WEDNESDAY, May 13

Romans 13:1-14. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.

But what if the governing authority is a rapacious, murdering tyrant? Or less dramatically but more commonly, a petty crook or a misguided incompetent? Am I to obey such an authority as instituted by God?

Throughout most of Christian history, the answer would have been an unequivocal yes. Kings and governors were seen as God's chosen servants, accountable to God, not to their subjects. A Christian citizen was to obey his sovereign. And if the sovereign was evil, it was Jesus who said, "Do not resist an evildoer" (Matthew 5:39). Many Christians today still hold this view--submission and pacifism have a long and honorable history in the church.

Other Christians regard taking up arms a lesser evil than passive acquiescence to injustice. Perhaps the best approach is to resist by breaking evil laws yet without violence, accepting the punishment of the governing authorities, even jail and martyrdom if it comes to that. Maria Skobtsova, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela--these are among the heroes of recent history, and the light of truth shines through them.

PRAY for the Diocese of Calcutta (North India)

Ps 72 * 119:73-96; Wisdom 13:1-9; Luke 8:16-25

View the daily Lectionary Readings at Satucket.com.

Or view the Bible passages at Biblegateway.com.

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