13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:13-17
Yesterday, Barrack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. What are our duties toward the new President?
Submission
Peter tells us we must submit to “every human institution.” Paul gave similar instruction in his letters (Romans 13:1-7; Titus 3:1-2). Jesus also taught the principle of submission when answering a question about taxes (Matthew 22:15-22).
Peter tells us why we must submit. He says we are to be subject “for the Lord’s sake” and that “this is the will of God” and that we do this as “servants of God.”
This is like the instruction given to slaves in Ephesians:
Slaves, obey your earthly masters… as you would Christ… as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service… as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8
Honor
This second command is similar to the first. In fact, you could argue that honor is part of our submission.
The reason we honor the king is not because he is honorable, but because he is the one “sent by him” to execute justice. God put him in that position for good. If for no other reason (and oftentimes there is no other reason), we honor the President because he is the one God has ordained.
Paul wrote, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1)
We read in Daniel “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” (Daniel 4:32)
Now, let’s talk about what this means to us:
Political Debate. The first amendment of our Constitution gives us “freedom of speech.” We have a Constitutional right to publicly disagree with our rulers.
It seems, however, that our society has taken this to an extreme. People today show little regard for the office or respect for person in the office of President.
Whether “freedom of speech” allows for this or not is not our concern. We are citizens of the kingdom of heaven and our speech is to be tempered by a higher law. Peter argues that even though we are “free” (and we think “free” here is in contrast to slaves, 1 Peter 2:18-20), we must never forget that we are “servants of Christ.” We cannot use our rights as American citizens to justify immoral conduct or immoral speech.
There is a time and a place to voice our disagreement with leaders (Luke 22:49-53; John 18:19-24; Acts 16:35-37). However, we must voice such disagreement in a respectful way (as Daniel’s friends did when disobeying Nebuchadnezzar’s ungodly edict, Daniel 3:16-18).
Jokes. Jokes about Presidents abound these days. The political skits on shows like Saturday Night Live have become very popular. Talk radio has made pejorative nicknames for Presidents commonplace. (And the irreverence that makes these talk shows and parodies so popular should be disturbing to us.) Now, given the skin color of the current President, we are quite certain that racial jokes will be circulated as well.
Before you get involved in this irreverence, think of your calling as God’s elect. We are to keep our “conduct among the Gentiles honorable.” (1 Peter 2:12) In fact, Peter would argue this is an opportunity to really let our light shine. As our society grows more disrespectful, honorable behavior and restrained speech toward leaders will stand out more.
Let us pray for President Obama that we might lead a “peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:2) It is God’s will that “all people be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4) and the success of our new President can contribute to this mission.
But should President Obama’s leadership bring about greater instability or even hardship, let us pray diligently for ourselves that we, as sojourners and exiles, might “put to silence” our enemies by demonstrating full honor and respect to our President. Let us pray that we will always control our tongues in political discussion.