Monday, September 7, 2020

Respecting Human Authority

 

Monday, September 7, 2020

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.  Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors.  Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.  For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed.  For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right.  It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you.  For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.  Respect everyone, and love the family of believers.  Fear God, and respect the king.  1 Peter 2:11-17

Peter describes the life of a believer as one lived to serve the purposes and plans of God in every possible way.  In the same way it is hoped, even expected, that a son or daughter will live into the family name to bring honor, the children of God are to fear (reverence) God by living honorably.  The chief measuring bar of that kind of living is rejecting every kind of evil, instead living with respect towards everyone, even those (perhaps particularly those) who show you no respect.

Peter wasn’t without corroboration when he wrote this.  Here’s what John said about loving the family of believers:

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?  And he has given us this command:  Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.  1 John 4:20-21

This statement is focused on God’s family, and God is not blind to how poorly we in the church of Jesus Christ have messed this up with our divisions, power grabs, turning a blind eye to sin, and the like.  Peter moves us beyond even our petty in-house squabbling; Peter tells us to love even unbelievers, to respect all people.

So what does that mean?

Take a little field trip with me to the dictionary for a list of synonyms for the word “respect”.  The 1967 hit blues song, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, was a 2½ minute complaint that Aretha Franklin wasn’t getting enough respect from her man.  And, with all due respect, the words that help flesh out what respect means include[1]:

          ·       to regard:  as in taking notice with the intention of caring for…

          ·       to appreciate:  as in being fully conscious of (with people, that could easily mean not taking for granted…by getting to know and understand)

          ·       to admireregard with wonder, pleasure, or approval.

          ·       to reverenceattitude of deep respect tinged with awe; veneration

That last one really hurts; it means, even for the person who comes across, in personality, actions, words, political beliefs, and everything else that makes a person what, or who, he or she might be, we treat them respectfully…as much so as if approaching God, Himself.

How is that working for you?

It’s hard to imagine we have an overflow of R-E-S-P-E-C-T in today’s culture.  We don’t need a bulleted point-list to illustrate how little there is of the kind of respect Jesus said is embodied in the word love.

With renewed apologies to Aretha Franklin, let’s get it settled that we cannot demand respect.  But, in light of the fact that our subject on this devotional is always about how a Christian should behave on the rocky roads of today’s cultural minefield, the issue is never about what we can get; it’s about how we give. 

So, everyone, those with whom you disagree, or agree, the Black Lives Matter, or Blue Lives Matter, the down-and-out, as well as the up-and-getting-richer, Democrat or Republican, young, old, clean or slob, deserving or not…God says each one deserves what Aretha Franklin was demanding.

For You Today

Living with respect means engaging with others to lift them up with your respect.  Will you live with the kind of respect towards the people you can see here on earth?  If not, don’t expect to see He Who is unseen in Heaven.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!


VIDEO

Title image Pixabay.com  W  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

For another post on 1 Peter 2 see: Honorable Behavior - Part 1  and Honorable Behavior – Part 2


 

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