Living Under Authority

Study Notes

Re-set: Living Under Authority

Romans 13:1-7

     I would guess that of all the subjects that Christians disagree about, none is more controversial and heated than politics.  So, today, we come to one of the seminal texts about how a follower of Jesus should relate to what the Apostle Paul called “governing authorities”, by which he meant any person who is in the role of governmental authority in society, from emperor or president to governor to mayor to law enforcement officer.  Do you feel ready to plunge into what the Bible says about that today?

     I am glad that as I was preparing for this message, Chris and I had the privilege of hosting some Christian friends from China – so I spoke with them about how they understood and applied Romans 13:1-7 to their lives.  That discussion helped shaped my sermon today.  One of the main points they made is that we must remember that this passage was written by a man who had sometimes been imprisoned and beaten by governing authorities and even would eventually be killed by the Roman government.  And, it was written to a church that had experienced persecution from governing authorities too.

     The point is that Romans 13 came from people who were on the margins of society wrestling with how they might be a witness to Jesus in a city in which they were often disrespected.  My friends from China and I then began to talk about how, when Christians are able to get into places of prominence and power, we often apply this passage in a different way.  You may know that Rom 13:1-7 was used in our own country’s history to support the institution of slavery.  And, it was used in Nazi Germany when many church leaders said that their people were to submit to the evils and injustices done under Hitler’s rule

     With that in mind, let’s plunge into the passage today. I’ll begin by looking at a profound message that Jesus gave to his followers about government that I think is the basis for Romans 13:1-7.   Then, we’ll look at how the Apostle Paul applied Jesus’ message to church people in his day.  My hope is that we’ll be able to gain some guidance about how to re-set political discussions here at Lake.

The Jesus Message Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s (Mt. 22:17).

     In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people were deeply divided politically about the Roman government that controlled them. One day, people from both sides of that political divide came together to try to trap Jesus.  Here’s what happened:  Just after Jesus’ “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem, members of both groups came to Jesus, began their discussion by flattering him, and then tried to trick him by asking, “Rabbi, what is your opinion?  Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not (Mt 22:17)?” 

     It was a treacherous question.  If Jesus said no, he would be branded as a traitor to Rome.  If he said yes, he would be viewed as anti-Israel with his ministry being discredited among most Jewish people.   But, Jesus saw through it all and said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?  Do this: Show me a coin.” He held it up for all to see.  “Whose image is on this coin?” “Caesar’s!” they replied. Then, he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s. Give to God what is God’s (Mt 22:20-21).”

     With this one statement, Jesus established the biblical parameters for understanding the relationship between any kind of authority in this world and God’s full authority over our lives.  His words teach us that there is a legitimate domain for governing authorities.  “The coin bears the image of your governing leader so pay your taxes,” Jesus said.  But, bubbling underneath his words is that everything – yes, everything -- belongs to God.  And, Jesus clearly was saying that we who are human bear the image of God.  He’s saying that there are other authorities in this world that we must respect – but ultimately, we, and everything in all creation, belong to God. 

     Jesus’ statement is, in my estimation, the most important political statement in the Bible.  And, I view this episode that happened near the end of Jesus’ life as foundational for our Bible passage today.

Romans 13:1-7 – From Jesus to Paul Give to everyone what you owe them (13:7a).

     25-30 years after Jesus spoke his remarkable words, the Apostle Paul took Jesus’ teaching and applied it to the Christians and their political situation in Rome.  In fact, you can see that Paul’s conclusion of the matter in v. 7 is almost exactly what Jesus had said in Jerusalem.

     Let me boil down what he said into a few simple guidelines for us:

Principle 1:  Christians are people who have submitted their lives fully to God. In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices… Be transformed by the renewal of your minds… (12:1-2).  Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities… (13:1).

     Undergirding the whole of Romans 12-13 is the fact that we have surrendered our lives by faith to the God who has shown us mercy.  When we do, we find God brings us into his eternal family and he tells us 1) to serve one another (12:3-8), 2) to love one another without hypocrisy (12:9-13), and 3) to love the people of the world in the same ways that God loves (12:14-21). 

     Today, in 13:1-7, we see that when we have surrendered our lives to God, we are to respond to the governing authorities in our world by “submitting” to them. And, the main reason for us to do so is found in 13:1: “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.” 

