Submission to the Governing Authorities

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the balance between submitting to the government and my anger about the direction our leaders are taking this nation. In Romans 13 1-7, the apostle Paul talks about the Christian’s role towards the government. He very clearly states that we are to submit to those in authority over us. He goes on to talk about how if we resist the authorities we are resisting God. All of this is pretty straightforward.

My question is this: Does this mean we can’t speak out against our nation’s leaders? I’ve been wrestling with this for the past couple of days, and I’m still not sure where I stand. Paul doesn’t say anything about speaking out against our leaders. However, he does say we are to submit to their authority. So for example, if we lived in N. Korea, and it was against the law to speak out against Kim J (I’m not even going to try to spell his last name!), then in those circumstances it would be wrong to speak against him. However, we live in a democratic republic that was built upon the principles of free speech and speaking out. This free speech was not given to us so that we could say four-letter words and look at pornography online; it was given to us so that we could speak our minds about our government. This freedom was given to us to safeguard against a tyrannical government.

The Christian who takes this stance must be very careful though. I believe that you can go too far with your free speech. We need to be careful that we aren’t disrespectful of our leaders. Ultimately, God is the one who placed them in their places of power. We might disagree with the policies of our leaders, but we still need to respect them and to be in constant prayer for them. I pray for Obama and the Congress daily that God would guide their decisions and work in their personal lives. God Bless America!

~Jacob

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! This is really weird, I am writing this intro post, and I have no clue if anyone will ever even read it. No matter, this blog is for me as much as it is for any possible readers. Often, I get frustrated at the state of my country that I love so dearly, and I just need to write my thoughts down to straighten them all out.

I'll also be writing about my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for me upon that old rugged cross. As a little theological background, I am a member of the Presbyterian Church in America(not to be confused with the PCUSA). I believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God, that God is sovereign, that I'm saved by Faith through Grace alone, etc.

Finally, I might throw in some personal stuff about family, sports (Go Indians, Cavs, and Buckeyes!), work, etc. Well, I know this is a boring post, hopefully I'll have something better up soon! God Bless!

~Jacob