1 Peter 2:13–17
[13] Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, [14] or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. [15] For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. [16] Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. [17] Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (ESV)

Romans 2:17–24
[17] But if you call yourself a [Christian] and rely on the law and boast in God [18] and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; [19] and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, [20] an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—[21] you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? [22] You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? [23] You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. [24] For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (ESV)

This Romans passage is written to point out to the most committed devotees to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the devout Jews – that they were in as much need of the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ as were the Not-Jews they despised. I changed one word, the word “Jew” to “Christian” to illustrate that God’s modern-day devotees can be as equally blind to their need of grace as do the perverts and criminals we disdain.

I found myself under spiritual conviction this morning. The wife and I have been planning an end-of-summer shindig in our backyard for our church family on Labor Day Sunday. The grass is green, the weather is beautiful, and the burgers and dogs and baked beans and potato salad – and the church fellowship – were going to be fantastic! Then our governor, a man I consider without understanding or discernment, in other words, a secular man who puts politics above all else, imposed another masking mandate on the state.

My first instinct was to tell him to take a long walk off a short pier. How dare he MAKE free citizens bend to his diktat! Then the Peter passage appeared in my morning bible reading: be subject to (even stupid, brain-dead) governors! And these two bible passages melded in my mind.

I have been greatly disturbed by the bad governance God has given us. (Yes, I believe the bible teaches that even bad government is under the direction of heaven’s Sovereign.) Mr. Biden’s bumbling about with Afghanistan is but the latest iteration in a long list of governmental malfeasance. Whether it is the ongoing insurrection in Portland, OR, or the murder and mayhem in our major cities, or the non-scientific edicts of government bureaucrats, it is hard to support officials whose policies are unsupportable. I see the bummeries (my new word for “homeless encampments) with their consequent filth and accompanying crime rimming our streets and hear the judges and mayors telling us there is nothing we can do about them, and I find myself becoming an insurrectionist unwilling to submit to their authority.

Then the bible tells me I’m as bad as the rioters and the bums and the mayors and the judges and the governors and the president. Ouch! When these officials step outside the bounds of their authority and step into the place Christ has claimed as his and his alone, I have a duty to disobey. Tell me I cannot assemble to worship (A Zoom church is no church at all), or that I must embrace a satanic understanding of human sexuality or gender, or that I must offer incense on Caesar’s altar, and I must disobey. But when these misguided (evil and corrupt might be better adjectives but I’m trying to be kind) men and women tell me to wear the veil in a grocery, or not host a backyard party for brothers and sisters who are not related to me by blood, or pay my taxes that go to fund their ill-conceived schemes, or not run stop signs even when there are no other cars around, then, for God’s sake, I must obey. I obey, not because they are right or good or smart. I obey because God has told me to obey as long as they are within the bounds of their God-given authority.

So no garden party to mark the end of summer. I’m sad but obedient.