Problems are for Solving

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalms 2:1-12, ESV)

Today, many people are having reactions to last night’s news. And they will continue reacting as more news comes in today. The voting is over, and as the final ballots are counted news will abound.

In January Barack Obama will become the 44th President of the United States. And many of those who did not vote for him are fretting about what kind of Presidency he will have, and in a future post I will deal with that fretting.

First, though, about reactions. The King of Kings is still enthroned. And as I wrote yesterday, it is God who removes rulers and sets others in their places. In our republic He does that through the means of the voters and the electoral college–but it is God who does it. And God has determined that Barack Obama will be the next President.

And Christians will be tempted to react many different ways today.

To those who voted for McCain: He did not lose because of your brothers who did not vote for McCain. Do not curse your brothers who voted for third parties, or even those who voted for Barack Obama. Furthermore, consider the additional executive powers that you were just fine with President Bush exercising and remember why limited government is important: power shifts. And if you’re not comfortable with Barack Obama wielding certain powers you shouldn’t want George W. Bush to have them either. And sit down and pray for our nation, and for our next President (more on this in the next post). You voted as you thought you should, and God will bless that–rest in that and trust in God for what will come next.

To those who voted for a third party: Do not gloat over the inability of the centrist, “RINO” McCain to inspire the nation. Do not say “I told you so” or bite back about how horrible it is that your brothers voted differently than you did. Don’t revile VNS for bad third party reporting. Don’t take a “holier than thou” attitude towards others who voted differently. Sit down and pray for our nation, and for our next President. You voted as you thought you should, and God will bless that–rest in that and trust in God for what will come next.

To those who voted for Obama: Do not gloat in his victory. And more importantly, despite whatever inspired you about him, never forget that he is a man. And many men, good though they appeared, have been corrupted by power even if they were not before. Also, be prepared to watch him do things that he said he would that you paid no attention to like signing the Freedom of Choice act and pursuing the so-called fairness doctrines that may hamper your free speech. I will resist the temptation to say “I told you so” later, but consider those possibilities now and do not be surprised if those things happen. And do not look down on your brothers for not voting the way you did. I am very happy that the USA was willing to vote for a Black president so soon after our war, even though I am sad that the first Black president has the views he does. And maybe this will bring some of that healing, but do think of those who did not vote for him as racist or betrayers. And sit down and pray for our nation, and for our next President. You voted as you thought you should, and God will bless that–rest in that and trust in God for what will come next.

Finally, to the title and verses above. There are many in our nation who want no part in the holy God who created them. They want to cast the cords that bind them away–rage against the Most High. No matter what happens in the public square over the next four years, God is neither surprised nor shaken. In fact, the efforts to throw off His control he scoffs at. He laughs! Our King is still enthroned, and He watches over our world, and He will not be dethroned no matter who rules on earth over any nation.

So pray for President Bush. Pray for President-elect Obama. And trust in the King. And serve no King but Jesus Christ.

(read the introduction here)

In dealing with rulers who sin against us and against others, sometimes misusing their office and lording their authority over their charges, it is important that we keep a Biblical perspective. Proverbs 21:1 is instructive here:

Our God holds the heart of the authorities in His hand.

When trouble comes from rulers who are sinning in their exercising of their offices we must remember this. God’s arm is not short, and this trouble is ultimately from His hand. Romans 13:1b reminds us that there is “no authority except from God.” God’s providence has brought about the difficult situation you face when a ruler in any sphere of authority sins against you.

At the point where we are sinned against, we have choices to make. In making these difficult choices, though, we must never forget that God’s hand holds the heart of those who are making our life difficult.

Solomon doesn’t stop with God’s hand holding the heart of the king, though, he tells us what Yahweh does with His hand: “He turns it wherever He wishes.”

This should be comforting to us when we see sinful men abusing their authority (whether willfully or not). God holds and turns the hearts of rulers—He always has and always will. So when we have difficulty because of the sin of our rulers, the first place we need to turn is to the King of the kings. To Jesus.

I have had experiences in the past where I was convinced that an authority was going to make a grave error or commit a grave sin. When I have stopped, and prayed for change in the situation, and for God to change the heart of my ruler on that point I have invariably approached the situation with a better attitude, and I have also always seen God’s hand in it. More often than not, I was able to make a peaceful appeal and God either stayed off the action of my superior or I was able to convince him of his error. But even when the ruler continued in his decision, I was able to trust God with the heart and hand of the “king” in the situation—and to rest in God’s infinite knowledge of and control over the situation.

The heart of our rulers is in the hand of Yahweh—and He not only is able, but does turn that heart wherever He wishes, to accomplish His purposes.

When rulers sin, first appeal to the True King of kings who holds their hearts and you will see the hand of God in your trial—regardless of the outcome.

Note: This is a post I wrote on a previous blog a few years ago that I’m bringing out of mothballs, slightly edited.

I have been reading quite a bit lately about the topic of abusive authorities. I’ve read cautions about blindly following (a wise caution), about the harm that authorities can cause when they abuse their power, and many other aspects of the damage that unwise or unrighteous rulers bring in their wake.

