Titus III
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. (Titus 3:1-3 ESV)
I intended to move on from this verse, on to the next key verses in the remaining books of the New Testament. But the more I thought about it, the more strange these reminders of Paul to Titus sound to our western, modern, quick-minded overly clever world.
So while still TECHNICALLY following the “Key Verse” paradigm… we will spend a few days looking at THESE key reminders and verses from Paul.
to be submissive to rulers and authorities
When we modern, particularly conservative, Christians, think about submitting to rulers and authorities we get our backs up right way. Delightful democratic ideals have taught us, incorrectly, that WE are our own masters.
But we are not. God is God. Jesus, particularly, is King. And His reign is over every aspect of our lives. Not a moment, not an idea, not a sphere, not a decision is made, under our own authority.
We do have authority… but only as God (King Jesus) has delegated it. In fact, this is so true, and so ignored, that I feel the need to state it very clearly.
All authority on earth comes from God.
Whether the earthly wielders admit it, notice it, adhere to is, or act like it.
Our place in this delegation of authority is to submit.
That is hard to hear.
It does NOT mean we are ordered by God to obey unGodly commands. But those actually occur in our society a lot less often than we like to think.
We are not, in Paul’s reminder to submit, supposed to submit ONLY to this commands we agree with politically, emotionally, and personally.
Think of Daniel and his friends. The government which ruled the exiles had MANY commands that these young Hebrews disagreed with. But the place they made a stand was only where the King’s commands demanded that they purposefully and openly serve false gods. I imagine they made their discontent with the other, smaller laws, well known. Daniel was not ever a quiet man. But they submitted. Notice, they called the human leader KING. (They did not post ‘not MY king’ on their websites…)
Submitting to the uncomfortable, the different, the other, the impractical, the silly, the hard, the selfish, is EXACTLY what we are reminded to do.
This is exactly what Christ Himself did… submitting to Judaism. Submitting to the Romans. Submitting to the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. All the way through a crown of thorns, and death on a cross. He did not compromise His principles. But He saved His people.
Because in submitting like THAT… Jesus obeyed God, the delegator of all authority.
Remember to do likewise.