     This is the fundamental perspective that we bring into this matter of how we respond to those in authority in our world, i.e., we have surrendered our entire lives, bodies and minds, to the God who has shown mercy to us through Jesus.  That God is also the king over all kings, the Lord who has established and rules over all other authorities.  That perspective changes the way we respond to the governing authorities in the world.  How?

Principle 2: Christians in any nation are committed to being supportive and law-abiding citizens. Do what is right and you will be commended.  For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good (13:3-4).

    The way I read this is that the first inclination of a child of God is that we want to follow the lead of our leaders and obey the laws of our country because our God has established them.  That will be what I call “our muscle-response” to political issues in whatever country God has placed us.  Paul puts it quite strongly telling us what we ought to do in response to governing authorities.  We ought to submit to the government because God established it and has told us to. 

     So, Christians don't submit to laws simply because we might agree with them or because we think the leader is doing a good job ‑‑ but because we ought to.  Our submission to governmental authority is a reflection of our submission to God's authority.  And again, remember that Paul was saying this in a situation in which there was not a good government and certainly not one that was favorable to Christians. As in Rom 8:28, God is working all things for good, and 13:4 says that this includes God working through governments.

     Even though Paul’s words are few, he does tell us about two of God’s purposes for government:

#1: To Promote Good – Do what is right and you will be commended (13:3). 

     Just as a good leader in business, education, family, etc. should reward those who do good, so the wise and good governing leader will also promote goodness in the society by rewarding those who do what is good.

#2: To Punish Evil –Rulers are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the evildoer (13:4).

     From ch.1 on, Paul has said that God is holy and just and that, therefore, he will pour his wrath out against evil in the world that he loves.  As we all know, if evil is not punished, there can be no justice.  However, as Pastor Jeff pointed out last week, Rom 12:17-19, individual human beings are not to repay evil with evil. Nor are we to be the ones who take revenge on evil that is done.  But then, how will God punish evil?  One way is that he establishes governments in this world and gives them the responsibility be his agents of justice.

     We all know that human governments do this imperfectly.  Nevertheless, while writing to people living under a very bad government, the Apostle Paul implies that even a bad government is better than anarchy.  Read the book of Judges, a book that describes a world in which everyone does what is right in his own eyes, and you will see what a society that has no respect for its government, its law enforcement agencies, and its justice system looks like.  It looks like what hell will be like.  As we have been seeing in many of our Central American nations, when we undermine the governing authorities, we do so at our own peril. 

     Again, the first inclination we should have as followers of Jesus is that we will seek to be supportive and law-abiding citizens.  This is an important part of our witness to Jesus in our world.

Principle 3: For Christians, submitting to governmental authority is not the same as blind obedience.  Give to God what is God’s (Jesus, Mt. 22:21); Give to everyone what you owe them (Paul, Rom 13:7).

     I come, at last, to the question that I imagine many of you are wondering about, i.e., Does this mean that we should never take a stand against our government or organize opposition to its policies?  In my estimation, what the Bible says in Rom 13:1-7 is not a complete prohibition of opposition to government ‑‑ even, at times, of vigorous and forceful opposition.  Many have said it is. But, I don't think so.  Let me tell you why.

     This general call to a life of submission to God-established governmental authorities is not the same as a command to obey all its edicts.  The first commandment is that there is nothing to be placed on an equal plane with God.  That includes governments.  Every government in this fallen world will ask of us things that we cannot give. It will ask us to do things we cannot do. So, our general rule of life will be to give what we can and to be supportive citizens.  But, the King above all other kings, the President who is over all presidents, is our Heavenly Father.  Our first allegiance is always to him.  There will be times when, to obey God, we will have to disobey the governing authorities.

     You surely know that the Bible gives us examples of those kinds of times: 

• When King Nebuchadnezzar decreed that all subjects must worship his image, Shadrach, Meschak Abednego refused to obey (Dan 3).
• When King Darius decreed that nobody should pray to any god or man except himself, Daniel refused to obey (Dan 6).
• When the Sanhedrin banned preaching in the name of Jesus, the Apostles refused to obey and said, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to obey you or him (Acts 4:20)?” They obeyed God.

       In each of those cases, the purpose was, as Chuck Colson wrote, “To demonstrate their submissiveness to God, not their defiance of government.”  In my own life, I’ve put together several personal guidelines to consider when I’m sensing that I cannot support the governing authorities.

