I think that the matter of authority is one of the least understood and most important concepts in Scripture. Here is my bold assertion: God always works through authority. The principle definitely rails against the way that most Americans think, but our culture is not always biblical. Americans have tended to make "authority" a bad word. Our society is founded on a principle, in and of itself good, which says that all men are created equal. Therefore, we reason, since we are equal, we can take a vote and arrive at laws, or even truth, by majority vote. But let’s look at what the Bible says on this subject.

The Lord established chains of command as the means by which He reveals and enforces His will for people. God established three institutions, the family, the church, and society (government). In each sphere, the Lord clearly set up a system by which He will do His work. And in each, His instruction is to obey those who are in authority.

The first institution the Lord established was the family, and He made it clear that the husband is set up as the head of the wife. Notice, the Bible does not say, "Husbands, be(come) the head." It says, "The husband is the head." Husbands are elsewhere told to love, to protect, to rule, to treat gently and with understanding, but a husband cannot not be the head of his wife—he simply is the head. The man’s lifelong challenge, then, is to learn what it means to function well as the head, by loving, by being gentle, by not provoking to anger, by providing, and so forth. The wife is then only told two things: she is to submit to her own husband (note: not to men in general), and she is to respect her husband. Note this: she isn’t directly commanded to love him (though older women are to teach younger women how to love their husbands), and she is not commanded to be gentle with him; she simply needs to respect and obey him. Likewise, children have one simple command: obey your parents. Children are also commanded to "honor" their parents, and this has mostly to do with respecting them, obeying them, and providing for them in their old age. If we do, we have a promise attached, that all will go well for us, and we will live long on the earth.

The second institution that the Lord established was society (when several families live together). He says that He Himself put every government in place. Every government is then established by God, even the ones that are ungodly and that persecute Christians. And there is only one command for all members of that society: "Obey the government (king) and all those in authority." That means we comply with policemen, with bureaucrats, with magistrates, with school boards, and with any other duly-appointed government agency. I find it shocking that Paul did not use Romans 13 as an opportunity to rail against a corrupt and degenerate government under which Christians suffered at the time. Evidently some in Rome were doing just that, exercising their rights as Roman citizens to protest against Caesar’s unfair abuses. But Paul commands them to obey, including paying taxes, and that’s all he says about it.

The third institution that the Lord established is the church. Christ himself built it and adds to it. But He does so through authorities. Initially it was the apostles and prophets, and then it was evangelists and elders. How did God say to organize the church and make decision? Did He say to take congregational votes for every matter of doctrine or practice? Did He tell us that everyone who hears from the Holy Spirit makes his own decision, and that God will thereby lead us to a kind of holy anarchy of unity as we each hear His voice? No. He simply says, "Obey those who are in authority over you, and submit yourselves; for they watch over your souls as men who must give an account to God. Obey them, so that their work will be a joy, and not a burden." That’s it. Obey. Submit. If we do so, by faith we understand that all will go well with us. In fact, rebellion against the Lord’s anointed is especially punishable in the eyes of the Lord. King Saul presumed to offer sacrifices, even though he did not have the authority of the office of prophet or priest, and God punished him severely, telling us that rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft (which is indeed very, very serious). Among Israel in the wilderness, God let His Spirit rest on many men one day, and Moses had no problem or jealousy about it. ("I wish that all of Israel might prophesy.") But when Moses’ brother and sister made a claim to some sort of equality ("Has not God also spoken to us?"), it was a whole different story. Then when Korah and 250 others became self-appointed authorities, God Himself took action against the rebels. God’s anointed people do not have a problem with jealousy, but they and the Lord Himself have a serious problem with self-appointed rebels. "Do not touch the Lord’s anointed" is an important Bible principle.

An institution that God did not establish was slavery. Even so, God never spoke against it (although Revelation implies that it is wrong to buy and sell people). He simply said, "Servants, obey your masters." In fact, the Lord did not say only to obey them if they are good to you; we are also to obey the harsh and unbelieving masters. There are benefits to being under your authority that most of us don’t begin to realize. The only command to servants is to work hard and carry out the wishes of your master. Masters are told to be fair and kind, and all are to glorify Christ in their witness. Most of us are not under slavery, but many of us are, in effect, paid servants of someone, who has authority over us. Employees are to obey the boss, not to rebel, not to question, not to be lazy, but to carry out the wishes of the authority.

We are given promises when we obey. The Lord protects us from temptation, he gives us long life and prosperity, he keeps us unified as a people, and He lifts us up when we humble ourselves. We are in danger when we rebel. Anyone can see the problems in our society today due to rebellion, but few of our politically-correct analysts have seen the common thread behind it. When we accept the "right of the child" and allow or even encourage children to rebel against their parents, we send them to their destruction. When wives do not submit to their husbands, homes are divided and God’s blessings are withheld. When citizens rebel against the government, anarchy causes that nation to fall and be destroyed. And when church members refuse to submit to elders, the church is crippled. Jesus said that any kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. If only we would understand the protection the Lord offers us for being under that authority!

