Twisted: A Tangle at the Top
Twisted
A Tangle at the Top
Jeff Jones, Senior Pastor
September 7/9, 2007
“When I fight authority, authority always wins…” That’s true, but it has been a while sense I’ve heard that song. Most of us have to learn that the hard way, so today we are talking about authority. We are right in the middle of our Twisted series, where we are looking at different ways our thinking gets twisted that God desires to twist back around to truth, to reality. When it comes to authority, especially submitting to authority, we in this culture are twisted.
None of us mind authority when we are the authority, when we are the boss or the parent, but authority is not so great when we are not the one in it. Really what we are talking about today is submitting to authority, and that is a tough concept. As human beings, we naturally recoil at the idea of it. Who are you to boss me around? We don’t like bossy people, and submitting to anyone can be hard. As Americans, that is even more true than in other cultures. We are, after all, a country born from rebellion. I saw proof of that a few years ago on a flight to the Philippines. It was on an Asian airline, and I was one of the few non-Asians on this particular flight. This was a long flight, and when morning came, they woke everyone up for morning exercise. I couldn’t believe what happened next, because this video came on the screens and everyone was expected to do all these little exercises—actually a great idea, but it was wild because everyone on the airplane except the few gringos like me were doing it very obediently. I felt like I was on another planet. The gringos were looking around in utter disbelief, and the rest of the flight was falling in step with the instructions, all of them in unison, doing what they were asked.
Culturally, even when something is good we resist it if someone else is trying to make us do it. It is very American to see ourselves as our own boss, as the one to determine what we will do and won’t do and nobody is going to tell us what to do. It is not that most of are anarchists or out and out rebels, like those old motorcycle movies with James Dean, but we selectively obey. We stay in control. We selectively obey what makes sense to us and reject what does not, especially when the consequences are non-existent or minimal. We all do this. Let’s start small with some examples then get bigger. Speed limit. Anyone selectively obey speed limits? Of course! 40 miles an hour on this road, should be 50! 60 mph on I-75, are you kidding? Maybe in the right lane, the slow lane, but it should be 80 in the fast lane. Why have a left lane if you can’t go 80? Or at work, there are always these little dumb policies floating around the workplace, and why should I worry about complying with all of those? They are so arbitrary and outdated. No good company worries about that stuff any more. The IRS? Ridiculous…everyone knows that should be a deduction. Teenagers, your parents sometimes seem like such bozos don’t they with some of their rules. Who else has an 11:00 curfew on weekends? Who does that? Or let’s get a little more serious and talk about underage drinking. Why do you have to wait until 21 to drink? Makes no sense! I can serve in the military but can’t drink a beer. Forget it! And driving while a little buzzed…is that really that big of a deal? Or as Christians, we know what the Bible says about lust, but does a little porn here and there really hurt anyone?
We are selective obeyers, thinking this: If we disagree, we are free to disregard—especially if the consequences are slight or non-existent or we won’t get caught anyway. We are the ones who get to decide what we do, and if we disagree, if something is stupid or arbitrary, then we are free to disregard.
As you might guess, the Bible has a very different twist on this authority thing, than if we disagree we are free to disregard. God has a very different view of authority, and what we will see today is that how you and I deal with the issue has huge consequences in our lives and toward our impact as Christians in this world. This whole issue of submission and authority is a deeply spiritual issue that affects God’s way of dealing with us. The Bible twists this one back around so far that today is probably going to be uncomfortable for a lot of people in this room. You are free to disagree, but think twice before you disregard what God is going to say in his Word today…because it has huge implications for your life. Obedience to God in this authority area of life opens up our lives to increased blessing, peace, freedom, and maturity—all good things.
