Truth without love, is legalism. And Christians are supposed to be anti-legalism. Look what legalism has done to our Lord Jesus. It put Him on the cross. That’s the work of legalism. The oldest and most subtle crime in human’s heart. Our own hypocrisy. Hypocrisy exposes the fault of others, laughs at it out loud, makes memes about it, spreads it wide, and in return, satisfies our flesh. Though we are -in fact, and in real life- not as flawless as we think we are.
This happens especially when we talk about the leaders. In the Church or at anywhere else in the world, leaders have always been the target of mockery. Because they are not perfect. And yes, sometimes, they make mistakes. Well, here’s the hard truth. They are humans. They are prone to mistakes. They can be foolish sometimes. They can even be weird beyond the normal perception.
Do we have the right to be uncomfortable or even more, be disappointed with our leaders’ actions or wrongdoings? Of course we do. We can even remind our leaders, if they are not on the right track. But we must decide as Christians, not to lose love. We must decide that there should be a sufficient amount of honor left in our hearts for them. We must decide that no matter how stupid is their action, or decision, we will love and respect them anyway. Because they are chosen by the Lord. Yes, only for that reason. They are chosen, my friend. But that should be the strongest reason for honoring someone God has put over us.
What makes David a great man and a great king is just that. We all know the story. Driven by fear and jealousy, Saul decided to make David an enemy. But David never lost respect of Saul. He could easily avenge Saul’s ill-intentioned cruelty and take over his throne. He had the chance and even the support of his entire team of warriors -twice as I remember- but he never act on it. And God has ever since made David one of the greatest kings ever lived.
Jesus has also displayed the same kind of ‘honor’. He humbled Himself under the law of Rome, as well as the Jews’ High Court, just to be put to death at the cross, which by far is the most brutal punishment ever done on this earth. Surely, He then rose on the third day. But before, he had to obey their laws, and their leaders, only to be a victim of their stupidity. Yet when He rose again, He never once bothered to talk about how foolish were the Roman leaders, or how disgraced was Pilate, the Roman Governor who let Him die. Jesus never visited Pilate to make this man pay the price for allowing the Jews to crucify him. Instead, Jesus spend 40 days after His resurrection encouraging and strengthening His people.
So, yes, we are allowed to be disappointed of our leaders. It’s humane to be unsatisfied of someone’s action or decision. Especially the one we look up to. But, I believe we are not allowed to lose our respect for them, or even worse, make fun of them all the time. That is not the Christian way. That is not what Christ wants His people doing. Actually, that is by no means the definition of Christianity.
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1).
Leave a Reply