This section is one that can easily be misused and even abused it we aren’t careful, so this is a good area to make sure we’ve read and considered.  So, let’s talk about what Paul isn’t saying.  Is Paul saying that all authority is placed into being by God, and therefore we should just follow our leaders without consideration?  No...I mean, Paul was arrested and ‘tried’ for not doing exactly that...not following the governing power’s rulings around spreading faith.  So that can’t be what he means here.  This doesn’t mean we should do what an abusive spouse tells us to do, or stay in ridiculous job settings under a boss that is terrible...this isn’t any of that.  I think we have to understand these words in a broader context.  First off, Paul teaches us this idea of being in the world but not of the world - the idea that we need to try  to operate peacefully inside of the culture in which we find ourselves, trusting that God will be and always has been in charge of the ultimate outcome.  We do this because this is how we  demonstrate faith...with peace.  Our default setting should be to follow our authorities...that should be the setting from which we are generally assuming to start.  We aren’t rebels, that isn’t our reputation; we are Jesus-followers.  If we are known as rebels, then we are distracting from our original purpose and message.

Further, it is also important to bear in mind that this passage is likely tied to a common question of the time fro Jesus-followers, which was the question “Should be we pay taxes to Caesar?”.  You can see how Paul answers this question in the way this is written...there is some context and then he finally directly answers that question.

So, today, the important thing for me is that we should have a default setting of peace.  We should carry a default setting of submission to authority.  We should default to looking for ways to follows follow the rules vs. ways to break the rules.  I am definitely guilty, at times, of being a rebel looking for a cause...I think Paul is trying to level-set us here.  Again, that is not to say that Christians shouldn’t ever rebel, because we also know that isn’t true.  This is really more about our default setting for me today.