Honoring Authority
by Rev. Paul Howden
September 23, 2007
Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity
Romans 13:1-7

An interesting article appeared in the Washington Post recently. Dr. Patricia Dalton, a psychologist working in Washington D.C., wrote a column on the subject of respect and disrespect. She said: “There’s been a fundamental change in family life, and it has played out in my office. Teachers, pediatricians and therapists like me are seeing children of all ages who are not afraid of their parents. Not one bit. Not of their power, not of their position, not of their ability to apply standards and enforce consequences."

“I am not advocating authoritarian or abusive parental behavior, which can do untold damage.” [But a healthy fear and respect of children for their parents has disappeared.] “In my office, I have seen small children call their parents names and tell them how stupid they are; I have heard adolescents use strings of expletives toward them; and I remember one 6-year-old whose parents told me he refused to obey, debated them ad nauseum and sometimes even lashed out. As if on cue, the boy kicked his father right there in the office. When I asked the Father how he reacts at home, he told me that he runs to another room!”  [Close quote. Dennis Prager called attention to this article.]

Disrespect for authority is nothing new. It has always been a problem. However, the sixties Woodstock generation carried it to a new level. That is what we see presently. Before Woodstock, authority was questioned, but it was generally done in a respectful way. Today authority is either attacked or questioned with rudeness and mockery. Hollywood, academia, and the wider culture promote a vulgar scorn for those in authority. Scripture has much to say on how to behave with regard to those over us. Romans 13 lays down principles to guide our attitudes and actions. This is the subject we will examine today. Let us read Romans 13:1-7.

"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour."

“Render therefore to all their due.” A key part to the verse is the word “all.” “Render to all their due” hearkens back to Romans 13:1, which says, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” St. Paul zeros in on our submission to the civil authorities, but the passage applies to every hierarchical relationship in life; it applies to all people in authority. To be subject to the president or governor is certainly in view, but that is only part of what the verse is saying. The mandate is wide-ranging. Scripture says that we need to be subject to a whole host of authorities that meet us in life. “Be subject to the governing authorities… render to all their due.” This dovetails with the Fifth Commandment, “Honor thy Father and thy Mother.” Leviticus 19:3 says, “Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father…” That word revere can be rendered fear. “Every one of you shall fear his mother and his father.” We are to love and fear those over us. Fear in the sense of revere is a good fear. It is in that sense children should fear their parents. Love and fear do not cancel one another out. When St. Paul commands, “Be subject to the governing authorities” he is thinking of the emperor and king, but he is also including parental authority; the authority of bishops and bosses, preachers and teachers, of judges and traffic cops. Whether you are in a household, a special committee at work, a committee at church, a neighborhood association, a business, a basketball team, a department within a business, a corporation, or a government, somebody is in leadership. Hierarchy is unavoidable. There are people in charge, and the Bible calls you as a Christian to obey them, submit to their authority, and honor them. Why? The Bible commands it. Moreover, God is the ultimate authority but He delegates some of His authority to earthly people. God appoints the people who stand in authority over you, and if you resist God’s appointed authorities you will bring judgment on yourself.

This does not mean we turn into sycophants or doormats, nor do we close our eyes to oppression. There are good managers and bad ones, good parents and bad ones, wise presidents and foolish ones. Rulers are capable of abusing their power and position, turning into tyrants. At some point it is appropriate to disobey those in authority. When the High Priest commanded Peter and the Apostles to stop preaching the Gospel, Peter responded, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Christ called King Herod a “fox,” and He called the leaders of the Pharisees “white-washed tombs.” But these were exceptions. The Savior submitted to His parents, and throughout His life He honored them. He humbly gave Himself up to crucifixion under Pontius Pilate and the Roman officials.

Reformed writers from the 16th to the 18th centuries took up the question of at what point is it legitimate to take up arms and overthrow those in authority. They concluded that it should happen only in the most rare and extreme circumstances, and never should it be led by some individual on his own. Any rebellion or resistance should be led by the lesser magistrates. This became known as the doctrine of the lesser magistrate. If a King or president must be resisted, that resistance should be led not by self-proclaimed leaders, for that would lead to anarchy, but resistance should be led by lesser magistrates, by governors and senators, people who already wield some kind of lesser governmental authority, and who see that tyranny has reached a crisis level. Scripture and church history reach the same conclusion, and that is this: for Christians, rebellion against authority is a rare thing. 99% of the time we humbly submit to leadership, treating them with the honor and dignity they deserve. Romans 13 is clear: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God… For He is God’s minister to you for good.”