1. Am I being asked to violate a direct command from God’s Word? Revolution of any kind against any government will always be a very serious matter for a Christian. We must be very sure of what God’s Word asks of us if we undermine something that God has established.
2. Am I being asked to do something immoral or unethical? Does it, as Rom 13:5 says, go against conscience?
3. Is God asking me to be a voice for the voiceless? This is a question the New Testament people could ask only rarely.  They were themselves, for the most part, the voiceless.  But, most of us have some influence. We dare not run from the commands of Proverbs 31:8-10 -- Speak out on behalf of the voiceless, and for the rights of all who are vulnerable.  Speak out in order to judge with righteousness and to defend the needy and the poor.

     We applaud when we read of the Hebrew Midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh’s command to kill all newborn Jewish boys in Ex 1.  We rejoice when we read of how our brothers and sisters in Christ disobeyed the laws in our own nation and stood against slavery by creating an underground railway to help slaves get to freedom.  We preach about the courage of Pastors like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoeller defied the edicts of Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler in support of the voiceless Jewish people. 

     We surely have similar issues in our own day – like the support of unborn children, of children sold into trafficking in our own country and all around the world and, in my own estimation, of those who were brought as children to our country without documentation and now find themselves in great distress and uncertainty.  We pray for our leaders when they face establishing laws and policy about such things.  But, we may need to give voice to those who are voiceless as God’s Word commands us.

     But the kinds of actions we read about in the Bible and in church history of people taking a stand against government must be prayerfully and carefully considered. When we feel we must do so, we must also be ready to accept the consequences – as our Christian forefathers have. And, in my view, we revolt only when there is an obvious and gross flouting of God's laws – but then we must do so because we belong wholly to him.

     I appreciate how the Apostle Paul ends this passage.  It’s in v. 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.”

     Indeed, the twofold call of Scripture in this matter can be summed up this way: Honor all people, including your leaders.  Pray for all people, including your leaders.

     To conclude, let’s look at how two Christians lived this out. First, the Apostle Peter spoke of honoring leaders as he wrote on the eve of the fiery persecution that Roman Emperor Nero brought down on Christians:

Submit for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme human authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.  For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people…   Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor (1 Pet 2:13-17).

     Finally, in the midst of a later persecution, Tertullian taught us how to pray for our nation:

We offer prayer for the safety of our leaders to the living God, whose favor, beyond all other things, we pray they will desire.  We offer prayer without ceasing for all our emperors.  We pray for prolonged life; for their safety, for protection for their families, for brave armies, a trustworthy senate, a virtuous people, and the world at rest (Tertullian, A.D. 160-240).

If we will do these things, we will not go far wrong in the midst of political divisions, we will be able to live in unity as God’s people, and we will, most certainly, bring glory to God.

Chinese Study Notes

重新啟動：在權柄之下生活

羅馬書13:1-7

           

            我猜想，在所有基督徒所無法統一認識的主題當中，沒有比政治主題更具有激烈的爭議性的了。因此，今天我們來談一談，耶穌的跟隨者應當如何面對使徒保羅所說的“執政掌權者”，他指的是社會中任何擔任政府權威角色的人，從皇帝或總統，到州長市長，再到執法長官。你有沒有準備好來看看聖經對此是怎樣說的？

            我很高興，在我準備這篇信息的時候，克裏斯和我有幸邀請到幾位來自中國的基督徒朋友，我與他們談論了如何理解羅馬書13:1-7，並怎樣將它應用在他們的生活之中。這個討論對於我今天的講道很有幫助。他們提出的一個主要觀點就是，我們必須記住，這段經文的作者是一個曾被羅馬執政者下在監裏，遭受鞭打、甚至有可能被政府殺害的人。並且，這封信是寫給經歷過執政掌權者破害的教會的。羅馬第一史學家蘇埃托尼烏斯告訴我們，就在保羅將這封信寫給羅馬教會的前幾年，羅馬皇帝克勞狄斯（Claudius）因著與科瑞斯特斯Chrestus的爭執，已經把羅馬的猶太教徒和基督徒驅逐出羅馬。

