Submission is not Collusion

Some Christians leaders like to preach submission to the authority, even to dictators and oppressors.  The Bible indeed says we should submit to authority - for the reason that authorities are there to punish the wicked and reward the good.  Surely we should respect their authority when their orders are just.  What happens when their orders are unjust?  Should we cheer the powerful when they exploit the poor, silence and beat up those who disagree with them, and put the people they do not like in prison?  

Even pro-establishment Christian leaders have to admit that God is the ultimate authority.  When a government’s orders go against God’s, we should follow God but not the earthly authorities.  Christians - in fact, any self-respecting human beings - should not collude with the rich and powerful - even those who hold the guns, when what they are doing is unjust. We definitely should not collude with those who subvert justice, oppress in the name of their laws, to do what is evil in God’s eyes.  

Submission is not the same as collusion.  We submit to just authority.  We should not follow orders that are unjust.  We should definitely not collude with the dictator to oppress the weak, even if we can get rich and powerful by doing that. That is despicable.   Christians, in particular, are supposed to know the truth, to look beyond this world to the everlasting.  Yet so very often, our actions show that we seem to be seeking only worldly safety, comfort, status and riches.  We say one thing but do the other.