Authority in These Dark Times

As we draw closer to a huge shift in our government here in the United States, it has me thinking about authority. The topic would not ever really cross my mind except the events that happened last Wednesday. To hear about heightened security, and people planning to be violent again in and around Washington D.C scares me. As a Christian however, I am called to submit to one authority, not some temporal earthly one.

While the emotion of fear is real, it does not dictate who I am. There is however, something to be said for the emotion of fear. When I was younger, and I would disobey my parents, there was a healthy fear that I had of the consequences I would face. Another example would be the first time I went to Chicago and looked down at the glass floor of the Willis Tower. While these things produced a real emotion in me, it did not dictate my reality.

Now, as our country seems to be ripping at the seams, it is another opportunity to live in fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of the loss of control, and fear of a political change that you do not agree with. It seems like a hopeless time. In all of this though, there is good news!

Today in my Bible reading I was in John 18, and verse thirty-seven stuck out to me. “Then Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world-to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.’” Now you may think, “Gabe, this has nothing to do with the political climate, how does this give us hope?” I am so glad that you asked. Jesus had all the authority, and when he had the opportunity to be set free, he had his eyes fixed directly on the cross.

The current political climate is garbage. People on both sides on the political spectrum can agree to that. However, the only way to find a good solution is to hold onto truth. That does not come from a political party, or an activist group. It comes from the ultimate authority, Jesus Christ, and him crucified.