            其中的要點是，羅馬書13章是來自於那些社會中的邊緣人物，談的是當他們在一座城市中不被尊重的時候，應當如何為耶穌作見證。然後，我和我的中國朋友就開始談論，當基督徒能夠在社會中得到重要的位置與權力的時候，會如何以不同的方式來應用這段經文。你可能知道，在我們國家的歷史中，人們曾使用羅馬書13:1-7來支持奴隸制度。而且在納粹德國，許多教會領袖也利用這一段經文，來說服人們服從於希特勒統治之下的罪惡與不公正。

            在明白了這一點之後，我們再來探討一下今天的經文。我們首先看一看耶穌為門徒們帶給的有關於掌權者的深刻信息，我認為這是羅馬書13:1-7的基礎。然後，我們再來看看使徒保羅如何將耶穌的信息應用於當時的教會中。我希望這信息能引導我們重啟教會在政治方面的一些討論。

耶穌的信息： 凱撒的物當歸給凱撒，神的物當歸給神（太22：21）

            在耶穌的時代，猶太人在面對羅馬政府的統治時，有兩派人在政治上存在著重大的分歧。有一天，有著不同政治分歧的兩派人物都聚集在一起，要陷害耶穌。事情是這樣的：就在耶穌“凱旋”進入耶路撒冷之後，兩派的成員都來到耶穌面前，以奉承祂為開始，然後試圖以這樣的問題騙祂：夫子，請告訴我們，你的意見如何。納稅給該撒，可以不可以（太22:17）？

            這是一個狡猾的問題。如果耶穌說不可以，祂就會被視為羅馬帝國的叛徒。如果祂說可以，祂就會被認為是反對以色列人，祂在猶太人之中的事工就會被詆毀。但是，耶穌看穿了這一切，祂說：“假冒為善的人啊，為什麽試探我？拿一個上稅的錢給我看。”

http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/imp/julius_caesar/RSC_0034-o.jpg。祂拿起來給所有人看，說“這像和這號是誰的？”他們說，是該撒的。耶穌說，這樣，該撒的物當歸給該撒，神的物當歸給神（太22:17 -- 21）。

            通過這樣的陳述，耶穌建立了聖經對世上的權威與神主權之間關系的參照系。祂的話語教導我們，在世上掌權者的權威是有著合法權益範圍的。耶穌說，錢幣上有著你們管理者的形象，因此你應當上稅。但是，祂的言語之中卻有著另一層意思，一切，是的，一切都屬於神。而且，耶穌顯然有這樣的意思：我們人類有著神的形象。祂說，我們也需要尊重這世上的其他權威，但是最終，我們，和所有神的創造都屬於神。在我看來，耶穌的話是聖經中最重要的政治表述，這件事情發生在耶穌世上的生命臨近終結之時，我認為這是今天的這段經文的基礎。

羅馬書13:1-7 ---- 從耶穌到保羅： 凡人所當得的，就給他（13:7a）

            在耶穌說了這番話之後25-30年，使徒保羅將耶穌的這一教導應用在羅馬基督徒的身上和他們的政治處境之中。其實你可以看到，保羅在第七節中所做的結論，幾乎完全就是耶穌在耶路撒冷所說的話。

            我把他所說的話分解為幾個簡單的大綱：

原則之一：基督徒是將生命完全交托給神的人。我以神的慈悲勸你們，將身體獻上，當做活祭……只要心意更新而變化……(12:1-2) 。在上有權柄的，人人當順服他……(13:1)。

            羅馬書12章和13章的根基是，我們藉著信靠那憐憫我們的神，將我們的生命交托給祂。當我們如此行的時候，我們就會發現，神將我們帶入祂永恒的家中，祂也告訴我們：1）要彼此服事（12：3-8）；2) 彼此相愛，除掉虛偽（12:9-13）；3）要像神那樣愛世人（12:14-21）。

            今天，在13:1-7，我們看到，當我們將生命交托給神，我們就需要回應世間的權威，需要“服從”他們。我們這樣做的重要主要原因在13：1之中：“在上有權柄的，人人當順服他。因為沒有權柄不是出於神的。凡掌權的都是神所命的。所以抗拒掌權的，就是抗拒神的命，抗拒的必自取刑罰。”

            這就是我們應當如何回應世上的掌權者的基本原則。也就是說，我們將我們整個的生命，身體和思想都交托給那藉著耶穌賜給我們憐憫的神。這位神是萬王之王，是在一切權威之上建立規則的主。這個觀點改變了我們回應世間當政者的方式。怎樣改變呢？

