Jeremiah 27: 5 'I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me.

And so, if all “authorities that exist are appointed by God,�?and “there is no authority except from God,�?how then should Christians conduct themselves toward that authority? Especially, How should Christians conduct themselves if the person they voted for loses and that “other guy�?wins?

One thing is for certain, and the Bible is very clear on this -- God has no sympathy for gripers and complainers. Also, there is no place in Christianity for speaking evil of those God has placed in power. Search the New Testament through and through, and you will not find a single political rant in the whole book. Rome was about as corrupt and as oppressive as governments come, and not at all Christian-friendly, but wherever you find Christians coming in contact with the powers that be, they always approach them and speak to them with the utmost respect. So far as it was in their power to do so, Christians sought to live in peace and harmony with whatever government God saw fit to place them under. And in this they were following the example of the great men of God of earlier ages.

Consider Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon. Consider how they conducted themselves toward those in positions of authority. By worldly standards, did they have cause for complaint, to rant and rail against the powers that be? Yes. But you won’t find them wallowing in that mud pit. By the grace of God they rose above the petty and political.

The people of Judah who were carried away to Babylon felt that they had cause for complaint, cause to rant and rail against Babylon and its king. Yet Jeremiah wrote to them to make themselves at peace with their new masters.

Consider Saul and David. Saul was an evil king, and David anointed by the prophet Samuel to take his place on the throne of Israel. Yet even after God had Samuel anoint David to sit on the throne of Israel, God kept Saul on that throne for many long years. And in all those years David’s conducted toward Saul was most respectful. By worldly standards, did David have cause for complaint, to rant and rail against Saul? Yes. But you won’t find him wallowing in that mud pit. By the grace of God he rose above the petty and political. David understood that it was God who placed Saul on the throne. And when Saul was at last killed in battle, David wrote a most heart felt Psalm as a tribute to him. (2 Samuel 1;17-27).

But now days casting disparaging remarks against those God has placed in office has become the national pastime. It has become a game to dig up ever fault, every slip, to tear people down and bring them to ruin if at all possible. And sadly even Christians have joined in the game. But Paul writes “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.�?(Acts 23:5) and Peter writes of those who are all too willing “to speak evil of dignitaries,�?saying that they are little better than "brute beasts," and will as a consequence receive their just condemnation.

2 Peter 2:10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, �?2 But these, like natural brute beasts �?speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, �?/P>

And Jude echoed the near exact words of Peter when he wrote:

For better or worse, for good or evil, our words count. They have an effect on those around us. And the mudslinging political rhetoric so commonplace today are not the kind of words Christians have been bidden to speak. It should not be regarded as a light thing to speak evil of others or to make ourselves judges of their motives or actions. “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.�?(James 4:11) For there is only one Judge -- and you are not Him.

In Ecclesiastes we read that we are not to curse the king, not so much as even in our thoughts.

Jeremiah 20:10 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. �?/P>

Now you would expect this kind of conduct from the world. But with such plain statements from Scripture, how is it that Christians often lead the way in bringing railing accusations against those put in positions of leadership? Is it that we have forgotten that this is not our home, that “our citizenship is in heaven�?(Philippians 3:20)? Have we forgotten that we are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth�?(Hebrews 11:13)? Have we forgotten that we have a higher and holier calling than mere earthly politics?

How about if Christians all decided to do something really radical? Something like what Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2:1 for example.

Wow!!! We can only imagine. Verse 3 says that “this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.�?/FONT> And isn’t that how as Christians we should wish to live and conduct ourselves; in a manner that is “good and acceptable�?/FONT> to “God our Savior�?/FONT>? On the other hand, coming back to Romans 13:2 we find this warning; “whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.�?Ask yourself this question, and give an honest answer. Which side of this equation do you stand on?