To Obey, Or Not To Obey, That Is The Question

 We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law. (Article of Faith 1:12)

To some, such a statement might be redundant, to others, it might be a surprise. For the former, this makes no sense to put an emphasis on such a principle because, in our modern world, it is one of the most natural things to be subject to a form of government. So why would someone explicitly have to state that? Well, statements like the Article of Faith number 12 come from a time where the Saints have been persecuted constantly. Some claimed they would be rebels, some said they would want to overthrow the U.S. government and replace them with their own system. Especially when Joseph Smith run for the office of President, conspiracy theorists had a blast. 

For some, though, Article of Faith is a surprising statement. There might be different reasons for it. One of them is that the Old Testament almost throughout all books paints a negative picture of the monarchy. Thus, they conclude, following governments must be bad in general. But, of course, that is nonsense. Let's take King David, for example. He is THE prototype king of Israel (despite having serious issues himself). The critique goes against kings that abuse their power to gain money, women, land, slaves, etc. Then, others are surprised that Christians aren't the rebels that they expected them to be. With Jesus as their king, why should they follow other leaders? 

In my opinion, being obedient to governments is actually a good thing. While I could talk about Hobbes' book Leviathan and why Contractarianism work, I will try to focus on the religious side of the aspect.

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, RSVCE)

Let's take this quote apart. Back in the days, kings proclaimed themselves to be either gods themselves, or descendants of gods, or at least to be appointed by the gods. This is the historical background we have to have in mind when reading this text. Therefore, Paul understood kings and regents to be divinely appointed by the God of the Israelites. Logically, by being disobedient to them, one would be disobeying God Himself. While I think that this is not actually true, meaning that I believe that secular governments are indeed just secular, I think we can still apply this principle to ecclesiastical (church-related) governments. Our church is governed by Jesus, who is represented by the Prophet and the Twelve. On the stake level, stake presidents have authority, and on the ward level, bishops "call the shots". In this case, being in rebellion against them would truly mean being against the Lord. 

In regard to the first sentence of Paul's statement, this shows that God is a god of order. Governments, whatever form they may have, prevent the "state of nature" as Hobbes calls it. Said state of nature is pure anarchy where the strongest rules as it pleases him or her. Through governments, we can practice living in an ordered environment. This is the perfect preparation to living with God once again because, in His kingdom, there is no disorder. 

But, as with almost everything, there is a little footnote. Obviously, when governments abuse their power and actively work against God's laws, we have the responsibility to rise up and defend the right way. 

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20, RSVCE)

If a man is burdened with the blood of another, let him be a fugitive until death; let no one help him. He who walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is perverse in his ways will fall into a pit. He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty. (Proverbs 28:17-19, RSVCE)

We can see here, God does not approve of tyranny and injustice. As Christians, it is our duty to protect us, our families, and our neighbor.

Media Sources:

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