01/08/2022 – Day 315 – Peter 1 – 3 / Christian worldview: A balance when it comes to our role in civil government and “submitting” to the government.
A quick fyi: Last cycle’s reading of Day 315 was 03/28/2021. I encourage y’all to check out the post which includes the life of Peter and the early persecution of the church, as well as a personal memory back to childhood of Bishop Fulton Sheen.
The balance is between the positions: 1). There is no aspect of our lives that God does not speak to, and 2). Politics is not our savior.
So, I am going to share two very good footnotes in my Apologetics Study Bible:
Chapter 1: Verses 3 – 9:
“Karl Marx complained that religion was the opiate of the people. Did Peter support the comfortable life of oppressors by pacifying those who are suffering with the idea of a heavenly inheritance in the next world?
In answering this question, we need to recall that Peter himself suffered as a Christian, and the tradition that he died for the faith is likely accurate. What we find in 1 Peter therefore, are not the words of someone with power telling those who are suffering to endure injustice because heaven awaits. We hear the words of someone who suffered along with those he taught. The early Christians did not have political power but rather were at the mercy of governing authorities if the latter turned against them.
What Peter wrote provides no justification for injustice. We distort Peter’s words if we say to those suffering under authority, ‘Don’t worry about suffering, You will be rewarded in heaven.’ On the other hand, Marx’s objection assumes that the heavenly hope is not real. Millions of Christians throughout history have suffered and have had no prospect of worldly happiness. Peter’s words provide genuine comfort to all believers who face oppression, for they remind us that unspeakable joy awaits those who belong to Jesus.”
Chapter 2: Verses 2: 13-17:
“Peter, like Paul in Romans 13: 1-7, called upon believers to submit to the government. Do words like these support an evil structure such as the rascist apartheid system formerly practiced in South Africa?
We need to recall what we noted above, Peter did not address believers who ran the government but believers who lived under the governing authorities. The few short verses here do not constitute a full-scale treatise not the Christian and government. Surely, Peter would have included other admonitions about the need for justice if he had directed his words to political leaders.
Neither should we conclude from these verses that governing authorities are to be obeyed without exception. Peter gave the general principle here, namely that believers should submit to the laws of the land and to the authorities enforcing those laws. But we know from the rest of Scriptures that exceptions exist. Daniel refused to obey the law prohibiting prayer to Yahweh (Daniel 6). The apostles rejected the words of those who tried to prevent them from preaching the Gospel (Acts 5:29). Peter did not simplistically endorse whatever the government prescribes.
And when it comes to our role as Christians: I don’t buy into the “pietist” view that we should not get involved in politics at all. God’s Word speaks to every aspect of our lives, including government. On the other hand, politics is not our savior!
Soli Deo Gloria!