We like to claim allegiance to a higher authority.
To invoke a name that surpasses the physical world and connects us to something beyond. It helps us to feel we are connected to something greater than the here and now, and provides us with transcendent purpose.
However what about the present authorities duly appointed over us? What are we to do with them? Accept them? Reject them? Passively tolerate them? What is the guidance provided by the higher power to which we ascribe?
“Be a good citizen. All governments are under God. Insofar as there is peace and order, it’s God’s order. So live responsibly as a citizen. If you’re irresponsible to the state, then you’re irresponsible with God, and God will hold you responsible. Duly constituted authorities are only a threat if you’re trying to get by with something. Decent citizens should have nothing to fear.”
“That’s why you must live responsibly-not just to avoid punishment but also because it’s the right way to live. That’s also why you pay taxes-so that an orderly way of life can be maintained. Fulfill your obligations as a citizen. Pay your taxes, pay your bills, respect your leaders.”
The answer, according to the Apostle Paul, is that we are called to fulfill our obligations as citizens. To rightly do our part to support the institutions that make orderly daily life possible.
A simple charge with significant implications. For if we are called to respect and support these obligations, then failure to do so is disobedience on several levels.
I think we sometimes conveniently claim God-allegiance thinking it might absolve us of all localized responsibilities. But how I interpret this passage leads me to believe we are not absolved, but further committed to properly supporting them.
To live according to God’s will then is not to abandon society, but to do your part to support it. To be responsible for not only the spiritual welfare of those in our proximity, but their physical wellbeing as well. Perhaps it is time we invested in our communities as fully as we are charged to.