Respect for Those in Authority

[Neighbor]

1 hour ago, Yowm said:

I'll admit, those words were fairly easy writing but I had great angst in respecting Obama while he was president.

What's an Obama? They come - they go. 

But God alway, from time before time by His foreknowledge and with the awesome power of predestination, He is sovereign. He appoints the times and the signs, the seasons and the end of seasons. He is just, and merciful too. 

 

Edited May 10, 2017 by Neighbor

[Annette]

1 hour ago, da_man1974 said:

You don't have to respect the person but you do have to respect their position.  If your boss has had multiple jobs and committed adultery and has a questionable mental health background are you gonna so no to him when he asks you to file some papers?  I think it ties in with don't hate the sinner, hate the sin.  We all know that people in authority are not like Mother Theresa but that does not give us grounds to not respect their authority.

It isn't world leaders that demand our respect.  They may try.  But the Bible is what tells us we need to respect those in authority.

 

Thanks da_man. I like the example you gave about the boss and employee. Definitely, something to think about. And something I have had to apply. Blessings.

[Annette]

1 hour ago, Yowm said:

I'll admit, those words were fairly easy writing but I had great angst in respecting Obama while he was president.

I grew up in a place where the leading party in many ways misused and still misuse their authority. I could have become bitter about it, but in the end, it would have been me who was hurt by the grudge. Last year, the people started standing up for themselves and though it seemed fair, it didn't necessarily show a respect for authority.

Sometimes it is easy to fight for our rights, and our focus changes. I have often thought that perhaps, there is something in us that needs to change in us before the situation will change. I think of all the suggestions just in this once verse: humbling ourselves, praying and seeking God. 

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

 

[Annette]

53 minutes ago, Neighbor said:

And thank you. Reading through Chronologically eh- as in starting with Job perhaps the oldest written record or actually chronologically as best as can be determined by events and by writers?  Or  Just reading through the entire Bible as Canonically arranged generally Genesis through to Revelation? In any case a grand undertaking, congratulations for even starting. May God's Holy Spirt,  and your's, see you through. Please start some threads here as you go along in your reading!

 I do have "The Life and Times Historical Reference Bible, a Chronological Journey Through The Bible, Culture, and History", NKJV -Nelson  Publishers. I reference it, have tried once to just read it through. Found myself in over my head  and abandoned the project, but would really like to go for it again. 

So as you read maybe you can find encouragement for the rest of us to jin in at least in part.

 

Thanks again for this thread.

 

 

Neighbor, I am trying to read it through as people have tried to determine how the events would have occurred in time. I have wanted to try this before, but this is the first time, I have managed to keep it up. I use an app on my phone, that breaks it into a 365-day reading plan. I can alternate between translations, which is great because sometimes it is nice to try a different translation, to get a different emphasis on what I am reading. I guess if I were doing it for scholarly reasons, I may have to stick to one particular version. 

Thanks for your encouragement. I will try and share thoughts every now and then.

A lady I met last summer has been such an encouragement in getting me to read the Bible, she took the time to read the book of Luke. We took it slowly, reading a couple chapters a week and writing notes on what we read. It was interesting getting together and sharing what stood out to each of us and kept us on track, knowing that someone else was reading the same thing as us.

 

[Annette]

Just now, Yowm said:

Yeah,  and we come and we go and our thoughts aren't as high as His thoughts or our ways His ways LOL.,

I am so glad that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours... Ours can be pretty limited at times. Thanks for your input. 

[Annette]

1 minute ago, Yowm said:

I'll 2nd that motion

Thank you. 

[Willa]

Yes, I am often convicted when reading about David's respect for his king.  Maybe knowing that God had anointed him as the next king had something to do with it.  People would either be honoring or disrespecting him as well.  But he also respected Saul's relatives.  

 Rom 13:1  Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Rom 13:2  Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

I have to remind myself that Paul wrote the Romans who lived under Caesars and Nero.    The latter used Christians for candles.  Certainly both he and Hitler were of the spirit of the Antichrist.  Yet the Holy Spirit was telling them to be subject to them.  This takes an attitude to which I aspire, as well as the necessary humility.  I was always taught to give respect to those to whom it is due, but have had problems respecting the office when I couldn't respect the person.  

