy Spirit.
[00:28:59] And I'm not doing God's good, pleasing and perfect will.
[00:29:06] What God calls us to do is to do those things he said, pay our taxes, pay respect.
[00:29:17] And right now I especially want you all to pay your taxes because my wife Kim has just retired and she has not yet gotten her first Social Security check.
[00:29:35] So will you not cheat my wife or my 93 year old mother?
[00:29:45] It's all part of participating in honoring what God has called us to do, to be good citizens and in the place that God has called us to be. So in First Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 13, I think what Paul does is he distills his teaching on what Christian love is in a single sentence.
[00:30:06] He says, and now these three remain faith, hope and love.
[00:30:14] But the greatest of these is love.
[00:30:18] So as a follower of Jesus and participant in the Christian community here, the thing that has really concerned me and concerned me about myself is that so many Christians have not been characterized by this faith, hope and love.
[00:30:38] But rather than being characterized by faith, they're characterized by fear.
[00:30:44] And not by hope, but despair, and not by love, but by hate.
[00:30:55] When it comes to politics, too many Christians have been conformed to the pattern of this world.
[00:31:02] And we've allowed the world to disciple us into fear that everything is falling apart, that if the wrong person gets elected, all is lost.
[00:31:13] And fear gives way to despair.
[00:31:16] We lose hope and fear and despair eventually give way to hate.
[00:31:22] And we speak about people with contempt. We mock them, we insult them, we repeat things that aren't even true.
[00:31:31] Fear, despair and hate.
[00:31:36] Church. That's not what God has called us to be. And to do that is not the way that we're to be characterized.
[00:31:44] And one of the things I've seen in so many Christians, and I see this tendency in myself, is to have that despair and that fear and that hatred rather than faith, hope and love.
[00:32:01] And one of the frustrating things is there's so many people who have been so consumed by their social media and all this on TV that that's all they talk about.
[00:32:15] And you know what, it's like you're just minding your business and you strike up a conversation and they want to go all political on you, and they want to give your opinions, their opinions to you.
[00:32:29] And they want to talk on and on about it. So this is what I do.
[00:32:35] And maybe you can do this when people start trying to drag me into their political conversations that I really don't want to be involved with. Okay, this is what I do. Actually, I'm really good at this.
[00:32:48] So you have the privilege of witnessing the expert at this. So this is what you do when they try to drag you down the rabbit hole. Okay, you look dumb.
[00:33:10] I told you, I'm good.
[00:33:15] I just kind of look at him with his blank stare because I don't want a summary of the news channel they've been watching.
[00:33:28] I really don't want to come there.
[00:33:31] I stay informed.
[00:33:34] I know what's going on.
[00:33:36] I vote.
[00:33:38] But I don't want to be conformed to this world.
[00:33:41] I want to be transformed by the renewing of my mind.
[00:33:47] So here's a question.
[00:33:50] Do the people around you know more about who you voted for or who you're devoted to?
[00:34:03] Do you talk way too much about the political realm and far too little about Jesus Christ?
[00:34:14] Now, I'm going to step on some toes here with this one, but here's the reality.
[00:34:21] If you talk way too much about politics and all of that, you're boring.
[00:34:32] And my face goes dumb because I know this conversation isn't going anywhere.
[00:34:42] And so we are to be transformed by the renewed our minds of how we handle social media, what we post, what we say.
[00:34:51] Because it's important for us not to look so much like a donkey or an elephant, but to look like the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
[00:35:02] This is what Jesus said. Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and glorify the Father who is in heaven.
[00:35:12] Does the verbiage you give bring glory to God?
[00:35:16] So Paul says. And now remains these three things, faith, hope, and love.
[00:35:22] But the greatest of these is love.
[00:35:25] And so our confidence is not ultimately in the president, a political party, or an election.
[00:35:31] Our confidence is in God.
[00:35:33] We are not a people of despair. We are a people of hope.
[00:35:38] Jesus Christ is risen from the dead. He is Lord, he is king. And we are not a people of hate. We are a people of love.
[00:35:48] Love for God, love for our neighbors, and even love for our enemies.
[00:35:55] So don't let cable news, social media, political parties, or political personalities disciple you into fear, despair and hate.
[00:36:07] Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Renew your mind with the gospel.
[00:36:17] Remember who God is.
[00:36:19] Remember what Christ has done. Remember who you are.
[00:36:25] And then rather than being anxious, go into this angry, anxious, divided world that you will be a witness of our true King, Jesus Christ.
[00:36:37] Let's pray.
[00:36:39] Father, thank you for the beauty of this text.
[00:36:43] Paul crafts it carefully through the Holy Spirit's inspiration to teach us how to respond to our governing authorities.
[00:36:51] And we as the community of believers, we now pray for our governing authorities.
[00:36:56] Thank you for their root leadership.
[00:36:59] Thank you for the privilege of living in this country and especially in this community.
[00:37:04] And I, Father, I pray that we'll be known by our civility and not characterized by hostility.
[00:37:12] That we characterized by faith and hope and especially love in our response to other people.
[00:37:19] Father, I pray that you'd be glorified in this valley through our church here.
[00:37:26] And we pray, Father, that you would give us a Holy Spirit, rest and peace in ourselves so that we live a life that brings ultimate glory to you.
[00:37:36] We pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
