Word of Encouragement (6/12/2020)
Today, we want to see what the Westminster Larger Catechism has to say about the responsibility/calling of those who are under someone else’s authority. In our families, this would apply to the children as well as the younger siblings. I found a modern version of the Larger Catechism and here it goes. First, what is required:
“Those over us deserve respect in our hearts, our words, and our actions. We must pray and give thanks for them, emulate their virtues and gifts, willingly heed and obey their lawful commands and advice, submit to their correction, be faithful to them, and defend and support their persons and authority, as is appropriate to their rank and position. We must also tolerate their imperfections and infirmities and cover them with our love, so that we will be an honor to them and to their authority” (Q. 127).
Second, what is forbidden:
“The sins of those under authority against those over them are: any failure to perform what is required by them; being envious of, holding in contempt, or rebelling against their person or position as reflected in their lawful advice, commands, and correction; cursing at or making fun of them or any kind of stubborn resistance and disgraceful display that brings shame and dishonor to their person and authority” (Q. 128).
What a convicting reminder of what God requires of us! It is so easy for us to make up our own standards and think that what we are doing is good enough. That may be why our confession of sin is so short and dry. And that may also be why our prayers are not as urgent as they should be because we think we are doing just fine on our own.
You may think that this doesn’t sound at all like words of encouragement. But let’s think about it in this way: if sin is what the Bible says it is, wicked in its nature and destructive in its power, then there is nothing more harmful than living with sin and allowing it to grow bigger and worse. Nothing disrupts our fellowship with God like sin; nothing robs us of joy and peace like sin; nothing destroys our lives like sin. But when we start obeying God’s Word out of gratitude and love for God, we experience our fellowship with God deepen, our joy and peace renewed, and our lives restored in vitality and usefulness.
Because sin makes us proud and rebellious, honoring those in authority over us is one of the hardest things. We can do it only by faith in the Son of God, who honored His Father perfectly. Amazingly, He did not resist human authority while He lived on earth. So, Peter exhorted, “Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust” (1 Pet. 2:18). Why? “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Pet. 2:21-23). If the eternal Son of God did this for us, should we despise those whom God placed over us? May the Lord grant us humility, which will encourage those in authority over us to do their job with greater joy and willingness!