This essay is from Ricky Alcantar and the video linked HERE is a discussion of the topic.

Trust in American institutions has cratered — from 48% in 1979 to 27% today — yet 1 Peter 2:13 calls Christians to submit to human institutions anyway. In this episode, we explore four counter-cultural postures for believers navigating an anti-institutional age: not naive, not cynical, not unsubmitted, and not unhopeful.

Confidence in institutions is hovering near an all-time low in America, so what’s a Christian to do? One example: we’ve gone from half of Americans having faith in their institutions to barely a quarter. In 1979, 48% of Americans were recorded as saying they had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in their U.S. institutions. Today it’s a mere 27%. (See the Gallup poll for more data here.) This poll includes everything from banks to business to the courts to the press to the medical system to the school system. And churches fare no better — dropping from 60% in 1979 to 33% today.

The cultural winds are all blowing in the direction of anti-institutionalism, and protests against big businesses, medical practices, and tech companies are all in my daily news.

That makes 1 Peter 2:13 surprising and even shocking when we read: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” In fact, Peter has an extended section of his letter encouraging Christians to relate rightly to the institutions of government, work, and marriage. And lest we think this advice only applies when all the institutions around us are trustworthy… It’s helpful to remember Peter likely wrote this under the reign of the bloodthirsty, unstable Nero.

So when it comes to our age, I believe Christians should hold four counter-cultural views about institutions.

1. Don’t be naive

Christians who are reading their Bibles should be the least surprised people in the world when institutions around them fail. Institutions have been failing since Adam failed in Genesis 3 and Babel failed in Genesis 11. Institutions have the same problem as all things human beings touch — because human beings are tainted by sin, institutions touched by humans are tainted by sin.

And further, human beings, even at their best, are still creatures, not the Creator. Human beings don’t know everything, they can’t be everywhere, and they aren’t all-powerful. It’s perfectly normal for human beings to create their best solution to a problem, then find it failing in the face of new information or failing strength.

2. Don’t be cynical

Cynicism is not biblical wisdom. Christians are to be clear-eyed and sober-minded, not cynical. The perspective of the cynic sees only half of what’s going on in the world: the cynic sees sin and weakness at work in the world, but not divine grace at work in the world. God didn’t abandon the world in Genesis 3. His hand of preserving mercy and grace was present in the flood, in the call of Abram, and in the rain that continues to fall on the world. It is there still.

For example, even referring to the deeply flawed and often unjust Roman Empire, Paul is able to say that the government still restrains evil (see Romans 13). While often erring, human institutions are often used by God to hold back things from devolving as far as they could. And just like God uses ungodly nations and rulers like Cyrus and Babylon for his purposes, he can use our broken human institutions today.

3. Don’t be unsubmitted

While as an American — and even worse, a Texan — I want to cast off any semblance of authority over me, as a Christian I’m not given unqualified permission to rebel against anything and everything. In 1 Peter, the apostle calls Christians to be subject to the human institutions God has set in place— to pay their parking tickets and their unreasonable property taxes. Of course, there are times we can and must disobey the government – when to do so would require sin (see Acts 4 for example).

But the call to be subject is qualified with four words that reframe everything: “for the Lord’s sake.” Our obedience or submission to appropriate civil authority is not a submission to the whims and waves of dysfunctional human government, it is an acknowledgement of the God who rules behind and above that government. The purposes of local city councils change daily, but the Lord rules over them and is working all things according to the counsel of his will. So, ultimately, being subject to what God has put in place is being subject to God.

And further, the institution of the church must come into play here. Churches are full of sinners and people who fail – but so are you a sinner and someone who fails. And Jesus’ design for the church is that it is a home for redeemed sinners like you and me. Therefore you should get to a church as fast as you can and join it. For God’s governing authority in the church, even lived out imperfectly among sinners, does good and is used by God to advance his purposes. Knowing human fallibility should make us run toward a place where we can be helped, held accountable, and led by godly (but still fallible!) human leaders. I’m not saying choose an ungodly church — no, choose the godliest and most faithful one you can. But then expect that those around you will need to be corrected and helped, and be all the more eager to join, because sooner or later you will be the one who needs correcting and helping.

4. Don’t be unhopeful

Christians are to be the most hopeful people on the earth, even when working in and under fallible human institutions. Why? Because our hope is not in the triumph of a human institution, but rather because we hope in the triumph of the Lord and he is working all things toward his purposes. While we’re not naive to the faults of human institutions, we should see that because God is gracious, he uses human institutions for good purposes. We should trust the promise of Romans 8:28, that God works all things together (even foolish government spending or unreasonable parking laws) for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes.

And uniquely, God uses the institution of the church. In fact, in Matthew 16:18 Jesus promises that he will build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. There is only one human institution that will last, endure all, and flourish in eternity, and that is the church of Jesus Christ. So we should not expect our local churches to be perfect or pain-free, but we can expect God to work through them and expect them to triumph in the end.

So in our anti-institutional age, let Christians be the people least surprised by institutions and most hopeful about them. For we see them more clearly than those around us. And we see with the eyes of faith what God is doing through them.

