Friday 13th May - Romans 13
Today’s chapter is Romans 13, you can read it here
Tom writes:
Anyone who yearns for social transformation should sit long in this chapter. Should we try to overthrow evil regimes? Should we lobby for Kingdom values to be embodied in all of society? In this chapter Paul sets out a staggering vision for how the church engages with that question; clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Roman government had arrested Paul and killed his friends. The Roman government epitomised the depraved minds Paul highlighted in chapter 1. And, even though Paul has just told the Roman church that they are more than conquerors, that they will co-inherit all the earth, Paul then tells the church to submit to these senseless and ruthless authorities. How does that make sense? Well, Paul really meant it when he said we should clothe ourselves with Jesus as Lord. Jesus said we defeat evil by turning the other cheek. Jesus said we lead people into new places by washing their feet. Don’t get him wrong- it wasn’t that Jesus didn’t care about social injustice, nor that he just withdrew from society and passively let it happen. No, Jesus went to war with the world… but he did it with love. Fighting against injustice with love is what Paul urges the church to do. This is so at odds with our cultures view of how to achieve justice. In a culture that doesn’t believe in God, of course we humans have to be the agents of social transformation. We rise up and use all our power to overthrow abuses of power. (Intersectionality and Critical Race Theory are based on this idea). But we are a counter-culture convinced that God used the Cross of Christ to conquer all evil.
Counter-intuitively our conclusion must be that evil is defeated by loving those who practice it. Tyrants are overthrown by God when God’s people humbly submit to them. We hate racism so we deliberately love racists… trusting that as we lovingly serve them God will bring justice in the end. This is a huge topic, far beyond this quick paragraph. And - let’s admit - even what we’ve said so far is actually quite hard. But just because it is complex and hard doesn’t mean we should just skip on past it. No. This is what “love” is, isn’t it? If love were easy or simple then everyone would do it. Love is a choice that we make out of trust in our Father and in apprenticeship to our Lord. We know love fulfils all the law, even how to thrive in an evil age.
Question for reflection
Who is a “ruthless, senseless, faithless” person that you could lovingly serve?