Here is the Bible twist in a few verses, and then we are going to look at a biblical example of a guy who got it right to twist us back around. The verses are in
Slide: ______________) Romans 13:1-5
and there the Bible says, “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience.” There is a lot in these verses, and I’m going to talk about the Romans passage by illustrating with an Old Testament example, the way Daniel handled a really tough submission challenge thousands of years ago. He did it well, and God honored him greatly for it. If you have your Bibles, you can turn back to the book of Daniel. Daniel is a great example to look at because he had a big authority challenge. You have probably had some yourself, in may have right now, a bad boss or a mis-guided parent or a governmental leader you don’t like. As bad as you think you have it, Daniel had one up on you. His boss and leader was about as bad as it gets. His name was Nebuchadnezzar, who was the King of Babylon that wiped out Daniel’s home country and brought Daniel and his friends to Babylon to train them to be good Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar was a tyrant. He never read all that stuff about servant-leadership or how to get the most out of your organization. He was an egotistical, evil, ruthless ruler who made Idi Amin look like Mother Theresa. He was an ungodly, bad guy, who wanted to turn Daniel from a Hebrew to a Babylonian. Let’s read
Slide: ______________) Daniel 1:3-7
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility--young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
So, Daniel has a big challenge, following a boss and leader who is not a good one and who wants to change his whole way of life. Neb’s goal was to take these bright young men from Judah and indoctrinate them in the way of the Babylonians. So, he changes their names from names having to do with God to Babylonian names, all of which honored Babylonian gods. He is placed in a training program to learn things that he has no interest in learning himself in order to do a job he doesn’t want to do. Everything in his life is expected to change, and for Daniel it had to be difficult to submit to it. Like it would with any of us, submitting to a leader like Neb to learn things he didn’t want to learn to be able to do a job he didn’t want to do was a struggle…but he did it, which brings me to my first point to twist us back around in our struggles with authority:
Slide: ______________) Submit, because God has placed the leader over you.
Why was Daniel able to handle this tough situation and submit? Because he understood a very important biblical concept that we tend to lose, that God works through human authority, and he is the one who is sovereign and places leaders over us. What did
Slide: ______________) Romans 13:1
say? “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.” How much authority comes from God? All of it, and he is the one who places people over us. Daniel understood that. In
Slide: ______________) Daniel 2:20-21
Daniel is praying and says this to God: "Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them.” Daniel knew that God is the one who placed Nebuchadnezzar there as his king, and therefore to submit to God meant submitting to Nebuchadnezzar. Neb for whatever reason was God’s choice. Romans even says that leaders act as God’s servant, even the bad ones like Nebuchadnezzar. They don’t even know it, but they are there to serve God’s agenda because God chooses to work through human authorities.
You can picture the way this works with a typical org chart (use notepad and IMAG). God is at the top of the chart, and then leaders he places on down the line. Each one has been placed there by God, and ultimately their authority comes from him. They are God’s representatives in our lives, even the bad leaders. When you and I choose to disregard them, and go outside of the structure, then we are saying that we don’t want to be under God’s leadership. When we selectively obey or choose to undermine leaders we don’t like, we are throwing off God’s leadership and choosing to live outside the system. And when we do, we operate outside of his stream of leadership, blessing, and maturing process…because God uses all this for his purposes. We are throwing off his work in our lives.
I know this raises a lot of questions, like this: But what if the person is a really bad leader or what if the direction is stupid or arbitrary or outdated or unbiblical? What do we do then? That was Daniel’s world, so we can see how we are to deal with it. Think of all that Daniel submitted to. He changed location, he was a model student in the Babylon school, he allowed them to change his name to a name honoring a false god. He submitted to a really bad leader and did not selectively obey—until one command where he chose to stand his ground. Let’s read about it, and notice how he handles it:
Slide: ______________) Daniel 1:8-14
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. Now God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel, but the official told Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the king, who has assigned your food and drink. Why should he see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you." Daniel then said to the guard whom the chief official had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, "Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see." So he agreed to this and tested them for ten days. We weren’t there and don’t know the exact issue, except that something about the food and drink was contrary to Daniel’s commitment to obey God. He submitted to a lot of stupid and even offensive stuff, but this was different. Here, he was asked to do something contrary to what God had said, so he draws a line. But notice how he does it. He doesn’t rebel. With a submissive attitude, he makes an appeal, and he works out a way of moving forward that works for both parties. If you know the story, you know it worked out really well for Daniel. You may also know that later, the lion’s den story is different. He draws a line there too, very respectfully, but has to accept the consequence of being thrown to the lions. Sometimes God allows that to happen also. Regardless, Daniel knew that God was in charge and his job was to submit, and if something came up where he could not, he chose to appeal and not rebel.
From Daniel’s example and the teaching of Scripture, here is the submission principle:
Slide: ______________) If something is stupid, obey. If it is unbiblical, _________.