5. Don’t be unfruitful

One of the worst parts of a zeitgeist that only delights in tearing things down, arguing over things, and writing online takedowns of people is that you are unfruitful. Titus 3:9 warns us, “But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” When you’re constantly engaged in controversy and quarreling you’re might be producing a light of heat, but not a lot of light. It can be unprofitable. It can be worthless.

The challenge is that it’s always easier to tear down than to build up. There are times when we must critique must tear down false doctrine, but it’s not excuse for not also building up the local church. You’re fiery and passionate, but is the work truly advancing God’s purposes? Is it building up the church in meaningful and measurable ways? These are gut-check questions that help govern us in an anti-institutional age.

And in the end I’ll simply leave you to argue with the Apostle Peter.

1 Peter 2:13–17

[13] Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, [14] or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. [15] For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. [16] Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. [17] Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. (ESV)

ABOUT

Ricky Alcantar serves as Pastor at Cross of Grace Church in El Paso, Texas and the Editorial Director for Digital with Sovereign Grace Churches.

Ben Kreps serves as pastor at Living Hope Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania and also hosts the Mark Prater podcast.

Thanks for reading Sovereign Grace Churches! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support the work.

This essay is from Ben Kreps and the video linked HERE is a discussion of the topic.

Our current cultural moment insists that our subjective feelings of happiness should guide even the most significant spheres of life—marriage, work, and familial relationships, to name just a few. Building your life on the shifting sand of a slippery, subjective internal experience is a path to disaster, yet so many people have been convinced by this error.

Happiness is overrated. Hear me out—our emotions are a gift from God and bring richness and color to our lives, but personal feelings make for a terrible master. When we make happiness the sun around which our lives orbit, we are left vulnerable to all manner of confusion and a distorted perspective.

I’m not criticizing emotions; I am, however, concerned with ‘emotionalism,’ or the tendency to base our beliefs and decisions on feelings rather than on objective truth.

Are your parents troubling you with their political beliefs? Cut them out of your life. Is your marriage unfulfilling to you? Get a divorce and pursue someone else who will make you happy. Is your unwanted pregnancy complicating the goals you have for your life? You get the idea…

The Bible, of course, is the source of objective truth that informs every area of our lives, including our emotional life.

The truth is that God often does His greatest work in our lives through experiences we would not necessarily choose for ourselves. His Fatherly discipline isn’t what we would call a pleasant experience. At times He employs painful trials for our growth and maturity. But if we are intent on chasing the ephemeral experience of happiness to guide our steps, we will fail to experience all of the goodness and grace that God has for our lives.

God’s Word also gives us direction to shape our emotional lives.

We are exhorted repeatedly to pursue joy in God. We are called to intentionally cultivate a grateful heart. We are invited to a life of enjoying God’s good gifts and, most importantly, finding peace and satisfaction in the Lord Jesus. We are not called to stoicism or to imitate Mr. Spock from Star Trek; a rich and godly emotional life is ours by the grace of God.

Augustine once wrote, “give what you command, and command what you will.” God commands us in the area of our emotions and then gives us all the grace that we need to experience an imperfect but healthy inner life for His glory and our good.

Though we will have sorrow in this world, we can truly know something of that divine happiness that is out of reach of any and all of our enemies. As our Statement of Faith says, “the gospel enables us to rejoice in the midst of tribulations, assured that his purposes are working for our good even in circumstances we do not understand.”

3 Ways To Cultivate A Godly Emotional Life

1. Take Responsibility For Your Emotions

While we will experience emotions that arrive unbidden, by God’s grace we can resist things like sinful anger or anxiety. We are not to excuse our sin because “they made me angry,” or “I was upset.” When we inevitably sin, we confess and forsake our sin and are promised that God “is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” by the blood of Jesus shed at Calvary.

2. Spend Unhurried Time In God’s Word Informing Your Emotions

Psalm 119 reveals the heart of a man who spends unhurried time with God, enjoying Him as he meditates upon His Word. Our Bible reading should not be one more thing to check off our to-do list; it is God speaking to us and drawing near by His Spirit as we engage with Him in His self-revelation. It should shape everything about us, including our emotions.Charles Bridges writes, “Many, indeed, are satisfied with far too low a standard of spiritual enjoyments. It is comfortless to live at a distance from our Father’s house, when we might be dwelling in the secret of his presence, and rejoicing in the smiles of his love.”

3. Live With An Eternity In View That Provides an Anchor for Our Emotions

Our Statement of Faith says: “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, we endure in faith and abound in hope, confident that a day is fast approaching when sin and sorrow will be no more.” What unshakable joy we have in knowing that King Jesus is returning! Every tear will be wiped from our eyes, and we will know fullness of joy forever at His side. When we cultivate anticipation and expectation for Jesus’ return, we get to abound in hope and rejoice in knowing that our eternal joy is certain and secure.

ABOUT

Ricky Alcantar serves as Pastor at Cross of Grace Church in El Paso, Texas and the Editorial Director for Digital with Sovereign Grace Churches.

Ben Kreps serves as pastor at Living Hope Church in Middletown, Pennsylvania and also hosts the Mark Prater podcast.

Thanks for reading Sovereign Grace Churches! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support the work.

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