Verse 6 states that the president, governor, and judges are “God’s ministers.” That is an interesting phrase. We err when we restrict the title “Minister” to ordained clergy. Every head of state is God’s minister. Every military general is God’s minister. Every parent is a minister of God. Every school teacher, work foreman, and office manager, is God’s minister. Every mayor, congressman, and legislator is a minister of God. Be subject to them; honor them. The proclivity in our day is to make light of legitimate authority and show them dishonor and disrespect. That is the practice of the world. It is unchristian and unbiblical; it is arrogant and ugly.

Let us move on now to a different application of our text. The apostle commands us to render taxes to whom taxes are due. "Customs to whom customs" (v. 7). These words mean that we should show cheerfulness in paying taxes. Perhaps cheerful is too strong a word; at least a willingness to pay taxes. It seems to me that if the Church should receive a tithe, ten percent, then the state should receive a tithe, ten percent, and no more. If the law of the land is higher than 10% I can’t change that on my own. We live in a democratic republic. Our form of government gives to the citizens a voice in taxation by means of their elected representatives. Once the elected bodies have finished their debate, and have voted into law a particular percentage and form of tax, there ought to be, on the part of all Christian subjects, a willingness to pay, even though we find those taxes a burden. The state has a limited, but legitimate sphere of responsibility. Jesus put it this way: “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” and St. Paul reiterated it: “Render… taxes to whom taxes are due.”

Another point concerns disrespectful language towards those in authority. It is common for TV programs and Hollywood movies to promote a sneering disrespect towards elected officials, bosses, police officers and teachers. However, as Christians, we ought to shun the habit of spreading disrespectful comments about those in authority and complaining about what they do. Ad hominen attacks are unfruitful and foster the kind of disrespect that corrodes society. Murmuring is a violation of the law of love, and the biblical principle of honor.

Furthermore, disrespect toward authorities in one sphere will lead to disrespect of authorities in another sphere. Children who dishonor their teachers will dishonor the police. People who dishonor elected officials and pastors will probably dishonor their bosses. Deacons and presbyters who dishonor their bishop are not honoring God Himself. An attitude of dishonor in one department of life carries over into the others. This is unavoidable. Disrespect will not remain compartmentalized. Jesus said, “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father.” If we follow the logic of Romans 13, we could say, “He who does not honor his parents, or minister, or teacher does not honor God Himself.”  

The Bible is clear: civil authorities are God’s ministers, and Paul said, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities… they are due honor.” These admonitions can’t be ignored. They should convict us if we are in the wrong. Remember, Paul wrote these instructions to the Romans while Nero was emperor. History tells us that Nero was a lewd, cruel emperor, a virtual beast (maybe the “Beast” of Revelation). Nevertheless, for Paul it made little difference. He still insisted upon honor and obedience to Nero, and all in authority. The alternative would have been anarchy. There is nothing worse than anarchy. It is rape, theft and murder by roaming gangs of thugs.

In our time disrespect for authority is a cancer eating at the soul of our society. We are sliding into anarchy, and the only remedy for anarchy is tyranny. In every single God-appointed hierarchy you can think of, the underlings refuse submission to the overlings; more than that, they refuse with sneering contempt and defiance.

I taught junior high and high school for nearly ten years in East Texas and California; sometimes full-time and sometimes as a substitute. One morning in Southern California they called and requested that I come in to cover for a teacher who was going to be out only the last half of the day. I walked into her class while she was teaching. In front of the students and out loud, she greeted me with, “Welcome, what is your first name?” I hesitated, then said, “Mr. Howden is my name.” “Oh, we like to go on a first name basis here,” she responded. Again I paused, then said, “I don’t mind if you call me by my first name, but I want the students to call me Mr. Howden.” Well, it was a tense moment. The poor lady had followed the egalitarian fashion of leveling the ground of teacher and student, and blurring the distinction. Sure enough, her class was a zoo unfit for animals.

A popular movie for school teachers is called Stand and Deliver. It is the story of a high school math teacher in Los Angeles. The teacher’s name was Mr. Jaime Escalante, and he taught in one of the rougher barrios of the inner city. The setting is one of poverty and profanity, gangs and graffiti. The first day of class, Jaime walked onto a campus that was rough, run down and dangerous. But, by the end of the year, Mr. Escalante was able to rally his poor Latino students to achieve some of the highest scores in the college entrance exams. It is an inspiring and true story. Teachers still watch it, searching for the techniques that brought Jaime Escalante such success. There is a problem however. The movie was shot in the 1980s. He taught in the 70s. Things have changed since then, at least in California. Respect has declined. [Happily, N.E. Pennsylvania culture is more traditional and the problem seems less here.] When Jaime told the students to stop throwing paper balls and trash in class, they actually stopped. They might obey like that in Pennsylvania schools, but not in most California schools. When Jaime asked students to change seats, they moved quickly; today they would stall several minutes at best. When Jaime demanded that the class quiet down, they would do it in a wink. Today it takes a much greater effort. Jaime dealt with obscenities directed toward other students; now obscenities are directed toward teachers. When Jaime taught, rudeness and scorn were expressed in subtle ways. Today, students launch loud, defiant outbursts. The classroom atmosphere has decayed considerably. Not only in inner city schools but even in pricey private schools. Disrespect is rampant. Consequently, the movie “Stand and Deliver” is antiquated. It assumes something that no longer exists: a modicum of courtesy toward teachers from students.  

