Transforming Wednesday Nights!
Friday, May 18, 2012 at 10:15AM 
Recent changes in service times and our meeting place have both increased attendance and enthusiasm, and even transformed the way Dr. Wilson leads the mid-week meeting.
One Wednesday evening, Pastor Johnny presented a synopsis of the so-called "motivational" spiritual gifts from Romans 12. The next week, we used two card decks: one which had a "motivatio;)
nal" spiritual gift listed and one which had a crisis or opportunity that a church might face (how to deal with gay people, how to cope with financial difficulty, how to provide comfort in face of death, etc.). Each attendee was dealt a card from the "gift deck" and then, a crisis or opportunity was revealed from the top of the "crisis" deck. Each participant had to suggest ways to solve the crisis primarily through allowing the "gift" to flow. The next Wednesday, we tested the thesis that each exhortation in verses 9-15 might particularly (but not exclusively) apply to the motivational gift list in the same order as presented in verses 6-8.
When we started getting down to the practicalities of daily living in Romans 13, Dr. Wilson sandbagged the group. Instead of taking the group verse-by-verse, w;)
e began with Ui-jung reading the passage, followed up by Dr. Wilson asking leading questions about the traditional way that this passage is understood (blind obedience to authority). Dr. Wilson noted that the verb used in verse 1 which is often translated as "be in subjection" is better understood as a voluntary submission (the usual idea for this verb is to place oneself under (root idea of "appoint" combined with prefix for "under").
Then, Linus Park pointed out the vital difference in the text between governmental authorities (lit. "higher powers") and authority itself (defined in verse 2 as belonging solely to God). Some traditional interpretations seem to treat God as the puppeteer for the government as the government is the puppeteer for the individual. Noting that the governments also have a responsibility of relying upon God, this creates an interesting tension (see a relevant quotation with regard to another passage at the end of this article).
Pastor Johnny muddied the waters by asking about civil disobedience. What do we do when government (or a human authority in general) is clearly disobeying God? The group agreed that there might be some wriggle room when the powers aren't conforming to God's authority, but not everyone was totally convinced by Dr. Wilson's suggestion that when one disobeyed human authority in the name of God's authority that one must be willing to pay the price (perhaps, imprisonment and perhaps, death). If we are willing to "pay the price" of civil disobedience, we affirm the government's authority even while we protest it. So, we aren't really going against God's authority.
Then, Dr. Wilson admitted that he had sandbagged. One important question to ask when considering a passage is what the text would have meant in the context of its original speaker/writer and hearers. When we came back to this question, we agreed that the purpose was to keep from having the gospel dismissed by lawless actions of and strident protests from believers. With this in mind, the discussion took on a more relevant flavor as we discovered that we need to be sure that when we are protesting even what seems to be a sinful government action or policy that we are not putting the preaching and hearing of the gospel at risk. No wonder we don't usually preach "politics" from the pulpit!
In the light of the discussion about governmental authorities and God's authority, as well as the puppeteer idea refered to earlier, here's a line from a recent book on 1-2 Chronicles. It deals with the divided kingdom and shows how the Chronicler understood this evil event to still be under God's authority. It might help you understand how bad governments can still be within God's authority.
“The Chronicler’s God, however, is not some puppeteer pulling the strings on his creations. Although the monarchy’s division is ultimately of God (2 Chr. 11:4), the drama is sketched in terms of the free choices and ambitions of Rehoboam and Jeroboam and their respective constituencies.” (Scott W. Hahn, The Kingdom of God as Liturgical Empire (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic Books, 2012, p. 147)
On May 23rd, we will be playing a simple role-playing game encompassing the commandments of Romans 13:9-14. Come for dinner between 6:30 and 7:00 P.M. and join the "game" and discussion between 7:30 and 9:00 P.M.
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