“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2)
At the heart of most great movements is the resistance — at least, the questioning — of authority. America would not be on the map except for those brave souls that defied British tyranny. The Civil Rights Movement stood against discrimination and institutional racism, and challenged the powers that be. In a certain sense, questioning authority is an American ideal.
But have we gone too far?
I’m seeing these logos more and more, you know: Respect is Earned. The sentiment goes something like this: I will honor or humble myself for no one until they prove they deserve it. But this kind of thinking can and has led to a rabid egocentricity. In other words, we become the arbiter of who deserves our respect. If someone impresses us or meets our personal criteria, i.e. earns our respect, we will honor them. If someone doesn’t, we won’t. Nowadays, no authority should remain unquestioned.
And that’s an important connection. Behind the Respect is Earned movement is the Question Authority crowd.
I’ve always disliked those Question Authority bumper stickers, for this reason: The mantra of Question Authority undermines itself. In other words, If we should question authority then why not question the authority of that statement? The assertion that I should question authority presumes that that assertion is unquestionably tenable.
The above Bible verse suggests that certain stations are vested with a God-given authority. The King or Queen, General or Judge, deserve a certain amount of respect simply for holding that office. Like him or not, we should respect the President. Now, some like to distinguish the Office of the President from the man actually occupying the Position. However, practically speaking, how can you respect a position of authority and not the person in it? To me, that distinction has always been a bit of a cop-out.
Nevertheless, there are times when a person in a position of power abuses the office. Once, while in the ministry, I received a letter from a woman who’d been abused as a child by her parents. She was a new believer, growing just fine, when she encountered this verse:
Honor your father and your mother,
that your days may be long
in the land which the Lord your God gives you
Exodus 20:12 (RSV)
It threw her for a loop. So how does an abuse victim “honor” the people who abused her? Or maybe a better question is, Should an abuse victim honor the people who abused her?
Jesus, on many occasions, resisted — even chided — those in authority. Nevertheless, Scripture repeatedly describes Christ’s posture as one of meekness and humility. He was hardly a revolutionary in the anarchic sense people mean it. In fact, Jesus remained civil, even to the point of death.
And civility is what’s being lost in today’s Respect is Earned culture.
Yes, the moment someone demands respect, they disqualify themselves from deserving it. Unless, that is, they occupy a genuine position of authority. In those cases — like the abused child commanded to honor her parents — we must walk this tightrope between compliance and confrontation, submission and resistance.
The question is not if we should question authority, it’s how.
Just because your boss is a jerk doesn’t give you license to be one. Sure, you might need to stand up to him, question his judgment, or even organize a mutiny. But you needn’t become a terrorist in the process. It’s one thing to disagree with someone, disapprove of their leadership, and dislike them as a person. But it’s completely another to walk around with your nose in the air, giving the world the middle finger.
Those are the people I simply cannot respect.
Is anyone else sickened by that child’s picture? Is that for real?
Good points, Mike. We can “show” respect without really “feeling” it, and sometimes that’s what is required of us. True respect is earned, but your points make it clear that the standard wobbles. One who is worthy of respect usually acts accordingly–but even then he/she will have detractors.
I want a bumper sticker that says “Question Skepticism.”