Romans 13

In our day of political infighting and horrendous government inefficiency and backstabbing that even fiction writers couldn’t make up; we come to Romans 13 where Paul tells us to submit to our government leaders and to pay our taxes. Here is something important to remember, our government leaders are novices compared to Rome’s leaders when it comes to dysfunction and evil.  When Paul wrote this letter, Nero was the Emperor.  To call him a bad government official would be a major understatement (look him up on Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nero).  

            So, what is our takeaway from this?  We must remember that we are functionally citizens of two worlds. At the core of our identity we are citizens of heaven, children of the Kingdom of God that has yet to be fully realized.  Practically speaking though, we live in this world and therefore we are citizens of this earthly kingdom in which Satan has great influence.  Since we know that God’s kingdom is eternal and this one is temporal, we must place our devotion in God’s kingdom.  I believe that to be a mature follower of Christ means that He wants us to be good citizens on this Earth.  I believe that when Christians are model citizens here, it actually opens the door to opportunities to advance God’s eternal kingdom.  So, my personal practice is “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Matt. 22:21).  Some of us may choose to pursue a life in government or a life that tries to influence government, both are noble callings.  But in the end, let’s remember to whom we eternally belong and whom we serve with all our heart, soul, and strength.  This results in . . . you guessed it, . .  loving our neighbor as ourselves;  because as Paul says in Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.