We can't build a door when we're standing out in the field

All authority flows from God and we are to obey those who God has placed over us.

Did you know that Nazi Germany required people to turn in Jews, so they could be arrested and shipped off to the death camps? Corrie ten Boom and her family courageously disobeyed the Nazi regime, hiding Jews in their house to prevent them from being slaughtered. Obviously, there are times we need to resist and disobey civil authority, because sometimes that civil authority is wicked.

But when we argue about when it is important to disobey authority today, we are effectively arguing about where the door should be in the house while we are standing out in the field. We have not even poured a foundation, much less erected walls and a roof. Who cares where the door should be while we are in a raging thunderstorm? We always want to talk about the exceptions and where we have the right or even the obligation to disobey, but we cannot talk about what the exceptions are unless we re-establish a basic respect for authority.

Let’s be honest. You are not going to be ordered to turn in Jews so they can be shipped off to Auschwitz. The vast majority of your obedience will be in small things: From not turning right on red at specific intersections to obeying the speed limit to (yes) wearing a mask in a public place during a global pandemic. They are small things. Perhaps they are an inconvenience or an annoyance, but they are small things.

So the first thing to do is pour a foundation, and Romans 13 is as good a place to start as any. All authority flows from God and we are to obey those who God has placed over us. Then we build the walls and the roof. After that, we can discuss where the door should be – or where we are permitted or obligated to disobey unjust or even wicked rules, laws and regulations. But until we establish that authority does exist and should be obeyed, arguing about the placement of the door is justification for anarchism or libertinism.

Finally, we should distrust our own judgment. Our minds and reasoning have been corrupted by sin, and an outsider (especially someone who is older) might be able to see our flaws in a way we do not. We always want to think we are the exception. Often, we are not the exception and our situation is not the place where we must “stand against tyranny.” When every man does that which is right in his own eyes, society falls into chaos or maybe even judgment. We must seek and listen to wise counsel, especially from people who will likely tell us what we do not want to hear. Above all else, we should pray and ask God if we are doing the right thing, or merely feeding our own egos or protecting our personal preferences. Come in out of the rain.