How should Christians treat those in authority? That’s a question I’ve found myself asking my kids when I need them to listen and obey. I ask them, “Who’s the boss?” And they know that the answer is me. I am the boss. Through this question, I am communicating that I am their authority figure. I have a certain control, power, and influence over their life. And they need to listen and obey me.
But what’s not communicated in that question, and this is where it gets tricky, is how they are to listen and obey. For instance, would it be right if they listen, obey, and do what I say – but with a bad attitude? Or talk bad about me behind my back? Would this be right? This question expands beyond children to each one of us. How are we to relate to and have the right attitude towards those in authority? How we relate to authorities, including our attitudes, is actually grounded in our relationship with God.
1. Honor Unbelieving Authorities
The first attitude toward authority is that we are to honor unbelieving authorities:
Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. (1 Timothy 6:1)
Paul is speaking directly to Christian slaves1 and how they are to regard their masters. When compared to the next verse, it’s clear that Paul is speaking to those who have unbelieving masters who do not know God. Paul says that slaves who are believers carry the name of Christ, and this is why they must honor their masters. Christian slaves represent Jesus to their masters. If Christian slaves did not honor their masters, the name of God would be reviled. God’s name, his renown, his reputation, would be insulted, slandered, defamed. And it wouldn’t just be God’s name – but it would also be the associated teaching. The doctrine, the Gospel, the Bible – gets blasphemed. You represent God and his word wherever you go.
If you haven’t encountered this already, you will find some with authority over you who will speak offensively towards Christianity. You are still called to honor them. You have the freedom to engage with them, even try to persuade and evangelize them, but you must do so in a way that honors their authority. From parents and teachers, to your managers and bosses, as well as your local law enforcement and government officials – when you honor those with authority over you, you honor God.*
2. Respect Believing Authorities
The second attitude towards authority is that you are to respect believing authorities:
Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. (1 Timothy 6:2)
Paul pivots to believing masters. If the master is a believer, the slave might be tempted to be disrespectful. The slave might say that because they’re both Christians, they can take it easy. They don’t have to work as hard. Paul says no – you must still respect your master. And not only that, but you are actually called now to serve all the better. This is given on the grounds of the Gospel, with the basis of them being believers and beloved. As Christians, we relate to each other – but we must also remember that we all relate to Christ.
If you ever find yourself where someone in authority over you is a Christian, you should be grateful to God. You don’t use your Christian commonality as an excuse to be aggressively assertive and brash in your attitude, or lazy and sloppy in your work. Instead, you use it as motivation to work even harder because you are believers and beloved in Christ.
Our Lord Took the Form of a Servant
Our example, inspiration, motivation, and foundation for how we work under others actually comes from Christ:
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6-8)
Our Lord took the form of a servant, a bondservant, a slave. It was his perfect submission to earthly authorities, even though he was clearly above them, that bought our salvation. As a child, Jesus submitted to his sinful earthly parents as a perfect obedient son. Jesus held authority in the Garden of Gethsemane, where legions of angels were told to stand down as he was headed for the cross. Jesus submitted to an earthly judge although Christ will one day judge the whole earth. On the cross, he submitted to mockery and ridicule from soldiers, though Christ is the one who gives orders to the stars and the sun in the sky. But with his resurrection and ascension, he gave us a taste of his true authority and glory. Jesus is the King, and one day every knee will bow before him, and every tongue will confess him as Lord. He is supreme and sovereign over our lives. He holds the world together and nothing happens without his word. We follow in his footsteps by copying his example to worship God and to win others for him.
Our earthly, physical families come with a sense of stewardship. God has given you and your parents to each other. This has been ingrained in me as an Asian American, and the Bible is explicit about our earthly families. We are to honor our fathers and mothers. This does not change even as you grow older, move out, make money, and get married; you are still to honor your parents. They have a special type of authority over your life. Some of our parents are believers. Some of our parents are not. Some of us already honor and respect our parents. Some of us do not. Belonging to the family of God does not erase the relationships we have with our earthly families. Instead, it gives importance and urgency to them. To evangelize and encourage those who are close to you.
All believers are especially beloved by God the Father. And in turn, we love each other as a spiritual family with the same special love that God has for us. There is a certain camaraderie in Christ that supersedes social status. All believers are beloved and we need each other. This is what it means to belong to the family of God.
Honor and Respect
Christians honor and respect those in authority as we represent and relate to Jesus. I recently stopped to think about that question I asked my kids: “Who’s the boss?” They know that the answer is me. So I asked a different question: “Who’s my boss?” They were quiet and curious. I taught them that God is my boss. God is my authority. And he is the one who shows us how we relate to each other. It’s not just about our actions. It’s about the attitude and the affections behind them.
The more I think about it, the more I see that I don’t want my kids to know me as their boss. I want them to know me as their father. I encourage you not to think about God as a boss or an authority figure, but as a perfect and loving Heavenly Father. And I exhort you to work hard and witness well in this world, showing honor and respect to those in authority as a means to share the love and spread the glory of God.
Paul wrote a letter to the Christians in Colossae, and though writing to the bondservants there he was also addressing all Christians, both back then and now to us today:
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24)
The work that we do, the honor and respect we give to authorities, is not in vain. Our work is for the Lord. And if we work for our Redeemer, it will be rewarded. There is joy in serving Jesus.
This article is an edited manuscript from my sermon preached at FCBC Walnut: Honor and Respect: Two Attitudes Towards Authorities.
*Disclaimers
Allow me to give a couple words of warning. There are certain abuses of authority that we do not allow. Physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and spiritual abuse should be reported. Please reach out if you or someone you know is suffering from this type of abuse. The type of authority I’m writing about today is the general, everyday authority that we all have to deal with.
Please also note that honoring and respecting authorities does not always mean obeying authority without question, especially if the authority figure is somehow forcing you to sin. Think about Daniel disobeying the laws that said he could not pray to the Lord. Think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to bow down to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. There will sometimes be consequences,but we must have a clear conscience before God as we walk in his wisdom.
- While the Bible speaks about slavery, it cannot be read as an approval of sin. Also, the chattel slavery in American history cannot be compared equally to the Greco-Roman slavery during Paul’s time. For further reading: Slavery Old and New: Comparing Early America with Biblical Times by Thomas S. Kidd and Is the Bible Pro-Slavery? by Gavin Ortlund.