[Wolf Bridges]

3 hours ago, Allroses48 said:

What's interesting about it, or is that a polite way of saying you disagree and are dismissing everything I said? I worked with what I can only call evil people in authority, who because of their power they were able to create horrific harm to innocent people. I'm talking about child rape victims perpetrators not going to trial because they were bought off, kids getting killed because no one wanted to touch the çase, and other innocent lives getting destroyed. You wrote one offhanded dismissive sentence yet you type an entire dialogue for the other guy that probably has never come face to face with real evil in authority. How am I supposed to respect someone who turns their head on criminal behavior. Nice dialogue. Thanks! Next time don't bother responding  if all you can be is dismissive.

I agree with your take on this. Just because someone is in a position of authority doesn't mean they naturally deserve respect because of that position. There are people in authority or who strive for that role, that are tyrants once they arrive there. In that case I think it wise to promote the truism that respect is earned. Because not everyone is deserved of respect. 

 I've known people who will say in church that we are all children of God and are created in his image. And as such we should respect one another. And then those same people who said that on Sunday will speak the most reprehensible things about people they are in conflict with. Or that they don't respect. That's part of that other old truism , proof is in the pudding. It is so easy to speak as if we have angels working our mouth. But when the devil shows up the angels we realize were never really there. It was all illusion someone wanted to paint to make themselves look like they were the good. When they were not so. Thinking that deserves respect insults what it means to respect someone who deserves it. 

Just like love. I don't love everybody. I don't love the doctor that harmed my dad in the hospital. I don't love the nurse that abused him there. I don't respect them. If I respected them, I'd be respecting that which is in them that let them harm a man who was mentally incapacitated due to liver disease. 

I think the sad thing among our community is very often we say what we think we're suppose to sound like as Christians. When it comes to being real and something else shows itself maybe we then will see that the only one we're fooling putting on airs, masks that aren't genuine, is ourselves. Because God see's through it all. 

We're Christian. That doesn't mean we're perfect. It just means we're forgiven and we're following that precious holy voice that asks us to be better as we learn to do that from a genuine place in the heart of hearts. 

[Neighbor]

2 hours ago, Annette said:

Neighbor, I am trying to read it through as people have tried to determine how the events would have occurred in time. I have wanted to try this before, but this is the first time, I have managed to keep it up. I use an app on my phone, that breaks it into a 365-day reading plan. I can alternate between translations, which is great because sometimes it is nice to try a different translation, to get a different emphasis on what I am reading. I guess if I were doing it for scholarly reasons, I may have to stick to one particular version. 

Thanks for your encouragement. I will try and share thoughts every now and then.

A lady I met last summer has been such an encouragement in getting me to read the Bible, she took the time to read the book of Luke. We took it slowly, reading a couple chapters a week and writing notes on what we read. It was interesting getting together and sharing what stood out to each of us and kept us on track, knowing that someone else was reading the same thing as us.

 

Do you mind sharing the app title? I have not heard of it. Sounds like a great tool.

[Annette]

On 5/10/2017 at 1:57 PM, Willa said:

Yes, I am often convicted when reading about David's respect for his king.  Maybe knowing that God had anointed him as the next king had something to do with it.  People would either be honoring or disrespecting him as well.  But he also respected Saul's relatives.  

 Rom 13:1  Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Rom 13:2  Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.

I have to remind myself that Paul wrote the Romans who lived under Caesars and Nero.    The latter used Christians for candles.  Certainly both he and Hitler were of the spirit of the Antichrist.  Yet the Holy Spirit was telling them to be subject to them.  This takes an attitude to which I aspire, as well as the necessary humility.  I was always taught to give respect to those to whom it is due, but have had problems respecting the office when I couldn't respect the person.  

Hi Willa, 

Romans 13:1 is one of those verses that are easy to read, but not so easy to apply. There have been many times that I have had to come back to this verse, when in a situation and remind myself that I am not showing respect because of who the person is, but because of the title that they hold. 

I like what you said, this sort of respect is something that we have to learn because it doesn't always just come on its own.

Blessings.