Did God say, "Only obey your parents if they are Christians," or "Only obey the government if they are right on an issue" or "Submit only as long as you are in agreement"? No. In fact, if you think about it, submission doesn’t become submission until you disagree. Until you disagree about something, everyone is really just doing what they want to do; yet it looks like submission, because you are in agreement. There’s an old story I heard, and I’ll give a short version of it. An old man was getting ready to leave his farm to his three sons. Before he did so, he walked around the property with them, giving his will about their use of the property. "Keep the corn there." "Maintain the grove." "Build a house here." "Dig a well there." After the father died, the sons got together and discussed their future plans. They were willing to keep the corn field and maintain the grove as it was, and the location seemed right for the house, but they speculated that another place would be better for the well. Now, the question: did the sons obey their father? They did not. You might think they obeyed on three out of four wishes, but really they were just doing what they thought best in all four accounts. If we obey, it is not "blind" obedience, but it is "trusting" obedience. By it we trust that the authority was set in place by God Himself. By it we trust that there are no mistakes in God’s plan. God can remove any authority He chooses, if it is in our best interests to do so. Until then, we accept by faith that the authority is there for our own good. Do you believe that?

Just as with the three sons, many people think they are in submission when they are not. They think they obey because they are not rebelling in the areas in which they don’t have problems with the authority. Or they think they obey in areas in which they don’t have a strong enough opinion to the contrary, so they are willing to give in. But the test of obedience is in those times when we have a strong opinion, even a conviction, and the authority disagrees. Dad yells and drinks. The government aborts babies. The elders borrow money or make a wrong decision. What do you do now?

Many are quick to find a quote from the Bible to support their position: "We must obey God, rather than men," they are quick to say. But is your situation the same as that in the Bible? When is it right to rebel? The context of the passage is that people were telling the apostles not to speak about Jesus anymore. Peter and John submitted to the beating they got, and they never fought back. They didn’t even argue over the point. They simply said that they were under higher orders from Jesus. We know that higher order from Jesus as the Great Commission. How did Jesus begin that commission? He said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore . . ." Jesus always worked through authority. He Himself never even spoke unless He first heard it from His Father. Jesus understood authority well. That’s why we pray in His name—it is in the authority of the name of Jesus that we come before the Throne, not because we are able to come directly.

Many parents are quick to quote the Bible when it comes time to have their own children obey them. Rebellion, the Bible tells us, is bound up in the heart of a child, and it is the role of a parent to drive it from him. But those same parents often have removed themselves from under their own protection of authority. How can a father who exceeds the speed limit, or who talks bad about the police, or who does not pay his taxes ask his son to obey him? How can a man who stands in judgment of the elders or pastor of his church, or who chooses to leave a congregation or start his own unauthorized church turn around and demand that his children learn a lesson his himself if unwilling to learn? We cannot be self-appointed authorities, and expect anyone to follow us safely.

In the military, all soldiers are taught the importance of immediate, unquestioning compliance to the one in authority over them. There are strict codes of conduct and a clear delineation of rank and of proper response to it. In fact, all soldiers must learn to respect the one in authority over them, regardless of whether that person is deserving of that respect. To question a superior’s order, especially in battle, is to risk the mission. The soldier does not need to understand it all, or agree with it. But when an order is given, the soldier says, "Sir, yes, sir," and then carries out the order (without, you might note, grumbling or complaining along the way). That’s the only way to win a war. Likewise, if we are to flourish as a society, as a church, as a family, or in business, we should learn to trust God’s providence through human authority.

How shall we apply these truths? Understand that God always works through authority, in the home, in the society, and in the church. Those in authority must take care not to lord it over or abuse their position—the Bible gives many directives of the higher standard set for kings, fathers, teachers and elders. Does that mean that parents, bosses, presidents or elders must be perfect in order for us to submit to them? Of course not. God, in His wisdom, has chosen chains of command to carry out His will, and sometimes, for reasons that only the Lord understands, He uses a sinful person, or a donkey, or a flawed human, to refine us and make us into His perfect image. God’s will ultimately is to shape our character into His likeness, and sometimes He uses adversity to build patience and to make us more perfect. Can we trust Him—I mean, the Ultimate Authority (Lord)? If so, we can trust His chosen vessels, even if they are a godless Supreme Court or a hypocritical elder or an abusive parent or a greedy boss. Of course, we must never disobey God in order to obey a person. But God has placed us all under authority in order to teach us through faithful (not blind) obedience, knowing that by submitting to the so-called human authority, we are ultimately submitting to God, and He will reward us for it. When we humble ourselves and submit to the Almighty, He will lift us up in due time.