Authority and Love

In talking about this chapter with my sister yesterday it occurred to me that much of this passage could be viewed as applying primarily to authority within the body of Christ that has been described in previous verses maybe far more than authorities outside that body. In fact, there is nothing in the passage that explicitly denotes that Paul is talking about worldly authorities until verse six where he begins to talk about taxes at which point he could be making the transition. Since I am quite certain that the Christian church never employed the use of taxes on its members this is clearly a shift to applying these principles to our relationship with earthly authorities.

Because of the wide diversity of gifts and personalities within the body, it will be necessary, at least until the final perfection of all things, to have some sort of organization that is based on authority in some way. The issue of authority was one of the main problems that Lucifer had in heaven and became the main reason he could no longer live there. But he has poisoned humanity with very negative and skewed feelings and beliefs about authority that has infected us with the same bitterness that he has toward God. The gospel and the process of salvation is the healing truth that is to bring us into proper alignment and relationship with true authority so that harmony, peace and joy can once again flourish in a universe free from all rebellion and sin.

But the way many Christians have gone about trying to address this problem has exacerbated it instead of improving it. Because they have utilized the methods of Satan to enforce authority they have misrepresented God and perpetuated the lies of Satan about His character. By resorting to use of force, fear and intimidation to induce respect for authority they have actually promoted the spread of rebellion instead of quelling it as they thought they could do. Only the pure methods based totally on the uncompromising love and unchangeableness of the compassion and goodness of God will effectively rid the universe of all rebellion and fear. All the steps toward that end need to be reflective of that spirit.

If it is true that Paul is referring primarily to authority within the body more than that outside the body in the first five verses of chapter thirteen, it would give a different nuance to why he describes authority in such idealistic terms. For any authority exercised within the body of believers should be reflective of the kindness and goodness of God. Yes it will include justice and even sometimes involve perceptions of wrath. But that must be understood from God's perspective of what the word wrath means or we will inevitably misinterpret this passage as we do so many other passages that talk about that issue. (For more discussion of the Bible's version of wrath refer to another website at surpriseending.blogspot.com devoted to this subject.)

Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:7-8)

I find this to be a very delicate issue to properly understand given all the abuse and misapplications that it has been used for over many years, even centuries. This whole chapter is one that is best appreciated if we can lay aside as much as possible our preconceived beliefs and ideas of what it means and listen to what God wants to teach us in the context of the book of Romans. Lifting it out of context to enforce someone's agenda is one of the worst ways to apply scriptures of any kind. But unfortunately that is often the case. I want to have enough humility and openness to hear whatever the Spirit has to say to mentor my heart into perfect unity with the body of Christ.

The key words that I see here are due and owe. Behind the use of these words are a lot of assumptions that need to be challenged or else we may find ourselves racing down the wrong track to wrong-headed conclusions like so many have before us. Implicit within these words themselves is the truth that some are not owed or due these things from us. Just because someone makes a demand on us does not necessarily mean that we owe them what they ask for or it is their legitimate due. This issue is the crux of many of the problems that confuse people when applying this passage to various situations.

But more important than figuring out who is owed and who is not is the condition of my spirit in while doing this. While I believe it is not wrong to check the validity of someone's demands on me for any of these things listed here – taxes, custom, fear, honor – it is even more important, extremely important, that I not allow my own spirit to become poisoned during the process of analyzing or seeking to know about that validity. If I become infected with a spirit of dissension and strife and resentment while legitimately seeking to know the validity of someone's claims on me, I will suffer from the baleful effects of the poison of bitterness in my soul and I will soon have the fruit of hatred springing up from those roots growing my heart.

This passage all the way from chapter twelve through chapter thirteen contrasts the polar opposite conditions of the condition that my spirit will be in depending on the choices I make concerning the issues raised in this passage. It also hinges in the central verse of this passage, Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21) It is starting to look a lot different than the typical ways this chapter has been taught, but then when I first arrived at this chapter I was pretty sure there was a lot more to this than what I have seen in the past.

What is most crucial, I believe, is to be insistent on keeping the whole passage tightly interconnected while trying to understand how to relate properly to authority along with the other instructions in here. One of the biggest problems has been the dissection of this passage into sound-bites to accommodate a particular agenda instead of seeking to discover the truth about God consistent with the rest of His revelations in the Word.

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:8) Is loving your neighbor the fulfillment of all human laws? Are all the human laws enforced by human authorities encompassed in the instructions in this chapter? How do I relate to the friction caused by the obvious inconsistencies of unjust human demands incorporated into abusive human regulations with the perfect law of heaven encapsulated in the expression of perfect love? I believe the answers are here if I can properly perceive them with the right spirit and enlightened by the Spirit of the One who inspired this to be written down.

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