Hello, my friends,

After my last newsletter, many of you responded by asking about my thoughts on Romans 13, which is an oft-quoted passage when it comes to political power. With the election drawing nearer by the day, I think it would be helpful to take a look at this passage, how it has been misused, and how it can be so helpful when we read it in context and guide our political witness, no matter who is elected to power over us.

But before we get into that, here are some resources to consider:

The season of Advent began December 1st! This season extends an annual invitation for us to reorient our hearts toward Jesus as we approach Christmas. I have written a daily devotional for this season in hopes of stoking greater hope, peace, joy, and love in our hearts as we journey together toward Jesus from Advent to Christmas. Details: What: An "ebook" of 25 daily scripture-based devotionals, designed to conclude on Christmas Day, to be downloaded and read on your favorite device. When: It is available to download now. How: Purchase access to this daily devotional by clicking the button below. $20.00 Arrival: Daily Reflections For The Season of Advent Crafted to begin on December 1st and end on Christmas Day, each of these 25 daily readings will focus on a passage from... Read more Download here! ​

​

​-TNE TALKS: Challenging Narratives with a Grassroots Faith. By The New Evangelicals Podcast. I was honored to be a guest on my good friend Tim Whitaker's podcast recently. We had a really raw and vulnerable conversation about what it means to be doing the online work we are doing and we touched on the historical Christian framework around the current political rhetoric around immigration as well. I think you would enjoy giving it a listen. I hope you find it encouraging.

​-Romans 13 Stanley Hauerwas Stanley Hauerwas is a big influence over my theology. This short video of him debating Romans 13 over 10 years ago is very powerful and moving. I highly recommend watching it when you get a moment.

​-How to Win People Over by Hidden Brain Podcast. This episode was super insightful and encouraging. I'm someone who constantly has an inner monologue going, especially when I am interacting with others for the first time. Am I talking too much? Am I talking too little? Am I listening? Am I presenting myself well? All centering around how the other person may or may not perceive me. If you have dealt with this kind of thing as well, I highly encourage listening to this helpful episode.

Okay, let’s dive into today's content.

​

Let Everyone Be Subject To The Governing Authorities.

Romans 13:1-7

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

​
​Misused For The Sake Of Power

I want to start by saying that, just like every newsletter about a Biblical text, this isn’t meant to be exhaustive or definitive. So many commentaries have been written on Paul’s letter to the Romans that cover the complexity of the entire book, so I am going to restrict my focus to how this passage has often been misused and what has helped bring it into focus for me and other Christians, especially in our current political climate.

As you might already know, this passage has been used in many ways, much of which are heartbreaking, throughout Christian history. Let me give you a few examples.

During the period right before the American Revolution, loyalists to the British Crown used Romans 13 to demand obedience to the king from everyone in the “new world.” Imagine how different our country would be today if the American Founding Fathers had taken Romans 13 “literally.”

Romans 13 was also used in the years leading up to the Civil War to justify and legitimize the keeping of slaves and was especially used by anti-abolitionist Christians to oppose the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

On March 21, 1933, standing in front of the newly elected members of the German parliament, Protestant theologian Otto Dibelius invoked Romans 13 to urge Germans to support Hitler. It was two months into Nazi rule and even those who were “pro-Nazi” were expressing discontent with the growing draconian measures being enacted. As the nation looked to Otto that day, after quoting Romans 13, he said that Christians must not fail to support the state, even when the state acts hard and ruthlessly.

The then prominent and powerful Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa also invoked Romans 13 to justify the apartheid even in the face of all the horrors it was causing among the South African people, especially among people of color and the poor.

To my knowledge, the most recent use of Romans 13 to justify oppression and domination in the name of “law and order” by a national figure was in June 2018, when the then United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions invoked it to justify the Trump administration’s policy that separated children from their families at our border. Sessions said, “I would cite you to the Apostle Paul and his clear and wise command in Romans 13 to obey the laws of the government because God has ordained them for the purpose of order. Orderly and lawful processes are good in themselves and protect the weak and lawful.”

As you can see with each one of these heartbreaking examples, the overriding interpretation of Romans 13 is unquestioned obedience to the “governing authorities” because, as it says, “The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

It's Not Consistently Applied Though

Yet, even when it has been interpreted like this by Christians towards something like immigration policies, it isn’t applied that way to every issue by Christians. For example, I watched Romans 13 go viral online in support of stronger immigration reform after Jeff Sessions made his comments in 2018. Then, during the Covid pandemic, I waited for Romans 13 to go viral by Christians again about public health mandates, like wearing masks and getting vaccinated, which were issued by “the governing authorities.” I waited for Romans 13 to go viral among Christians again when it came to the felony charges brought against former President Trump by the “governing authorities.” I never saw that happen.

Interestingly, Romans 13 seemed to have been conveniently tucked away for events like these. I guess the word “everyone” in “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities” doesn’t actually mean “everyone.”

Sadly, the most common way Romans 13 has been misused in Christian history is to justify our power against those we are against while not holding ourselves or those in positions of influence we like to the same standards.

The other common way Romans 13 is misused is to take it hyper-literally and claim that no matter who is in a position of political power, they have been placed there by God. So, no matter if it is Jimmy Carter, Adolf Hitler, Nelson Mandela, or Julius Caesar, the people under their authority have no choice but to “obey” them. This perspective also minimizes human involvement in placing people in authority over us, like in 1 Samul 8 or in democracies like ours. Sometimes we Christians “demand a king” even while God desires a different path for us.