One thing that I have found continually missing, though, is how those who are ruled should respond to those who rule in these situations. What little is said about how to respond to the abuse of authority seems too often to be making excuses why the abused underling (no matter the authority) doesn’t need to do anything about the problem, but can get off free in the matter.

As I’ve looked at the relevant passages, I am convinced that the abuse of authority (the Bible calls it lording over people with regard to Church leaders) is truly a horrible thing. And the poor or evil leadership a ruler brings, whether in church, state or family will curse the entire group. There’s no two ways about it.

But having sinful rulers is inevitable. God will allow evil men to rise to power at times (past President Clinton is a great example)—and there is no arguing against that. Even men who are not evil will sin grievously against those under their charge. David, who was a king after God’s own heart, sent his friend Uriah to his death on the front lines so that he could steal his wife.

So what does a man do when placed under authorities who sin? All of us are under authority, or we should be, in at least three areas: the family (father), the church (elders) and the state (the magistrate). In this day and age most of you will also have rulers at work (bosses). The Bible uses the slave/master relationship to describe this. Biblically speaking, I will try to treat this as a subset of the family, even though our workplaces are not organized that way anymore.

I don’t want my posts on this topic to be long, and so I’m going to post shorter posts as I am able. You are going to have sinful rulers, likely in more than one of the spheres of authority, and there are practical steps to overcoming the sin of those who rule over you and God has not only not been silent on the topic, but He has left us with quite a few principles on the matter. I’m not going to deal with the principles in any particular order, but as I do I’ll organize them into a logical outline that you’ll be able to find under this category, or an index I’ll create later.

I have been having trouble of late with the government. I had a rental property get reassessed at triple the value I paid for it only two years ago. I have been battling with a non-communicative zoning department over a small problem that could have been solved quickly with just a little more communication. The result? I ended up with a $200 ticket.

When I fly I get frustrated with the rights that are ignored and fractured in the name of alleged safety. As I think about one day opening a restaurant I fear and worry over the huge numbers of regulations that face me in the process- fearing that small infraction (or an overzealous inspector or other authority) that could be seized as an opportunity to overturn all the work that had gone into that business endeavor.

And this frustrates me beyond belief. In other contexts, talking to others in formal and informal counseling situations I’ve said that frustration is often (always?) a sign of our own sin rather than a right response to the sins of others. Yes, there is a righteous anger at tyranny, but even within a tyrannical system we are to respond in love.

Last week I posted a link to a site where you can adopt a terrorist for prayer, quoting Jesus’ words about how we are to respond to those who persecute us. Those who hate us. Our enemies.

Saturday I realized more clearly how deep my frustration and bitterness runs towards tyranny and fascism. And Sunday morning during prayer time in worship I realized how hard my heart is towards those who practice it. And I repented of it and prayed (and must continue to pray) that God would soften my heart towards fascist, tyrannical, persecuting people. I prayed that God would help me to love my enemies.

That’s what Jesus wants me to do. Certainly I should not grow tired of speaking out against tyranny and fascism. Certainly I should do whatever is in my power to stem the tide of such evils. Certainly I should beseech God to come in power to end the merciless injustice that follows in the wake of tyranny.

But.

But my response to those who practice the evil must be love. It must be to pray for them. It must be to bless the curser and to overcome the evil with good. And maybe then instead of frustrated outbursts of hating fascists I may see, by God’s grace, a hatred for evil that is punctuated by a love and prayer and what is lovely in the sight of all men.

This may change nothing but me. But it may produce more joy in what little suffering I’ve been asked to endure. And so today I ask that God will soften my heart towards those who do evil. And may He do that today and every day.

(This post may get me in more trouble with some friends than my recent post on adult beverages.)

Yesterday, in answer to many years of prayers by their grandfather Mutton, four of my five children were allowed to sit and partake at the Lord’s Table.

That’s right. I’m out of the closet. Many of my closest friends have yet to know this but about two years ago I became convinced of covenant communion. I believe that all baptized persons, as a part of the Church of Jesus Christ, should be admitted to the Lord’s Table and partake of that holy meal. I believe the Bible teaches this.

It is a disputed matter, though, and for the past two years I have kept silent on my change of beliefs out of respect for the elders of my church. I have seen this doctrine handled in an ungodly way in other communities in the past. Since the part of the point of covenant communion is that Christ’s entire Body is united in communion at His Table to be divisive in my pursuit of it seemed inappropriate. And so outside of a select group of friends I only spoke with my elders about this change of beliefs and honestly asked them to convince me that the teaching of the church was correct and I was wrong.

Last Sunday evening the elders at Redeemer Presbyterian Church approved the transfer of my family to Providence Church, a local church that shares this belief and as of today I am no longer a non-practicing adherent to covenant communion. The Church catholic, of which both of these local communions are a part, remains undivided and my family has moved from submitting to elders who are being faithful to their vows in the PCA to submitting to elders who are being faithful to their vows in the Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Both churches remain as local links in my sidebar because of this catholic (or universal) nature of the Church. And while there are distinct beliefs and practices that separate us here on earth, we are joined in our Communion in Christ and will be united in an even more special way on the Last Day.