The Mysterious Witness of Submission and Suffering

Today on Summit Life, J.D. Greer talks about authority. Peter understood civil disobedience. I'm just suggesting to you that most of you cannot with a straight face put yourself on the same level with Martin Luther King and Corrie Ten Boom.

So let's be serious. For many of you, your problem with submission to earthly authorities is a problem with authority in general. You don't like anybody telling you what to do, including God. Welcome to Summit Life with Pastor J.D. Greer.

I'm your host, Molly Vidovitch. You know, the Bible clearly calls believers to submit to authority and whether that's parental authority, a boss at work, or the government. But what about when they're morally corrupt?

What if they're mistreating you or denying justice, asking you to do things you know you shouldn't do? Pastor J.D. deals with these sticky questions of authority today on Summit Life as he continues our series called I Am an Alien.

We're nearing the end of this teaching, so remember that you can always catch up for free at jdgreer.com. Pastor J.D. called this message the mysterious witness of submission and suffering.

Let's jump in. 1 Peter 2 verse 13 is where we're gonna we're gonna begin. Submission and unjust suffering.

I'm going to show you that both of these are valuable. Both of these are the part of the plan of God for your life and they are part of how God intends to use you in the world. I realize that to this audience that I'm speaking to in particular, talking about submission is like rubbing a cat's fur the wrong way. It definitely does not set well with you and there's a handful of reasons for that that you should realize. One is you are sons and daughters of Adam and Eve the original rebels and their genes are in you their blood is in you and so that's just what you are by nature you're a rebel. Now our whole race is that way but second of all you are Americans and our nation was born in rebellion. We're a rebellious people if you don't believe that just ask the British and so it's part of our identity we like to rebel against things because that's where we got all of our cool rights from and that's where our nation was born. We rebel against everything because we want to stay in practice in case you know the British come back or somebody we want to be ready to rebel again.

