Let Every Soul Be Subject

In one paragraph

The pastor preached through Romans 13:1-7, a passage about submission to governing authorities, at what turned out to be a fitting moment in the 2016 election season. He placed the text inside the larger argument Paul has been building in Romans, and worked through what it actually demands of Christians who live in a country born out of rebellion against a king. Romans 13:1-7 sits inside a set of...

Read together

1. Romans 13:1-7 the main passage of the sermon, on submitting to governing authorities
2. Romans 12:1-2 presenting our bodies as living sacrifices as the center of the bull's eye
3. Romans 12:3-13 using gifts to serve the church, the next concentric circle outward
4. Romans 12:14-21 serving outsiders and society around us, including leaving room for the wrath of God
5. James 2 being a hearer and not a doer of the word
6. Psalm 23 read bedside to Betty Jo Height as comfort while she was dying
7. John 19:10-11 Jesus telling Pilate he would have no authority except it were given to him by God
8. Acts 4:19 Peter and John told by the Sanhedrin to stop preaching Jesus, responding by asking whether to obey God or man
9. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Paul urging Timothy that prayers and thanksgivings be made for kings and all in authority

Talk about it

1. Pastor Nathan pointed out that Romans 13:1-2 places no limits on submission to governing authorities within those two verses alone, and described that as a hard biblical pill to swallow for Americans. What makes it difficult, and what do you think Paul's purpose was in putting it so plainly?
2. The sermon walked through several examples of civil disobedience in the Bible, including Daniel, the Hebrew boys, and Peter and John, and described each as non-violent resistance when a higher command from God was at stake. Where do you think that line is, and how would you know when you had reached it?
3. Pastor Nathan read from the Declaration of Independence and then said that grounding government in 'the safety and happiness' of the people 'is not terribly biblical.' What do you think he meant by that, and do you agree?
4. The sermon said that calling rulers ministers of God is difficult when you think of figures like Hitler or Stalin, yet Paul's argument is rooted in God's sovereignty rather than the character of the ruler. How do you hold those two things together in your own thinking?
5. Pastor Nathan closed by challenging the congregation to double in prayer whatever time they spend complaining about candidates and officials, drawing on 1 Timothy 2. What would that actually look like in a practical way during a week like this one?