Even if it is unbiblical, you ______ with a submissive attitude. This principle is easy to say in church but tough to do out there, in a world where we selectively obey mostly because we think the rule or law is stupid. I know that, because I am an expert in being around stupid rules that are arbitrary and ridiculous. If you have been around Christian legalists as much as I was around them in my earlier years, you know what I’m talking about. Christians can be the worst when it comes to stupid rules. I know, because I have worked with very legalistic ministries and went to a very conservative Christian college that had a lot of good things going for them, but were unfortunately also full of dumb rules. I have lots of examples, but the one that jumps out at me happened when I was a freshman in high school. I chose to do work as a summer missionary in this organization that focuses on children, which was really great, but this particular group was highly legalistic. I had never been exposed to that kind of thing before, and yet when I went for a two week camp and training process, I jumped into the deep end of dumb rules. One of the first things that that happened was the big cheese of this group came to talk with me 1:1. He said he had something important to talk with me about, and this guy was scary, very stern and serious I think because he thinks God must be that way. I don’t know. But he was. He had a brief case with him, and he put in his lap as we sat and talked. He said, “Jeff, I know that you want to be a good example to these children we will be teaching and ministering, too…right?” “Right,” I said. “Good,” and as he talked he opened up his brief case and pulled out these scissors. He continued, “then I know you won’t mind if we cut your hair, because we believe a godly young man should have his hair above his collar and above his ears.” I was freaking out. This scary guy with scissors telling me he wants to cut my hair…when confronted with a mean Christian guy with scissors, what do you do? I had a choice to make. I could choose to do this summer missions thing or not, but I knew if I did, then the right thing to do was cut my hair. I didn’t let that guy cut my hair. I told him I would have it cut myself, that he really didn’t need to give it a shot himself. Even though I thought it was stupid, and still do, I got a haircut. And you know what, God used that summer in my life in significant ways. There were ways I had to grow up that I wouldn’t have if they operated exactly like I would have preferred.
And that is the essence of the principle: God works through human authorities, and sometimes we don’t understand why in the world we have to be in such a bad situation. In many situations, we can choose a new job or a new school maybe, but if we are there, then our job is to submit because those leaders are God’s choice and his way of leading, maturing, and working in our lives. Daniel knew that, so he did not selectively obey. He submitted, because he knew that God placed those leaders over him. From his story, we see another reason to allow God to twist us back around on this authority issue:
Slide: ______________) Submit, because blessing accompanies obedience.
Daniel is a great example of how God’s blessing flows when we operate within his leadership flow (pt to chart) vs. if we buck the flow. We don’t have time to look at all the examples, but in every administration of the Babylonian government, followed by the Persians, Daniel is honored and promoted to the highest levels. In part, because Daniel was loyal and he did his job with a submissive attitude.
Daniel obeyed because he understood the first principle, but he also found that blessing follows obedience—both on a human level and divine level. Remember
Slide: ______________) Romans 13:2-4
Paul points to this reality: Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Here Paul talks about the negative part of this, that when we disobey we open up ourselves to consequences…so if we want to avoid such consequences, much better to obey. How many of you have ever put your foot on the gas instinctively when you see a cop on the road? Most of us. If we didn’t ever speed, we wouldn’t ever put our foot down. This truth works positively, too. People in authority tend to reward and promote those who are submissive in spirit and look over those who do not. Think about it. As a boss, who would you rather promote? Someone who blows off what you want them to do or has an attitude or who has consistently undermined your leadership or the person who has supported you even when they disagreed, and has worked hard to do what you have asked? That’s a rhetorical question.
When I was in high school, I worked as a disc jockey at a Christian radio station. I had the midnight to 6:00 am shift on Sunday mornings, not exactly where they put the superstar disc jockeys. Yet, I had fun. They had a play list you were supposed to play, but I hated it. Sandi Patti and Evie and other stuff I just didn’t like…so since it was so late at night I would play my own play list, stuff I considered good music. They also had this policy that after 10:00 at night, you were not allowed to let people come into the station, including friends. I thought that was a dumbo rule, so most of the time I had lots of people dropping in. One night, I had about 10 friends from our church youth group in the control room, and I quieted everyone down to do the news. After the news, I switched on some music, and told the group that we could make noise again. We were talking and yapping and having fun, and then I noticed the phones were lighting up like crazy. The first one I answered was the station manager, Mike. He said, “You wouldn’t happen to have people in the control booth would you?” I fortunately didn’t lie and said, “Well, Mike, to be honest, I do. I do have a group of people that I let in.” He said, “I know you do, and so does everybody listening. You left the microphone on after you finished the news. Your conversation, including this one, is going out over the radio.” Oops! The last thing he said, as I turned off the mic, was, “Come see me in my office on Monday.” We did have a little chat about play lists and guidelines, and he gave me a second chance. And I learned as a 16 year old an important lesson about work and life. Your sins will find you out. The things you do and the subtle ways you undermine do eventually come out in the open, and all they do is hurt you.