Now so you're Americans. A third reason that you guys are just sort of naturally this way is we value and place value on the freedom of speech and that seems to foster rebellion. You ever notice this? I mean you know you just if you don't believe me just flip on talk radio on either side of the fence where all the collective wisdom of the universe gathers you you know talk radio and listen to how they talk about anybody in authority no matter who we're talking about parents teachers bosses politicians everybody is an idiot that's above us right. I mean I hear these people talking about well President Obama we just do this he can fix the economy and I'm like yeah right I'm sure he's never thought of that what you just said you thought that up in the backwoods you know place where you live but but he's never thought of that you know it's just it's just part of what we are sometimes it's hard for us to realize because we're inside this culture. Then you get outside this culture and you realize that this is not something that you know people enjoy everywhere in the world. When I lived in Indonesia I remember whenever somebody would talk about the government in Indonesia they would always lower their voice because it's like I don't know who's listening but you just can't talk about the government openly like that. Rodale our our Spanish campus pastor is from Cuba and he says to this day when his grandmother who now lives here also whenever she talks about the government even the United States she lowers her voice. We don't realize sometimes and I'm grateful for the freedom of speech please hear me but just realize that it fosters sometimes in us this sense of of rebellion. Another reason is that you are a post 1960s generation where rebellion was enshrined as a civic value and of course there were a lot of good things that came out of that rebellion civil rights that's good there was some not so good things that came out of the that you know like a rebellion dropping acid and rebellion against deodorant that's not so good okay but that's just who you are and so that makes rebellion part of our cultural ethos it's just part of the air we breathe. I'm talking to a a group of American post 1960s sons and daughters of Adam and Eve group of rebels you are the most rebellious people on the planet to realize that yes what Peter is about to talk to you about should be very offensive to you and if it's not then I'm either not explaining it right or you're not listening all right so how's that for an introduction all right get your Bible look at it chapter two verse 13 you ready for this be subject for the Lord's sake to I want you to read these next three words because I need you to make sure you get them to what now see like a third of you did that this is exactly what I'm talking about you're right okay look be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution how many of them how many of them every human institution that means bosses that means parents that means teachers that means government leaders you are to be subject to every human institution even leaders in places like where you work in your church where they have rightful authority he says whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors here's what's significant about that verse 14 who is emperor at this time you know this Claudius who by anybody's estimation was an absolute moron maybe literally maybe literally he I mean he had all these kind of like special interest groups around him that caused him to just wreck Rome the Caesar after him that Peter would have lived under was Nero and we know about him his first act of lunacy was to deify Claudius literally deify which means declare him to be a god and then himself to be a god after that Nero developed this theory that his mom was trying to assassinate him so he poisoned her and several of his cousins he fashioned himself Nero fashioned himself to be a musician you've probably seen stuff about this and he thought he was just awesome at playing music so he would make his entire court hundreds of people come and listen to his concerts for hours historians like Suetonius tell us it was so bad that it would go on for so long that women would fake going into labor to be able to get out of the concerts they would fake it there was one guy he said that actually faked death so they could be carried out and not to go through this so we're not talking about paragons of justice and equity and respectability and godliness but Peter says you be subject to them even when those positions are occupied by ungodly people now at this point everybody wants to say well whoa wait a minute what about civil disobedience and then they bring up some example like Corey Ten Boom you ever heard of her you know she hid Jews in her closet when the Nazis came or they bring up Martin Luther King like hey civil disobedience civil rights that was a good thing right right and I appreciate those examples I really do but let's be honest most of you aren't in those situations anybody got Jews at home in their closet right now raise your hand anybody not at last I checked the Nazi party wasn't really you know in power here anymore or ever in America for that matter you know and then and then and then Martin Luther King yeah letters from a Birmingham jail explained that they tried to obey every single law they could and they disobeyed peaceably the ones that were egregiously unjust so yeah I don't really know if many of you are in the position that Corey Ten Boom or Martin Luther King was in Peter understood civil disobedience he would ultimately be crucified by the state so yeah we're talking he understands civil disobedience but he's not talking to many of you that are in that situation so he keeps going on look at this actually let me talk for a minute more he says obey the laws respect the authorities pay your taxes every once in a while I'll talk to some young graduate student some know-it-all who managed to find a website explaining why we shouldn't have to pay taxes no no civil disobedience does not apply to you that's not a Corey Ten Boom situation or I'll talk to some college student who explains to me in very eloquent terms why we should legalize marijuana they always know two verses by the way Genesis 1 12 and every seed bearing plant that the Lord God made is good that's one verse they know and then Matthew 7 3 judge not lest you be judged and I'm like there's more in the Bible than those two but they're like oh but no it should totally be legalized and you know what maybe you're right I don't think so but maybe you're right maybe you're right the point is it's not legal and you have no place in Peter's view of rejecting a law that is not directly against the law of God well I don't agree with the policy on underage drinking I'm old enough to die for my country but not old enough to drink a margarita at Chili's no you're not all right and until you can show me chapter and verse why that shouldn't be a law in our country then you got no ground to stand on this is exactly the kind of situation that Peter was talking about when he wrote this you see that little phrase for the Lord's sake for the Lord's sake means when you disobey an authority God views it as disobedience to him that means that some of you are out of fellowship with God because you are in rebellion to God-ordained authorities in your life I told you this is unpopular now again Peter understood civil disobedience I'm just suggesting to you that most of you cannot with a straight face put yourself on the same level with Martin Luther King and Corey Tim Boom so let's be serious and let's do a heart check for a minute for many of you your problem with submission to earthly authorities is a problem with authority in general you don't like anybody telling you what to do including God I'm just going to tell you God's never going to be