Police (and Government Officials) as Ministers of God
Believers living in America need to give serious attention to what Paul teaches in Romans 13:1-7. He teaches that followers of Christ must conscientiously refuse to participate in any form of disrespect or disobedience to civil law and government officials. The only exception allowed by God is disobeying a law which requires disobedience to him (Acts 5:29). However, he strongly forbids activist resistance to government officials on the grounds of ideological or personal differences or to civil laws on the grounds of inconvenience or impropriety.
God calls upon every believer to be a law-abiding citizen. Why is this the case? Because regardless of what political process a nation may follow, the underlying principle is that God appoints whatever governing authorities are in place (Rom 13:1). The words that Paul uses to describe this phenomenon tell us that God assigns governing officials to their respective roles. From a presidential standpoint, this means that God assigned President Clinton to govern our nation. Then he assigned President Bush, and then President Obama, and today he has appointed President Trump. The same principle applies to senators and representatives, agency directors and cabinet members, governors and mayors, judges and IRS agents, and definitely soldiers and policemen.
In this way, Paul describes government officials as “ministers of God” (Rom 13:4). He does not reserve this description for Christian officials only, but for every government official. To underscore this point, it is important to remember the political climate in which Paul wrote and in which early Christianity flourished. Unknown Christians established the church at Rome during the reigns of the Roman Caesars Caligula, Claudius and Nero, respectively. In each case, these men became emperor of Rome with God’s heavenly sanction. This is especially shocking with regard to Nero, of which one writer shares the following glimpse:
Soon after Nero’s homosexual wedding, Rome was engulfed in flames. In an attempt to deflect the accusations that he caused the fire so he could rebuild the city in honor of himself, Nero blamed the Christians for the fire and proceeded to torture, mock, and kill them. Some were covered with animal skins and ripped apart by dogs; some were crucified. Others were mounted on poles in Nero’s gardens and set on fire to light the night. Nero specifically targeted Christians, the followers of one named Christus who “suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate” (The Annals, Tacitus). (For a more complete and insightful perspective about the kind of the political climate in which Paul wrote, click here.)
In response to this, one man properly observes:
“The point” here is that if Paul could describe a government as messed up as Rome in the terms he did, and reveal the obligations he did, we can hardly look at our own government and think we’re entitled to rebel against it. (source)
So then, every police officer to every president is a minister of God, regardless of his or her political party, affiliations or ideologies. (Consider how God called Cyrus, a pagan, Persian king, his “shepherd” and his “anointed one” [Isa 44:28; 45:1]). As a result, you should follow the laws and policies that they enact, whether you like those laws and policies or not (Rom 13:7). If you refuse to do so, choosing to oppose and resist instead, then you are resisting the clear and straightforward instructions and institutions of God (Rom 13:2). Not only is such behavior a crime against society, but it is a crime against heaven as well.
The ultimate purpose for civil government and law enforcement is to provide a safe and secure society (Rom 13:3-4). To fulfill this purpose, God even authorizes government officers to employ weapons, use force and inflict the death penalty as needed (Rom 13:4). To this end, believers should do good by obeying the laws that govern their community. This includes the tax code, traffic laws, local ordinances, zoning laws, building codes, and immigration laws (Rom 13:6-7). When believers (or anyone for that matter) refuse to follow the law, they divert government resources and personnel away from other pressing matters that endanger public order and safety.
If you are a believer and a follower of Christ, then I urge you to take these principles to heart. God raises up government officials and he brings them down (Ps 75:6-7). When a government official is in office, God directs his or her choices and decisions any way he sovereignly chooses (Pr 21:1). Do not be a Christian who resists God by resisting the government God has given you. Respect your President, honor your representatives, and thank God for the soldiers and policemen and women given to you by God, who place themselves in harm’s way, to provide you with a safe and free country in which to live and serve God.
Thomas Overmiller serves as pastor for Faith Baptist Church in Corona, NY and blogs at Shepherd Thoughts. This article first appeared at Shepherd Thoughts, used here with permission.