Resistance or Respect

Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. (Romans 13:2)

The more I consider this the more I question that Paul was even talking about an idealistic version of authority as I previously mentioned. Certainly many of the authorities in his day were very corrupt and abusive and that was the context in which he was writing. The underlying principle that he is revealing here is the same one that Jesus referred to in the Sermon on the Mount.

"You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' "But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. "If anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. "Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. "Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42)

If these two passages are paralleled then it would appear that very possibly the authorities portrayed here are indeed evil in some ways themselves. Do not resist an evil person (in authority). If this is in doubt look on a phrase or two further. If someone is suing you they are appealing to authority to take something away from you while manipulating the law against you. Even more clearly, for someone to be able to force you to go with them a mile brought clearly to mind the actions of Roman soldiers who were given the right to force anyone under Rome's domination to carry their packs for one mile, but one mile only.

Both Paul and Jesus are here saying that even though others, even those in authority, may be evil and unfair does not give us excuse to be disrespectful, bitter or hateful. Those reactions internally are actually the deeper intent of those who misuse their positions of dominance against us, for indulging in those feelings is a way of disempowering us. Satan has set up the world's systems to induce fear, anger and hatred in the heart of everyone so that he can destroy their capacity to receive and give real love as God designed they should. It is Satan's highest goal to erase the image of God in our hearts that is our original design and steal all the characteristics of God from our souls. But it is God's purpose to undo the works of the enemy and restore in us, particularly at the heart level, the likeness of Jesus who never resisted evil while never compromising with it.

One of the greatest fears of “religious resistors” is that if we do not resist evil people in our lives that somehow we will become accomplices with them and will be condoning what they are doing. I can clearly remember that line of reasoning being used frequently by my own father and now am beginning to realize that it may have been a major contributor to much of my spirit of rebellion and my strong reactions that often put me in conflict with authorities. What is at issue here is really the problem of respect, not endorsement. But another problem with respect that now emerges is that most people believe that respect must be earned before we are required to give it.

But according to what we have been learning from the series, Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson and Sarah Eggerichs, the Bible teaches that respect is something that is unconditional just as love is to be unconditional. This is a shocking and almost untenable idea to many people, but it is what the Bible teaches. Because of this misunderstanding and my own lack of internal training in the area of respect, my own life has been very rocky at times and I still need a lot of remedial repair work done inside that definitely affects many of my relationships. God still has a great deal of reeducation to finish in my mind and heart.

I am still also pondering this contrast that I noticed yesterday between fear and no fear found in verses three and four. Tied in with what I am seeing today it is starting to look like that maybe evil is at least partially defined as a lack of respect in the face of injustice.

The kind of resistance described here is not the resistance referred to in James.

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:7-8)

According to what I see in comparing these passages, it is wrong to resist an evil person but it is important to resist the devil. Evidently the devil is not an evil person but is linked more to the internal spirit war going on inside of our minds and hearts. So the conclusion that might be drawn here is that our resistance needs to be against the internal temptation to absorb and reflect the spirit of evil, while at the same time not resisting the external forces of evil imposed on us.

We are to treat with respect, and even on-going, instant forgiveness those who may be abusing us while at the same time resisting the internal force of evil that is tempting our hearts to be angry, bitter, resentful, hateful and desiring revenge against them. We are to treat with respect those who have not earned our respect. This ties very closely back into the previous chapter that talks about respecting what is right and never paying back evil for evil (12:17). What is right is respect and love, and even then not because people have earned them from us. Evidently, if we fail to respond with respect (and love) due to internal spirit contamination by our flesh, we are still double-minded.

These descriptions of how to live in our relationships to others and to authority appears to me to be quite impossible to accomplish without a great deal of healing, transformation and much grace. That is why the verse just previous to those quoted from James says, But he gives all the more grace; therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6 NRSV) I certainly fit into the category of someone who needs all the more grace.

But if I do not choose to follow through with this challenge to treat others with respect no matter what they deserve, they I will unavoidably find myself in the other position of being afraid because I am doing what is evil (v. 4). According to this passage in Romans, doing what is good must mean doing the very thing that does not come natural to me – respecting an abusive authority figure. That certainly does not mean that I value or agree with the spirit that they are displaying or endorse their actions, but it does require that I seek to observe them through the eyes of heaven and see a human being with a heart that has been hijacked by the enemy and is acting out Satan's character in their life and not their redeemed image of God.

But if I do not respond from my flesh or display that my heart is also hijacked by retaliating or being disrespectful; if instead, I have a heart that is transformed by all the more grace; if I am willing to die to the clamorings of my flesh and allow the sweetness of Jesus' Spirit to emanate from my life through my words, my demeanor, my actions and my complete inner freedom and peace, then God can use me as a truthful witness to appeal to the hearts of the very ones who themselves are deluded and confused inside and long for a similar peace and freedom for themselves.

This is the secret strategy of God to subvert the works of Satan and steal away from his vicious clutch those who have been held captive and hostage by him all of their lives. By apparently losing, we allow God to win. By dying we become more fully alive. By not resisting we end up having the most power. The ways of God often seem so backwards to the typical way we are used to thinking.

This is just beginning to dawn on my understanding but it will take a transformational miracle of even more grace to make it a settled reality for me at the heart level. With men – and me – this is impossible but with God all things are possible.

God, please cause these insights and principles to become more than just something I am beginning to perceive with my brain. I want to see them appearing in my gut-level reactions – from my deepest heart – whenever I am facing abusive people in my life that have authority over me. While I do not have to endorse or participate in their evils and injustice, I need to see them through Your eyes and have Your heart to love and respect them unconditionally.

You know me better than I know myself and You know my history of problems in this arena. But I need to perceive and believe in the true identity that You have placed in my heart that is radically different than the exhibitions of resentment and resistance that I have acted out so many times in the past. Those demonstrations are not my true identity no matter how I may feel or what anyone else says about me. My true identity that is already inside of my heart is still largely hidden but You are bringing it more into the open to display Your glory and character in me before an astonished world. It is all by Your grace, Your love, Your power and Your faithfulness that this is all taking place.

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I am Yours – save me! Finish the work You are doing in me. Continue to transform me, my spirit, my triggers, my bitterness and fears. Heal me at the deepest levels of my heart so that my true reflection of You can glow unsullied by the damage that Satan has worked in my heart. Continue Your experiment of grace in my life as a means of attracting others into a similar relationship with You. I ask this for Your reputation's sake and in the name and authority of Jesus Christ entrusted to me after His resurrection.

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