What does Peter teach us about obeying authority?

Read 1 Peter Chapter 2.

Ooo... who likes to obey authority? Who likes to do what their told during a pandemic? Who likes to follow the rules even when they seem absurd? Who never ever questions those who are in charge?

While in general I am a rule follower, there are times when I question authority and decisions that are made by those in leadership. Now, if those decisions are contradictory to Scripture such as situations like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego found themselves in, then yep, I'm gonna defy authority - or I would like to think I would defy authority. However, there are times, the current times notwithstanding, that some of the "rules" or decisions being made seem a little crazy. So, how should we, as Christians, respond to authority when the rules are not directly contradictory to Scripture? Peter writes from inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we are to "submit [ourselves] for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by [the king]" (1 Peter 2:13-14). Did I hear an ouch!? I said an ouch! if it makes you feel any better.

Why are we supposed to submit to these people's authority? 1 Peter 2:15,

For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Obeying authority is for the Lord's sake (vs. 13) and it is in order to silence other's ignorance. I read that to mean - don't give non-believers a reason to question you or God. Don't allow your behavior to deter someone else from coming to Christ. How often do we hear people say - all Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites. Well, for one the universal "all" isn't fair to use on any group. For "all" to be the exact same is impossible. However, when a non-believer sees a believer behaving contradictory to a law set forth in society that is not contradicting God's law, then it can be a red flag to a non-believer. The non-believing person may not know or understand your beliefs, but they do understand obeying the rules. So, it is best to do what is asked of you as long as you are not defying God's laws by obeying the civic laws.

Sometimes we consider obeying "silly" laws as unjust. Most of us are not slaves, but in the time of this writing some people were slaves. Sometimes slaves were treated very unjustly. We cannot compare having to obey laws that we disagree with as slavery; however, we may consider them unjust. Well, Peter goes on to write (verses 18-19):

Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.

We are all going to suffer in some way, that is part of being a Christ-follower. There is a misunderstanding that when a person becomes a Christian everything somehow gets better. We receive salvation and the promise of eternal life with Christ, but if anything, many times our lives get harder! We have targets on our backs. Others watch us more closely to see if we are going to mess up. And in times like these, we are certainly under microscopes. Just what are we going to do in response to the latest news?

I'll be honest, when I read this portion of Scripture this week, I was not excited. I know this is a hot button issue as we try to navigate through waters uncharted. I had to check myself, though, and I hope you will too. God is in control over all things. The people in charge are in charge because He allows it. If I learned one thing from studying the book of Jeremiah, it was that God uses all people and nations for His purpose. He's got this. Our job is to bring as many people with us to Heaven as we can, and one way we can do that is by being a good example. We can submit to authority even when we disagree - UNLESS we are being asked to worship a human leader or contradict Scripture directly. THEN, we'd better stand up!

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