God and Evil Authority

The Project Manager has seen, in conversations with other Christians, a common belief that God has empowered His children to rise up in protest against those whom the Lord has put in positions of authority and leadership.  These Christians think that they are defending God and restoring Him as the pre-eminent authority in government.  They also seem to share the belief that the Lord will only appoint good people to leadership; meanwhile forgetting that He is sovereign, and nothing is unknown to Him.

"Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps" (Psalm 135:6); "God reigns over the nations, God sits on His holy throne" (Psalm 47:8); and "...it is He who changes the times and epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings..." (Daniel 2:21).  God is sovereignly in control of all things that happen here on earth, including politics; and He makes no promises that the people He appoints will be "moral" or "good".

The Lord knows perfectly well who it is that He places as leaders: "The Lord knows the thoughts of man, for they are a mere breath" (Psalm 94:11); "O God, it is Thou who dost know my folly, and my wrongs are not hidden from Thee" (Psalm 69:5).  God is not surprised by anything that those He appoints might say or do: "O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me.  Thou dost know when I sit down and when I raise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar.  Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways.  Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, Thou dost know it all" (Psalm 139:1-4).

There are some Christians who believe that God could never appoint an evil person to a position of authority; the Project Manager contends that God knows exactly who He puts there.  The PM cannot see God saying; "Oh, snap!  I thought that this person was all right, but he turned out to be evil!"  This idea is completely ridiculous, yet is common among Christians and is even preached from the pulpit.  Those who believe that God could never appoint evil men to authority are ignoring Scripture; the book of Judges is a litany of evil leaders. Do the names Pharoah (Exodus), Nebucchadnezzar (Daniel), Ahab (1 Kings), Herod (Matthew, Luke, Acts) and Nero (Acts) ring any bells?  They were all evil, yet God still used them to advance His kingdom.

Take a moment to think about this: We are all sinners, and all have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). If God were to appoint only the righteous to authority, who could He choose?

The idea that God is not in control of everything, that He created the universe but does not command it, is called Deism.  Deism is a false theology that denies God's sovereignty.  The idea that God somehow needs our help in governing (and choosing governors) is self-sovereignty, which is a form of idolatry.  Idolatry in any form is SIN.  Why does the Project Manager continually make this point?  Because the PM loves all people, and grieves when observing those who claim to love the Lord practicing idolatry.

When those who profess to love and serve the Lord are actually engaged in loving and serving themselves, they forfeit their inheritance.  When Christians protest the government, complaining against and grumbling against the Lord's choice of leader, they too forfeit their inheritance: "Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.  Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive of the inheritance.  It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.  For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality" (Colossians 3:22-25).

The Project Manager looks at the big picture, viewing the idea of slaves obeying masters to be equal with employees obeying their bosses, or citizens obeying their government.  "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.  For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God" (Romans 13:1).  We are to "be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient" (Titus 3:1). Notice that the Scriptures are silent as to the character, "goodness", and "morality" of the authority!  When Christians go against the authority established by God, they go against God.  By going against God, they forfeit their inheritance, and will be told on Judgment Day; "Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness" (Matthew 7:23).

EXCEPTION: As Christians, our submission to government authority cannot be absolute. We are not bound to obey the government under two conditions:
1) When any government compels Christians to commit immoral or sinful acts;
2) When any government prohibits Christians from carrying out the instructions of our Lord, such as proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Even then, we Christians can never allow our zealousness for our Savior, or persecution by the governing authorities, to cause us to act in a sinful way!

The PM believes that the worst thing that can happen to Christians is to for them to live their lives believing that they are serving God, only to be told to go away at the final Judgment.  Those who practice self-sovereignty, who go against the ordained authorities of God, who disobey the Word of God; they run the risk of losing their inheritance!  Please join the Project Manager in earnest prayer for the repentance of all who, knowingly or unknowingly, have fallen into that sin.