"Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor" (2 Pet. 2:17, NIV). We ought to respect all authority figures or those in delegated authority. We must learn to give all due respect (cf. Romans 13:1-2), even if we don't like them. All men deserve dignity by virtue of being human. The Scripture expects us to pray for all those in authority, and that includes constables, representative, mayors, legislators, senators, judges, school board members, the president, and what have you, including respecting your elders and teachers in school. In the military, you might have ambivalent feelings for your drill sergeant, but you will learn to respect him.
People sometimes have doubts about certain so-called dubious occupations, such as lawyers or car salesmen, but we are not to make stereotypes and generalize about all members of that profession. There may be a few bad cops, for instance, that doesn't eliminate our duty to honor them. In the service, you may not respect the officer himself, but you learn to respect the office he holds. In Jesus' day, the Jews had no respect for publicans or tax collectors and sinners (Jews who weren't observant), and Jesus went to the home of Zaccheus and converted him. This was quite appalling to the Jews who thought that this would defile Him. Roman soldiers were certainly not respected but Jesus commended the Roman centurion for his faith and John the Baptist converted them (he didn't advise them to leave the Roman army).
The point is that you should judge people individually and not as groups they belong to, which is prejudice, profiling, and bias. Just because some lawyers are crooked, doesn't mean a Christian cannot become a lawyer (the church father Tertullian was a lawyer). Just because you've had a bad run-in with police doesn't give you the right to judge their profession--there are much noble police doing a fine job and this is not an easy job, the chances they take and the dangerous situations they encounter. The fact is is that there are bad people in every legitimate profession and we cannot judge them as a group. For instance, police are ordained by God as being in authority over us--to despise or show contempt for their authority is to dishonor God.
Our attitude toward authority is a mirror of our attitude toward God (it all began with the fourth commandment to honor our parents who are in loco Dei, or in the place of God). Many people never grasp authority like the centurion officer who said to Jesus, "I, too, am a man under authority." Veterans and service personnel have a better concept of authority than others because many times they've had to accept authority they didn't like and found out what respect entails. The law is given for wrongdoers and if we obey the law we have nothing to have an issue about or to fear--we have only ourselves to blame for breaking the law, not the officer for enforcing it. (Leniency or mercy aren't leniency and mercy if they are required or earned--they don't have to give us a break!) Have you ever given a beggar some alms? Why haven't you extended that grace to all?
God establishes the death penalty for those who commit murder in Genesis 9:6, and this is because human life is sacred and inviolate in God's eyes, because we are in the image of God. We are not to be inhumane to anyone under any circumstances. but only render what strict justice requires under the law and not to be vindictive, unusual, or cruel. God put a limit on revenge by saying that it should be eye-for-eye and life-for-life. The value of one soul is worth more to God than the entire universe; for what would it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? (Cf. Mark 8:36). Certain occupations seem to become stigmatized or losing respect, but their occupation must not be maligned. Authority figures are there for a reason (to keep people in line and keep evil at bay) and mean that we should respect their authority or delegated authority.
When politicians react expediently, and not on principle, it is demeaning to the profession, and we must realize that this is a hazard of the job--it will cost you to gain respect and you must be willing to make the sacrifices. We live in a day and age when people are losing respect for everyone and no occupation seems sacrosanct. Doctors and nurses are doubtless respected, but there are crooked, unethical, and dishonest ones, too. Teachers are highly regarded in most societies, but some of them are unconscionable cheaters or slackers, and even unskilled. It is all right to disagree or to not like an individual, but we must never categorize entire professions, which is generalizing, because of our experience--just think if Jesus had been biased against publicans and sinners--where would we be?
Soli Deo Gloria!
People sometimes have doubts about certain so-called dubious occupations, such as lawyers or car salesmen, but we are not to make stereotypes and generalize about all members of that profession. There may be a few bad cops, for instance, that doesn't eliminate our duty to honor them. In the service, you may not respect the officer himself, but you learn to respect the office he holds. In Jesus' day, the Jews had no respect for publicans or tax collectors and sinners (Jews who weren't observant), and Jesus went to the home of Zaccheus and converted him. This was quite appalling to the Jews who thought that this would defile Him. Roman soldiers were certainly not respected but Jesus commended the Roman centurion for his faith and John the Baptist converted them (he didn't advise them to leave the Roman army).
The point is that you should judge people individually and not as groups they belong to, which is prejudice, profiling, and bias. Just because some lawyers are crooked, doesn't mean a Christian cannot become a lawyer (the church father Tertullian was a lawyer). Just because you've had a bad run-in with police doesn't give you the right to judge their profession--there are much noble police doing a fine job and this is not an easy job, the chances they take and the dangerous situations they encounter. The fact is is that there are bad people in every legitimate profession and we cannot judge them as a group. For instance, police are ordained by God as being in authority over us--to despise or show contempt for their authority is to dishonor God.
Our attitude toward authority is a mirror of our attitude toward God (it all began with the fourth commandment to honor our parents who are in loco Dei, or in the place of God). Many people never grasp authority like the centurion officer who said to Jesus, "I, too, am a man under authority." Veterans and service personnel have a better concept of authority than others because many times they've had to accept authority they didn't like and found out what respect entails. The law is given for wrongdoers and if we obey the law we have nothing to have an issue about or to fear--we have only ourselves to blame for breaking the law, not the officer for enforcing it. (Leniency or mercy aren't leniency and mercy if they are required or earned--they don't have to give us a break!) Have you ever given a beggar some alms? Why haven't you extended that grace to all?
God establishes the death penalty for those who commit murder in Genesis 9:6, and this is because human life is sacred and inviolate in God's eyes, because we are in the image of God. We are not to be inhumane to anyone under any circumstances. but only render what strict justice requires under the law and not to be vindictive, unusual, or cruel. God put a limit on revenge by saying that it should be eye-for-eye and life-for-life. The value of one soul is worth more to God than the entire universe; for what would it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? (Cf. Mark 8:36). Certain occupations seem to become stigmatized or losing respect, but their occupation must not be maligned. Authority figures are there for a reason (to keep people in line and keep evil at bay) and mean that we should respect their authority or delegated authority.
When politicians react expediently, and not on principle, it is demeaning to the profession, and we must realize that this is a hazard of the job--it will cost you to gain respect and you must be willing to make the sacrifices. We live in a day and age when people are losing respect for everyone and no occupation seems sacrosanct. Doctors and nurses are doubtless respected, but there are crooked, unethical, and dishonest ones, too. Teachers are highly regarded in most societies, but some of them are unconscionable cheaters or slackers, and even unskilled. It is all right to disagree or to not like an individual, but we must never categorize entire professions, which is generalizing, because of our experience--just think if Jesus had been biased against publicans and sinners--where would we be?
Soli Deo Gloria!
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