That’s true on a human level, but also true on a divine level. What I mean is this: that divine blessing also filters down the org chart. When you and I choose to throw off leadership and selectively obey, we are telling God we want to operate outside of his flow, which he will oblige. So don’t expect to feel close to God or in some sweet spot if you are blowing this principle off. We just hurt ourselves with the twist that says, if I disagree I am free to disregard. It doesn’t work that way.
If we haven’t said enough though, this last reason to twist back around to godly submission to authority is this:
Slide: ______________) Submit, because you honor God when you do.
That should be reason enough. In Daniel’s case, he was aware that he wasn’t just affecting his own reputation, but the reputation of the God he served. The rulers he worked with knew that he was a God-worshiper, and therefore everything he did reflected on the God he claimed to know.
As a result of Daniel’s way of life, including his submissive spirit, he had huge impact on the leaders he served. For example, at one point in his life, even someone as arrogant and ungodly as Nebuchadnezzar says,
Slide: ______________) Daniel 2:47
“The king said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings…” This type of statement is a repeated theme in Daniel’s life and leadership. What we see in Daniel’s life is what the New Testament is talking about in
Slide: ______________) Titus 2:9-10
there talking to slaves about how to relate to their authority figure: Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. For a Christian, our comfort or our sense of freedom is far less important than the reputation of Jesus Christ. As a Christian in the workplace, or as a Christian in school, or even in a home, or however we relate to authority, we represent Christ to that authority figure. Paul is telling people in an unjust situation, slavery, not to focus so much on their unjust circumstance but instead to consider the opportunity they have to positively impact their owner and boss. By choosing to be submissive in attitude in action, they make the gospel, the teaching about Jesus attractive. The word, attractive, there is a Greek word, cosmeo, from which we get cosmetics. One of my first sermons as a married man I preached from this passage and mentioned that my wife Christy is beautiful naturally..and she is. She doesn’t need makeup. But, even Christy is made more beautiful with cosmetics. I said it sensitively, I thought, but I got in a little trouble with my wife. Well, I did also say the phrase, “If the barn needs painting, paint it.” That wasn’t so good. But you get the idea. One of our preoccupations needs to be how to make the truth about God attractive to others, so that they might seek relationship with God in part because of what they see in our lives. That should drive us, motivate us.
As Christians, we should be known for being people who are good followers as well as good leaders, to be people who submit and support. That should be one of those qualities that people talk about related to Christians, that when we are in a following role, we do so with a great attitude and we do all we can to support the direction we are given. That doesn’t mean that we never disagree or question. There is a difference between subjugation and submission. You should question with a submissive spirit. Often true loyalty demands that you care enough to speak what you believe to be true. Yet, the leader has to make the call. Your job then is to follow the decision, even when you don’t agree. When we are in a leadership role, we should realize that we are God’s servants, as Romans 13 says, meaning that we serve his purposes and represent him…that the org chart goes all the way up to God. That ups the ante quite a bit on how you choose to lead.
So, here’s the twist: if we disagree, we are free to disregard. That’s the American twist on authority and submission, and that’s why most of us selectively obey. The Bible twists that back around, realizing that God has put that authority over us and our job is to submit, because it is right, because it brings blessing to us, and because God is honored when we do.
If you and I refuse to allow God to twist us back around on this, then what it means is that we are choosing to live in disobedience to him. We are choosing an unsurrendered life. We are stepping out of his way of working in our lives, through human authorities. Yet, if we do get this right and do choose to surrender our own will and submit to him and those he has placed over us, then we open up our lives to the flow of his work in our lives to mature us, bless us, and use us to impact others. Think about your situation right now, the authorities and leaders that God has put in your life. God has put them there for a reason. How are you doing with it? Let’s go to God now and talk to him about it. Remember, he is at the top of the org chart.
Pray.
A potential add: John Cougar Mellencamp not being so stupid, b/c he did choose to marry a supermodel:
They’ve been married 16 yrs and have 3 kids