原則之二：任何國家的基督徒都致力於支持律法並成為守法的公民。“你只要行善，就可得他的稱贊，因為他是神的用人（13:3-4）。”

            讀了這段經文，我的理解是：屬神的兒女首先要跟隨領袖的帶領，遵守我們國家的法律，因為我們的神已經建立了它們。 這就正如我以前說過的：這是我們對自己國家中政治問題的“直接反應”。 保羅強有力地告訴我們，我們應該如何服從當權者的管理，服從政府，因為神建立了它，並且告訴我們應當如此。

            所以，基督徒服從法律，並不單是因為我們同意某項法律，或者因為我們認為領導者做得好，而是因為我們理當如此。 我們對政府權力的順服反映了我們對神的權威的順服。 再一次提醒大家，保羅是在沒有一個好政府的情況下說的這話，並且當時的政府肯定不是一個對基督徒有利的政府。正如他在羅馬書8:28中所說，神叫萬事都互相效力，13：4節說，這包括神在各國政府中的工作。

盡管保羅在這裏言語不多，但他確實告訴我們神對掌權者的兩個目的：

第一：促進良性循環 ----你只要行善，就可得祂的稱贊（13:3）

            正如商業、教育、家庭等方面的優秀領導者，應該獎勵那些行善的人，那些聰明善治的領導者也會通過獎勵那些做善事的人來促進社會的良善。

第二：：懲罰邪惡----統治者應是神的用人，是伸冤的，刑罰那作惡的（13：4）。

            從第一章開始，保羅就說神是聖潔公義的，因此，祂要在祂所愛的世界中把自己的忿怒向著邪惡傾倒出來。 眾所周知，如果罪惡不被懲罰，就不會有公義。然而正如傑夫牧師上周所說的，羅馬書12：17-19說，一個人不要以惡報惡，我們也不要成為那報復惡人惡事之人。但是，神將如何懲罰邪惡呢？ 其中一種方法就是，祂在這個世界上建立政府，並賦予他們責任，成為祂公義的實施者。

            我們都知道，世間的政府做得並不完美。盡管如此，使徒保羅在寫信給生活於一個非常糟糕的政府之下的人時，也暗示說，即使是一個糟糕的政府，也好過無政府狀態。請你讀一讀“士師記”，在這本書描述的世界裏，人人都在做著自己眼中看為正確的事情，你會看到一個不尊重政府、執法機構和司法系統的社會。它看起來如同地獄一樣。正如我們在許多中美洲國家所看到的那樣，當我們損壞執政當局的時候，我們同樣會使自己陷於危險之中。

            再重復一次，作為耶穌跟隨者，我們首先就是要成為支持掌權者和守法的公民。這是我們在這個世界上為耶穌作見證的重要部分。

原則之三：對於基督徒來說，順服政府權威並不等於盲從。神的物當歸給神（太22：21）；凡人所當得的，就給他（羅13:7）。

            最後，我想提到一個問題，可能在座的許多人都會對此有疑問，那就是，這是否意味著我們永遠不應該對我們的政府采取反對的立場？或者反對它的政策？ 我猜聖經在羅馬書13：1-7中所說的話，並沒有完全禁止反對政府，甚至包括有力而強烈的反對。很多人都說聖經確實是禁止人們這樣行了， 但是我不這麽認為。讓我來告訴你為什麽。

            讓人向神所立的掌權者順服的呼聲，並不能等同於命令人們去遵守其一切的法令。十誡中第一條誡命的意思是，沒有任何事物可以放在與神同等的位置上，這也包括了掌權者。 這個墮落世界裏的每一個政府都會向我們索求我們不能給予的東西，要求我們做我們做不到的事情。所以，我們的一般生活準則就是盡我們所能，成為守法的公民。 但是，萬王之王、高於所有總統的總統是我們的天父。我們首先的忠誠總是屬於祂的。有時候，為要順服神，我們將不得不違背當權者。

            你一定知道聖經給了我們這樣的例子：

• •當尼布甲尼撒王宣布所有的臣民都要崇拜他的形像時，沙得拉、米煞、亞伯尼拒絕服從（但3）。
• •當大利烏王下令，除了自己以外，沒有人可以向任何神或人禱告，但以理拒絕服從（但6）。
• •當公會禁止以耶穌的名義傳道時，使徒拒絕服從，並且說：“聽從你們，不聽從神，這在神面前合理不合理，你們自己酌量吧（徒4:20）”他們順服了神。