So what are we supposed to do with this passage? What was in Paul’s mind and context that caused him to write these words?

Well, first it needs to be said, that not even Paul applied this passage “literally” to his own life. As you know, he was arrested, was in and out of prison, and was ultimately beheaded by the “governing authorities” for not obeying them.

Interestingly, when Paul was in Damascus, he escaped from a city governor who was trying to arrest him, but he concealed himself in a basket and folks “aided and abetted” his escape by lowering him down the city wall through a window. Then, after reaching safety, he wrote his letter to the Romans, which included the passage we just read, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities…”

So, was Paul a hypocrite, asking Christians to live by a standard he didn’t even live by himself? Or are we just interpreting his words differently than he intended?

I think part of the key to understanding this passage correctly is the Greek word we often translate into “subject” or “submit.” It is the Greek word "hupo-tasso," which literally means “arrange properly underneath God.” The original readers would have understood this as social orderliness because God is a God of order, not chaos, so those in authority are a necessary part of maintaining that orderliness, as Paul described.

To put it simply, for Paul it was ultimately important to always operate in the order established by God, including obeying the governing authorities, who were lower than God of course. Yet, as is clear by his life, when a law of the land violated the order of God, Paul saw no problem breaking that unjust law in order to maintain the order of God. Paul would even “subject himself to the governing authorities” by allowing himself to be arrested without fighting back, but his ultimate goal was upholding the order and ethics of God, even in the face of the law.

So, what is the "ethics of God?"

So the next obvious question would be then, according to Paul, what is the order or ethics of God? Well he describes them in great detail Romans 12, which was always meant to be read right before Romans 13. It is the ethics that Paul would even hold all those in power accountable to.

Let's read some of these ethics together from Romans 12:9-21:

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Then the very next line is Romans 13:1, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities…” Then Romans 13:8 begins another exhortation to "love your neighbor." Romans 13:1-7 is sandwiched and defined by love of neighbor, which prevents any attempts to use the passage to justify co-opting the state to conquer and control your neighbor in the name of Jesus. At least, it should.

Keeping Romans 12 and 13 together, they are not advocating anarchy, nor are they advocating blind obedience to the governing authorities. Rather, they are advocating an ultimate commitment to the ethics of God, which is guided by things like love, humility, nonviolence, peace, and even faithfully paying our taxes, while being ever mindful of unjust laws that need to be opposed out of love for our neighbors.

As Christians, this challenges us to not see the law as what ultimately dictates our ethics, but rather, what needs to dictate our ethics is the Greatest Commandment of Jesus, which is loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is because some of the most horrid things in human history were “legal.” Things like war, slavery, the holocaust, segregation, apartheid, and the separating of children from their families. In the face of each one of these injustices, faithful Christians opposed them based on the ethics of God and by the ethics of God. In Paul’s words, it is to be “devoted to one another in love.”

The ethics call for a posture of seeking power for and with each other while never seeking power just for ourselves over everyone else. These are the ethics we Christians are called to, no matter who is elected as the “governing authorities” over us.

A Quick 10-point Summary of Romans 13

I want to end by sharing an excellent 10-point summary of Romans 13:1-7 that you can keep as a “quick reference” on hand, which was created by New Testament scholar Michael J. Gorman:

1. Various aspects of the meaning of Romans 13:1-7 are debated, but its main original intent was to say to the Roman Christians, “Pay your taxes” (Romans 13:7). The text is not a call to blind obedience to all authorities and laws.

2. Whatever Romans 13:1-7 means, it can only mean what it means in light of its context. That is, it cannot be ripped from its context in the letter to the Romans.

3. Whatever Romans 13:1-7 means, it cannot be understood in a way that contradicts its context.

4. The immediate context of Romans 13:1-7 is the entirety of Romans 12 and 13. In Romans 12 and 13, Paul sets out basic guidelines for the Christian communities in Rome, and for us.

5. Those guidelines begin with a call for *nonconformity to this age,* a radical transformation of attitudes and practices that is appropriate to those who have benefited from God’s mercy in Christ. This spirit of nonconformity and transformation is the prerequisite for knowing and doing God’s will. And it is the fundamental framework for everything that follows. See Romans 12:1-2.

6. After a discussion of various gifts in the body of Christ, Paul calls on the Christian community to practice a radical, genuine form of love that corresponds to the love they have received from God in Christ. This includes hating what is evil and practicing the good; showing hospitality to strangers; loving enemies; weeping with those who weep; associating with the lowly; blessing persecutors; not repaying evil for evil; practicing peace toward all; not seeking vengeance for harm done; and overcoming evil with good. See Romans 12:9-21. The call to this lifestyle is what immediately precedes Romans 13:1-7.

7. Immediately after Romans 13:1-7 is “the rest of the story”: what Romans 13 says as a whole. Here we find another radical call to neighbor-love and a call to avoid the works of darkness by putting on Christ. See Romans 13:8-14.

8. This context for Romans 13:1-7 means that the Christian community must not follow any authority or law that calls them to violate these basic Christian principles. Rather than being a blanket call to obedience, Romans 13:1-7—when read in context—actually supports Christian opposition to many laws and practices.

9. If the practices and laws they are defending manifest the opposite of the basic Christian ethic described in Romans 12-13, it is the duty of Christians to oppose those inhumane practices and laws that they are justifying, in part, by their misuse of Scripture.

10. Christians must also be prepared to try to offer humane alternatives to the practices and laws they oppose (This part is essential).

​