Breaking the Rules
One of my favorite series was a show called “Parking Wars”. It was a show on A&E following parking enforcement officers (meter maids), booting crews, impound lots and towing. In other words, people getting caught breaking parking laws and paying the consequences. I guess I liked the show because 9.9 times out of 10, the person would try to rationalize why they shouldn’t get the penalty even when they knew they were wrong. They followed a subset of officers around and, of course, they had them narrating their day so you got to know some of them.
One parking enforcement officer (or PEO) was a guy whose nickname was ponytail. because he had a ponytail on the back end and a receding hair line in the front. Ponytail professed to be a Christian and, in one episode, commented that everyone should follow the law. He said that following the law was in the Bible.
This got me to thinking about following the laws of society.
“Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers: for there is no power but of God; and the powers that be are ordained of God. Therefore, he that resist the power, withstand the ordinance of God: and they that withstand shall receive to themselves judgment.”- Romans 13:1-2
This seems pretty clear that God grants our leaders the power to rule and we should follow the rules made. But is there ever a reason not to obey the rules made? I read a wonderful article adapted from “Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing” by Jonathan Leeman.Mr. Leeman suggests that there are 3 times you can disobey authority. Firstly, and the easiest to justify, is when an authority requires sin. In support, he mentions Exodus 1…
“And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the birth-stool; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men-children alive.” - Exodus 1:15-17
“And God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them households.” - Exodus 1:20-21
God commended them for disobeying.
The second reason for possibly disobeying the rules is when an authority figure goes outside of their charge. For example, Esther.
“All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law for him, that he be put to death, except those to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast in like manner; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.” - Esther 4:11, 16
The third reason to possibly disobey an authority figure is when you might be protecting yourself from wrongful harm. For example,
“Thou shalt not deliver unto his master a servant that is escaped from his master unto thee: he shall dwell with thee, in the midst of thee, in the place which he shall choose within one of thy gates, where it pleases him best: thou shalt not oppress him.” - Deuteronomy 23:15-16
This is just the highlights of the article which I assume is just the tip of the iceberg of the material in the book. However, none of these situations matched any of the highlights on “Parking Wars”. I guess, whether intentional or unintentional, if we get caught violating the parking rules, we better be prepared to pay up and focus on the correct person to blame.