            正如查克•科爾森（Chuck Colson）所寫的那樣，每個案例的目的都是“在向神展示他們的順服，而不是他們對政府的蔑視”。在我自己的生活中，我總結了一些當我無法支持當局時的幾條指導方針：

1. 1. 我是否被迫去違背神話語中的命令？ 對於基督徒來說，任何一種反對政府的革命都是一個非常嚴肅的問題。 如果我們偏離了神所建立的原則，我們就必須要非常肯定地知道，神的話語要求我們如何行。

2. 2. 我是否被迫做一些不道德或不合倫理的事情？它有沒有像羅馬書13：5所說的那樣，違背良心？

3. 3. 神是否要求我為沒有話語權的人發出聲音？ 這是在新約時代很少有人能提出的問題，因為他們其中的大部人是沒有話語權的。 但是，現在我們大多數人都有一些影響力。 我們不敢不遵從箴言31：8-10的命令：你當為啞巴開口，為一切孤獨的伸冤。你當開口按公義判斷，為困苦和窮乏的辯屈。

當我們讀到希伯來的接生婆不遵守法老在出埃及記第一章中殺死所有新生猶太男孩的吩咐時，我們鼓掌稱贊。當我們讀到我們那些在基督裏的兄弟姐妹們背著自己國家的法律，通過建造地下鐵路，幫助奴隸們獲得自由時，我們歡呼。 我們傳播了像迪特利希·潘霍華（Dietrich Bonhoeffer）和馬丁·尼姆勒（Martin Niemöller）這樣的牧師的勇氣，他們蔑視納粹德國和阿道夫·希特勒的法律，來支持那些沒有話語權的猶太人。

在當今的時代裏，我們當然也面對類似的問題，比如對未出世的嬰兒的支持、對那些在本國與世界各地遭受販賣的兒童的支持、以及對那些沒有合法文件被帶到我們國家、如今卻發現自己處於極大的困擾和不確定狀態的孩子們的支持。當我們的領導人在對這樣的事情制定法律和政策時，我們為他們祈禱。但是，我們可能需要為那些沒有話語權的人發出聲音，正如神的話語所命令我們的那樣。

但是，對於在聖經和教會歷史中提到的那些反對政府的人們的行為，我們必須經過敬虔和仔細的思考。當我們感到自己必須這樣做時，我們也必須準備好接受後果，正如我們的基督徒前輩們所曾做過的那樣。 而且，在我看來，只有在當局對神的律法明顯而粗暴藐視的狀況下，我們才當反抗，而且我們必須這樣做，因為我們完全屬於祂。

            我很贊賞使徒保羅結束這段經文的方式。 在第7節中他說：“凡人所當得的，就給他；當得糧的，給他納糧；當得稅的，給他上稅；當懼怕的，懼怕他；當恭敬的，恭敬他。”

            事實上，我們可以這樣總結聖經在這件事上的雙重呼召：為所有的人，包括你們的領袖禱告。 尊重所有人，包括你的領袖。

最後，讓我們來看看兩位基督徒是如何活出這個原則的。 首先，在羅馬皇帝尼祿給基督徒帶來殘酷迫害的前夜，使徒彼得寫下了尊敬領袖的話：你們為主的緣故，要順服人的一切制度，或是在上的君王，或是君王所派罰惡賞善的臣宰。因為神的旨意原是要你們行善，可以堵住那糊塗無知人的口。你們雖是自由的，卻不可藉著自由遮蓋惡毒，總要作　神的仆人。務要尊敬眾人，親愛教中的弟兄，敬畏　神，尊敬君王。（彼前2：13-17）。

最後，在迫害之中，特土良教導我們如何禱告：

我們為了我們領袖的安全向永生的神、藉著神的恩惠祈求，我們不住地為我們所有的皇帝祈禱。 我們為他們的長壽、安全祈禱，為保護他們的家庭、勇敢的軍隊、值得信賴的參議員、賢良的人民以及世界的安寧而祈禱。(Tertullian, 特土良A.D. 160-240)。

如果能做到這些，我們就不會在政治分歧中犯嚴重的錯誤，就能夠作為神的子民而成為一個整體，而且我們定會榮耀神的名。

榮耀歸給神，

Greg Waybright 博士

主任牧師