Romans 13, Black History Month, and Wine Before Breakfast

As I am finishing up my papers, I have lacked all motivation to write new posts. Actually that's not really true. I lack motivation to write my papers, so instead I post. But I post blogs that are not really blogs. They have been exercises that I have been tagged to do, so they don't really take too much time. I can't justify writing a new post while I should be writing my papers, but since I lack the motivation to write the papers, I post to waste time but they aren't really blogs so I can justify writing them. Does that make any sense? It does to me.

So onto the blog that is not a blog, a post with/out posting.

I recently recieved a new email from Stu, who periodically sends around emails to the ICS community to share what will be discussed at the upcoming "Wine Before Breakfast," a weekly Bible study that gathers on Tuesday mornings at 7:30 am in the Wycliffe Chapel under the superintendence of Brian Walsh. I have never been to "Wine Before Breakfast" as I am not a morning person (at least not a 7:30-in-the-morning person). However, the email that was sent around this week is an email from Brian Walsh who will be preaching this week on Romans 13 and Black History Month. I found the email to be very interesting, so I decided to include it here and see if it would warrant any responses.


So here's the question: how many folks out there think that we should bring back slavery? What? No hands at all? Ok, let's try another question: how many of you think that "every personshould be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authorityexcept from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted byGod."(Hmm sounds like St. Paul, so I should put up my hand, but there's something about that question following the first question that's got me worried ) Come on, come on who thinks that every person should be subject to thegoverning authorities because all such authority is instituted by God? Somehands up, some half up, some down, a lot of perplexed and worried looks out there. Alright, let's put it this way. Here at the beginning of Black History monthhow many of us would want to say that black slaves and their helpers alongthe underground railroad should have obeyed the authorities because theywere instituted by God and not opposed slavery? I mean really, is there anyamongst us who would dare suggest such a thing? I doubt it.So let's put it another way. If a duly appointed leader lies to the peopleand then sends thousands of his own citizens to fight a war on falsepretense and to kill and injure many thousands of people in another land,then do we really believe that such a leader acts on an authority institutedby God? Do we really believe that we should be subject to such a deceitfuland murderous leader? And if we don't think that such a leader should receive our loyalty, thenwhat do we do with Paul's injunctions about governmental authority in Romans13?