“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 13:7, English Standard Version)
I’ve paid a few late fees in my life; actually more than I would like to admit. Almost without exception (I say “almost” in case I’m forgetting something), the reason has been the same: I let the due date sneak up on me. I can’t think of a time that I paid something late because I couldn’t afford to pay it on the due date. I can’t think of a time that I paid something late because I deliberately chose the late fee. (Hmmm, I don’t think this is expensive enough. I’ll wait a few days so they will add a late fee).
Without overdoing the illustration, I want to move on to my pondering during my reading this morning of Romans 13. This is a powerful chapter for Christ-followers to read frequently to be reminded of how our citizenship affects how people view our faith.
Verse 7 really stuck out for me today in what it does NOT say: Pay taxes … revenue … respect … honor to those who are WORTHY of them. Of course it would be silly (and illegal) for us to refuse to pay taxes because we don’t think the government is worthy or to refuse to pay our bills because we don’t think the vendor is worthy.
But somehow we have gotten the idea that we are only required to respect or honor those who are worthy of respect and honor. If they are not RESPECTABLE or HONORABLE in OUR eyes, we have no obligation.
There’s only one problem with that: there is no Scriptural basis for it. We are free to disagree and to express our disagreement. We are free to disobey (and suffer the consequences of disobedience) if what we are required to do violates what God’s word tells us to do. But God’s word is also clear that respect and honor are due.
I fear that some of us are delinquent in some of those areas. Spend 3 minutes on Facebook today for examples. You won’t need any more time than that.
Let us resolve to avoid late fees in all our accounts, especially the respect and honor ones.
Question: What is the first commitment you need to make to be sure that you are avoiding respect/honor account delinquencies?
Leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your perspective.