known that way God is known only down the path of absolute surrender and submission some of you act like you want to know God you come to church you sit down you take notes but you're not willing to do what God says God is the almighty God he's not a life coach he's not a spiritual advisor which means you don't come to him and negotiate about what you want to do or what you don't want to do God is known only through submission and surrender and if you don't come that way you're not going to know him at all let me deal with one more because I know some of you have questions about this parents yes there is a time in our life when we are to be submitted to our parents as unto the Lord Ephesians 6 1 children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right now as you grow older that changes the Bible never tells adults to obey their parents it tells adults to honor their parents you see for a while our parents stand in the place of God when we're young when we're living their house as you grow up and you move out of the house you are becoming the man or woman God intended you to be your parents were like training wheels for a while teaching you to relate to and obey God after you have learned to relate to and obey God and you have moved out then at that point you honor your parents by becoming the person God intended you to become so a college student for example will tell me I graduated from college I feel like God has called me to go to missions but my parents are saying no am I supposed to obey them or obey God it's obey God right because you honor your parents by becoming who God intended you to be that's what it means to honor them you are honoring God whose authority was mediated through them now when I say that I'm not talking to you guys that are in sixth grade out there all right my daughter's not in sixth grade but she was in the previous service I made this crystal clear when you're in your parents house yes they do stand in the place of God and so you are to obey them and disobedience to them is disobedience to God-ordained authorities this is summit life with jd greer we hope you're enjoying this teaching series in the book of first peter but before we get back to it I wanted to let you know about our featured resource this month that we are offering to our listeners it's a book called sit living a life that invites others to jesus by heather and ashley holloman if you're anything like me finding opportunities to share the gospel with friends and neighbors it can be tough sometimes I don't know where to begin and sometimes I just overthink it so if that's you this book is a must read heather and her husband ashley offer practical ideas and strategies for how to naturally share the gospel with the people that God's already put in your life you'll learn about the best questions to ask to get a gospel conversation started seven ways to pray for the lost and even how to identify what kind of gospel witness that God has wired you to be to get your copy give your gift today by calling us at 866-335-5220 or visit us online at jdcreer.com now let's get back to today's teaching here on summit life once again here's pastor jd greer peter says be subject to every human institution submit to them he gives you two reasons why you should do this verse 14 because governors and authorities are sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good if you're taking notes write this down number one these are institutions ordained by God these are institutions ordained by God verse 14 these institutions are what we are part of what we call common grace common grace are things that God left on the earth even after we you know rebelled against him that just keep order and keep things alive like for example the sun that comes up every day that's common grace because God is allowing the sun to shine on believer and unbeliever alike well the same way he's left things like human governments on the earth which yes can be very unjust but human governments he says were there to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good it's a way of keeping order on the earth there are different institutions there's the church there is government there is family and one of they should never do what the other one is designed by God to do church should never play government government should never play church governments should never play family family should never play all that stuff okay so you've got different institutions that God left and he says these are there to teach you how to relate to God so that's your first reason here's your second reason verse 15 for this is the will of God watch this that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people so write this down number two it's kind of long our humble submission to authority and our civic goodness are God's ordained way of putting to silence the ignorance of foolish people our humble submission to authority our civic goodness or God's ordained way of putting to silence the ignorance of foolish people Peter fleshes us out of the next few verses so let's keep let's keep moving here verse 16 he says live as people who are free not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil but living as servants of God like you ready to think with me because this is a little bit deep all right why why is it that most people obey the government why do most people obey the government because they're scared of what the government can do to them right so you obey because you're afraid of the threats of punishment or you obey because you know that obeying your boss or obeying the government is a way to get from them the things that you want from them now Peter's talking to people who should be free of both of those motivations you no longer fear anybody that can take your life in fact Peter will say that that when you have to lose your life when the government takes away your life for obeying God then you face it boldly like he did he was crucified upside down he said I'm no longer captive to the government because they can take away my life I also no longer depend on what you can give to me to survive because God takes care of me I'm no longer a captive to what you can do to me or what you give to me does that make sense so I'm free but I'm not going to use that freedom as a cover-up for evil but I'm going to live as a servant of God I am now going to obey not because I'm captive to the things that everybody else is captive to but I'm going to obey for God's sake and I'm going to obey for the gospel's sake so he continues verse 17 you should honor everyone now who does the world honor who does the world honor the world honors people that can honor them in return I give you an example I there are there are certain organizations that just have really get the whole idea of customer service and I love those places Disney World Hilton Hotels and they really honor you and I go down there and I feel so important they're calling me Mr Greer and they're doing this and especially if you get one of the you know the the nice packages down there and they're just but but in my heart I always know there's a reason they're doing this and what is that reason because they want my money they don't want me to give my money to a competitor so they honor me Peter is saying your honor is totally different because it's given to everyone for example a woman pulls on our church campus and she is a single mother an unwed mother with three kids our first impressions team is trained to run to her and help her not because we think she's going to write us a big fat check in the offering but because she is made in the image of God she's precious to God and we want to honor her for those reasons and not for the world's reasons we don't honor people any longer because of what they can do for us we honor people because of what Jesus has already done for us and so we extend