Magistrates

“Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.” (Titus 3:1-2)

We hear horror stories all the time about “government” and how they can seem to stick their noses into every area of our lives and cause problems, quite often without a clue as to the reality the rest of the world lives in. While that is true most of the time, there is a vital service provided by those who “have the rule over us” in temporal matters.

For those of you who have followed the “saga” of Crest Bible Church, you know that we have been involved in a relocation process for the last year, having purchased the old South Park Elementary School in Merriam, KS. We are currently “wandering in the wilderness”, renting from another school while we remodel the old school and get it up to code for the 21^st Century. Our experience so far with the City of Merriam officials has been nothing short of awesome. I have met with the mayor and both councilmen in our Ward. We have had extensive dealings with the Planning Commission, Fire Marshal, Code and Building Inspectors, and their related office personnel. All of them have been incredibly cordial and helpful. Every single person we have dealt with has been professional to the max, and they have acted decent and “human” about things as well. Of course, they want things done the right way and in compliance with current regulations. So do we. But I cannot be more impressed with the manner in which these fine people have conducted themselves with us. If this is the way it works with the “powers that be”, there is no reason for anyone to ever complain.

One of the so-called “contradictions” in the Bible (there are no contradictions in the Bible!) is seen when the above verse in Titus is compared with Ephesians 6:12. Titus instructs us to submit to principalities and powers, but we are told to wrestle against them in Ephesians. We wrestle spiritually against the “prince of the power of the air”, who is often at work through the lives of people. We submit physically to the representatives of the principalities and powers, knowing that our Bible tells us so in Romans 13:1-7. We know that this world is no friend of Jesus Christ (John 15:18-21). But quite often, we make it a lot worse by our actions. People are still people, and if we treat them with respect and dignity instead of contempt and disgust, they will usually return the favor. People are not the enemy! Those who are lost are held in captivity by our real enemy, usually unaware that they are. When we treat people with respect and compassion, we have a much greater chance to turn them into friends through the gospel.

In II Kings 6, Israel was in conflict once again with Syria. They sent an army against Elisha the prophet to try to capture him, but Elisha performed one of his many miracles by blinding this army and leading them into an ambush by the army of Israel in the northern capital of Samaria. When the King of Israel saw that he had a chance to defeat the Syrian army, he eagerly cried out to Elisha, “My father, shall I smite them? shall I smite them?” You can almost hear the glee in his voice jump off the page. Elisha refused to allow it. He told the King of Israel to feed them and send them back home. The result was that the “bands of Syria came no more into the land of Israel” (II Kings 6:23). The Syrian soldiers were just carrying out orders. They were doing what soldiers are supposed to do. Lost people are just following “the course of this world”. Our job is not to “smite them”, but to show them the grace and compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ for their souls. Whether things work out for us or not is secondary. God will take care of our needs. Souls for the kingdom are of utmost value and importance.