Parents, Are You Raising Angry Partisans?

I recently had an interaction with a group of middle school students, and the topic of the upcoming presidential election came up. These students belonged to families with similar values, and unsurprisingly, they all echoed the political opinions of their parents. What surprised me, however, was the ease with which they directed slander toward the opposing candidate. I certainly didn’t expect mature and nuanced discourse on policies, but I also didn’t anticipate the parroting of disparaging names, exaggerated accusations, and claims that simply weren’t factual. I was alarmed to hear the unwholesome partisan rhetoric so typical of American political discourse coming from such young minds.

Christian parents are called to raise our children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Our children, in other words, should be able to look to us to see what a life submitted to Christ looks like. We should live in a manner that makes the gospel more intelligible to our children. I wonder, however, if our angry partisanship models the way of the flesh more than the way of Christ. I fear we are making disciples, not of Christ, but of the angry podcast host we play on our way to drop our kids off at school every day. If we’re not careful they are going to conflate the two.

When we sin and fail our children, we should model confession and repentance. Perhaps we need to consider confessing and repenting of slander and refusal to honor governing authorities, especially the ones we didn’t vote for.

Of course, it’s possible that you’ve been hardened by the American political context to the point that you’re not convinced such actions are wrong. Please consider.

As Americans, we typically bristle at the call to submit to authority. Our nation was founded, after all, by people who refused to submit to the unjust laws of their king. Jonathan Leeman has recently observed that most of our movies follow the plot of individuals who stand up to authority. Think about it: Luke Skywalker, Jason Bourne, Batman, the Little Mermaid, Elsa, Moana. It’s all the same plot. Leeman concludes, “It’s as if our moral imaginations cannot conceive of a different kind of hero, so saturated is the Western soul with anti-authority-ism. The hero we cheer on is the person who resists the leadership, the system, the powers-that-be.”

But the way of the West is not necessarily in line with the way of Christ, and I would argue that the contrast between the two is glaring on the topic of submission to authority. Consider the following passages. After instructing the church to “be subject to governing authorities” on the basis that governing authorities “have been instituted by God,” Paul concludes, “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed” (Romans 13:1-7).

Peter has a similar teaching. He writes, “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. . . Honor the emperor” (1 Peter 2:12-17).

Both Paul and Peter use the word “honor.” The follower of Christ is not called to merely obey and tolerate, but to show high regard for and esteem governing authorities. In case you’re tempted to make some kind of argument that they would have never called Christians to honor the likes of Joe Biden or Donald Trump, I’ll remind you that they most likely had Nero in mind when they wrote. Nero was particularly wicked and ruthless. According to Tertullian, he was the first emperor to persecute Christians. The apostles called Christians to show honor to the office of emperor, regardless of who occupied that office. It honored Christ when Christians paid honor to Nero. It dishonored Christ when Christians refused him honor. That hasn’t changed.

Rather than slander political opponents, the Christian parent should instead model prayer on their behalf (Matthew 5:43-48). In fact, because submission to authority is so central to the Christian life (Ephesians 5:21, 22; 6:1, 5; Hebrews 13:17; 1 Corinthians 14:34; Titus 2:5; 3:1; 1 Peter 3:5-6; Colossians 3:18, 20, 22), Christian parents should be eager to model it. Where else in our world will our children see submission and honor demonstrated? Who else will teach them that submitting to and honoring legitimate human authority is indistinguishable from submitting to and honoring Christ?

Honoring an office certainly does not mean agreeing with the person who occupies it. In fact, it is possible to express disagreement in a respectful manner, and we must always remember that submission has its limits. If any authority commands us to disobey God, we respond with the apostles, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

Let’s commit to making disciples of the Lion and the Lamb rather than the Donkey and the Elephant.

The post Parents, Are You Raising Angry Partisans? appeared first on Remembrance of Former Days.