The challenge for us today is to recover the biblical doctrine of honor, and restore it as a feature in our homes, churches, and society. We start in the church with good churchmanship. A good churchman makes himself humbly accountable to authority, and supports the ministers and their ministry. This humility is not the kind of false humility that says, “I am submitted to Jesus only, but I refuse to submit to any human authority.” Such a life is a lie because it is Jesus who has ordained leaders in the church.” [From Rev. Charles Erlandson’s Daily Bread.] Those in authority are worthy of honor because God is worthy of honor. His honor is ultimate and original. Your willingness to honor the pastor’s authority or the teacher’s authority is a reflection of your willingness to honor Christ’s authority. Reverence is due to God above all else, and the reverence due to earthly authorities is derived from God.

An interesting study is to take a Bible Concordance and look up the word “bow” as in “bow down” or “bow the knee.” Check all the times it refers to individuals bowing to earthly authorities in obeisance. It comes out to about 100 times. Bowing to elders or doing a curtsy is one of those customs we have lost.

The hurdles we face in overcoming dishonor are daunting. First, we hardly know what the word “honor” means. We must figure out what honor, dignity, and respect mean. Second, we have become inured to disrespect. If you are inured to something, it means you are so used to a bad thing, that you no longer notice it. It does not bother you; but it should. So the second thing we need to do is simply wake up. Wake up to the seriousness of this sin. In 1 Samuel 15:23 the prophet Samuel tells us that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.” Deut. 21:18 commands that a “stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother be stoned to death with stones.” This law was never ever carried out, but it taught the people the gravity of a child’s rebellion against his parents. And then we read in Numbers 16 that Korah, Dathan, and Abiram and their families, after they rebelled against Moses, were swallowed up by the earth. God Himself carried out the punishment. Many are shocked to read these passages. It sounds primitive. The truth is, dishonor and rebellion toward authority lead to barbarity. It is Scripture that needs to guide our judgment on this matter, not the fads of pop culture.

This problem of dishonor was brought to my attention by Rev. Walter Banek about 15 years ago. [Rector of Good Shepherd R.E. Church in Tyler, Texas.] I possessed the typical Baby Boomer’s suspicion of authority. At first I thought Rev. Banek was majoring on a minor. I felt he was old-fashioned. Over the years my thinking has come into harmony with his, which is reflected in Romans 13. This is a good issue on which to become counter-cultural. Humbly submitting to those in authority will help us become the radical, non-conformist, counter-cultural people God desires.

In practical terms, what more can we do? Parents, instill respect in your children. You be the authority over them. They should honor and fear you. This may require spanking. It is a puzzle why Christian parents have abandoned the biblical teaching on spanking. Teach your children to honor you and to honor other people in authority. Give them a good example to follow. Make sure they see and hear you treating with dignity those in authority. Honor your own parents if they are still living. When you watch DVDs or hear lyrics in popular songs that scoff at authority, point out to your children that that is wrong. The Fifth Commandment says “Honor your father and your mother,” it doesn’t say, “Honor your children.” Children should call adults by their last names with the proper “Mr.” or “Mrs.” When someone in authority makes a mistake or does something blatantly wrong, it is right to question authority, just do it respectfully; always question authority respectfully.

Dress is important. The 60s generation taught us that how one dressed was irrelevant. They were wrong. When you attend an event in ratty clothes you dishonor the people you are with. It affects other people in a negative way. Clothes matter. The Old Testament gives careful directions on how the priests were to approach God in worship. According to the Lord, vestments should be nice. Hence, get back to the custom of wearing your “Sunday best” to Church. It will foster honor to those around you.

Learning good etiquette and manners is another way to honor those in authority. There is too much to say in one sermon. In short, as a follower of Christ, habituate yourself to be polite in manners, courteous in conduct, civil in discourse, treating with dignity those in authority.

The main thing is to be aware of the problem. From that awareness the Holy Spirit will guide you to see the many ways dishonor rears its head, and the many ways honor can be shown. The word “honor” has practically disappeared from our American vocabulary. Let’s recover it. Submission to authority is a mark of holiness; it is beautiful. Sneering at authority is a mark of snobbery and haughtiness; it is ugly. Submit to those over you. Seek honor, cast out dishonor. Strive to be faithful in this crucial, Christian duty.