that honor to them we honor everyone that's totally different next phrase he says love the brotherhood that means there's a special love you have for your brothers and sisters in here third phrase he said fear God honor the emperor little irony in this one all right fear God honor the emperor do you notice here's the irony that he uses the same word for the emperor that he used for everybody else here's the irony in those days the Romans thought that emperor was God so Peter is kind of doing a little you know a little lower cut jab he's actually the emperor's just like everybody else so honor him yes as the emperor but not as God because he's just a dude don't fear him fear God because God is God don't fear the emperor because the emperor is just a guy you honor the emperor because he's just a person like everybody else that's that's how you read the context there okay so honor the emperor but I don't want you to lose the point because this is especially important considering the awful 12 months that we were about to go through this election season you need to honor those that God has put in authority over us this is an honorless generation we don't honor anybody I met you like but I didn't vote for Obama it doesn't matter that is your emperor you speak about him with respect I'm not telling you can't disagree I'm not telling you can't even argue about it I'm just saying that you speak with a certain honor some of you the way that you talk about your president is sinful for some of you the way you spoke about president Bush when he was president is sinful and you honor them as authorities that God has placed now again I'm not saying I'm not saying you can't disagree I'm not saying you can't criticize I'm not even saying you can't ever call in to talk radio I'm just saying that you do so and you speak about that but you do it with a sense of honor I think I've probably learned this most clearly from my parents my parents had strong political convictions and my parents would talk about those convictions with passion and sometimes with anger but at the end of the day they would say but you know what that's our president that's our senator that's our government you speak about them with respect when I had conflict with a teacher if there was a teacher that yes harmed me in some way or they were unfair to me my parents would take up my cause but there was no in my house coming home and just whining and complaining about what a moron my teacher was because they said that is a God-oriented authority in your life and yes you should speak about injustice when you see it but you are to honor them as somebody that is there put there in your life by God when you live this way Peter says when you are submitted for Jesus sake and not just for personal gain when you honor people irrespective of whether or not they can pay you back when you are devoted to serving and blessing and doing good to others verse 15 Peter says you can put to silence at least a little bit the ignorance of foolish people have you ever experienced the ignorance of foolish people because you are a Christian have you ever experienced that anybody you if not then you're not living right of course you have let me say something that I hope encourages you or at least put some things in perspective for you the church the true church in every age has always been the subject of derision always that's not new with your generation that's not something the New York Times invented first century that Peter's writing to first century Christians the rumor among the Romans was that the Christians were cannibals in their services the Romans said they would eat flesh and drink blood if you're new here that is not true okay just so you know that now where they got that from was the fact that we eat bread which symbolizes Jesus' body and we drink a cup that symbolizes Jesus' blood but that doesn't mean that at the end of our service we turn one of our members into a buffet that's totally different that was a rumor that they started the Romans said that that that first Christians were seditious they were anti-government that they were haters of mankind that they were atheistic because Christians wouldn't worship idols and because and that they were immoral how does Peter tell you to put that to silence how does he tell you to do it by overwhelming them with goodness so I don't know if you know this I hope you do but you are often spoken about with derision in derision in our community did you know that now how do you put that to rest do you preach angry sermons and start a blog talking about how dumb they are tempting no no you do this by overwhelming them with kindness I know it's not going to shut everybody up but at least in some ways it'll make what they say seem a little silly by the way the city council responded to this blogger saying that it was because of how much our church was doing to serve the poor in this community that they were inviting me to speak on your behalf city council said and I summarized you cannot argue with the fact that everywhere this city has a need there seems to be somebody from the summit church there meeting that need this person responds on the blog quote just because a church spends countless hours helping the community doesn't mean we should let them speak to us so my thought is maybe if you'd spend more time serving the poor and less time blogging in your mama's basement you would be invited to speak that's something like this which is probably not in the spirit of what first peter is talking about but you get the point okay that's pastor author and theologian jd greer with a teaching he called the mysterious witness of submission and suffering here on summit life remember if you ever miss a message you can always catch up online at jdgrier.com not long ago I got a chance to sit down with pastor jd to ask him about our latest resource this book that I shared about a bit earlier in the program and why he's so excited about it here's what he had to say this book sent is a book that I read um maybe a year and a half ago or so they really had an impact on me that I thought our church could really benefit from and so now we're able to offer it here on summit life to our audience here as well the book is called sent the subtitle is living a life that invites others to jesus and what it shows us is that when you embrace this identity of being someone who is sent someone sent by god to reach the lost that will not only change their lives it will also change yours one of the unique things about this book is that at the end of each chapter there's a little thing called steps of faith that will help you think through the application of this to your relationships in your life molly i'm just going to tell you there's nothing in all my life that encourages me like seeing me used one-on-one with somebody as god brings transformation into their lives don't miss getting your copy just go to jdgreer.com and we'll we'll show you how we'd love to get you a copy of sent living a life that invites others to jesus by heather and ashley holloman we really believe that this will be a game-changing resource for you as you strive to have gospel conversations in your day-to-day life if you've ever struggled to figure out how to start talking about your faith to your co-workers friends neighbors or anyone else this book is for you it's written to help regular people like you and me come up with strategies to have natural evangelistic conversations we would love to send you a copy with your gift of 35 or more to give just call us at 866-335-5220 that's 866-335-5220 or visit jdgreer.com i'm molly vidovich so glad that you joined us today and be sure to tune in tomorrow when we continue this study in first peter called i am an alien that's thursday on summit life with jd greer today's program was produced and sponsored by jd greer ministries