November
of 2016 was a month that held a great amount of interest both nationally and
globally. It was that time in the presidential cycle for America to elect
its next president. The voting has been completed and Donald J. Trump has
beaten Hilary Clinton and is to be America's next commander in chief.
Both candidates caused immense uproars among nearly every American especially
Christians. Many people do not want
either of the candidates for president and voting for a third party candidate
is more or less a vote that is thrown away.
Even though now it is clear that Mr. Trump is president-elect, the
Christian response should be the same as if Hilary or any other person has been
elected. Let’s look at this from a
biblical stance.
When it
comes to human governments the Bible is not silent. The apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters
of how Christians are to live under their governments. Chapter 13 of Romans contains Paul’s
instructions for how we are to respond and exist within any government. The very first sentence in this chapter says,
“Let every person be subject to the governing authority.” The next sentence
explains why. God places all governing
authorities as he wills. Every person
who has been placed into an authoritative role has been set there by God and
those who disobey those authorities ultimately disobey God. The government is designed to be God’s
servant for our good. Its role is to
bring judgment to evildoers and is an extension of God’s judgment. Therefore, the government is designed to
serve us and is for our good.
In a similar
fashion, the apostle Peter wrote to Christians as well to be subject to
governing authorities. 1 Peter 2:13-25
record Peter’s instruction for Christians and how they are to live under
various authorities. Similarly to Paul,
Peter says to obey all authorities because they have been placed in their roles
by God in order to punish the wicked and to praise the good. It isn’t a coincidence that Peter and Paul
say similar things. By obeying our
authorities we do good, which is the will of God and silences the ignorance of
foolish people.
Now it is
worth noting that the Christians Peter and Paul wrote to during the 1st
century lived under a different government than what Americans currently live
under today. During the beginning of the
early church Rome was the empire which ruled over the Mediterranean. Whatever the Roman emperor wanted to be law
was made so. The people didn’t live
under a democracy like American’s do and so they had to obey any law placed
over them. Today we have the privilege
to have our voices heard by voting. We
may have some say in those who are elected to authoritative positions and what
laws can come from that, but that doesn’t change the fact that God ultimately
institutes them. God is the one who is
in control and so we must obey the ones he places above us.
Obedience to the government is required of Christians, but civil
disobedience is allowed under certain circumstances. This can only happen when a government
becomes contradictory to God’s will. We
see this happen in scripture too and a well know account of civil disobedience
is recorded in Daniel 3. Many people
know the story of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego. These three men disobeyed
king Nebuchadnezzar and would not worship him over God. The consequence was their death in a fiery
furnace, but God preserved their lives.
What can be taken from this account is that when a government comes in
conflict with honoring God, our loyalties must lie with God. Therefore, unless a government requires allegiance
to itself over God, the Christian must fear God and honor the president.
