Our attitude reveals the condition of our hearts.

A poor attitude reveals a heart that is not fully engaged or in agreement with its circumstances or assignment. People who have a poor attitude usually do poor work and have strained relationships and are a drain on everyone else.

Attitudes are contagious.

People with negative attitudes can rub off on others, pulling down an entire community or team. Wise coaches and leaders must properly handle individual attitude problems before they escalate into something worse. Conversely, people who have a great attitude can lift a group.

How we think will eventually be reflected in the words we speak and the actions we take.

Principle #1: God uses authority to work for good in our lives.

The Bible teaches us that our attitude toward those in authority is crucial. This is because all authority is derived from God. As such, when we resist authority, we resist God.

Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. Romans 13:1 (NLT) 

Such a Biblical stance is based on the foundational doctrine of God’s sovereignty.

The Bible states unequivocally that God rules over all and works all things in accordance with his plans, even the things that we consider to be calamities.

Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission? 38  Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? 39  Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins? 40  Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD. Lamentations 3:37-40 (NLT)  

As followers of Christ, everything always works for our ultimate good.

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29  For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:28-29 (NLT) 

The good toward which God is always working is to conform us to Christ’s likeness on the inside. Therefore, using this divine logic, even when God allows evil people to be in authority over us, he still is working for our good.

Principle #2: Complaining against authority is dangerous to our well-being.

A second principle, therefore, is that to complain against those God has placed in authority over us is to complain against God and his plan for our lives, which is never a good idea.

The first being who is recorded to have had a bad relationship with authority is Satan. He rebelled and revolted against God directly and was forced out of God’s presence. He ultimately will  be consigned to the lake of fire. As mentioned before, bad attitudes are contagious. He passed his to Adam and Eve, who blamed God for their sin of rebellion. Adam blamed Eve, whom God had provided to be his helper/assistant/completer. In Adam’s mind, it was God’s fault that he disobeyed God, since God had provided him with Eve. Never mind that Adam chose to go along with her misguided revolt instead of using his influence to dissuade her. Such is the logic of the rebel. Bad attitudes toward authority produce bad words, which accuse, blame, or find fault with authority, which result in rebellious actions.

Thankfully, the converse is also true. A great attitude toward authority will produce wholesome words and positive acts of obedience. Jesus is our finest example. It was his delight to do everything he saw his Father doing and speak everything he heard his Father speak. His goal was to bring his Father glory, even when his Father’s will was extremely difficult and personally very costly.

No fear, pride, or resentment had any hold on Jesus; therefore, he did not fall to these three main temptations that can lead us into having a bad attitude toward authority. You and I, however, have to contend with each. The Bible gives us some clear examples of how not to relate to God’s delegated authority, as well as how to do it correctly.

The Fear Factor

Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur. They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water. 23  When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink. So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”). 24  Then the people complained and turned against Moses. “What are we going to drink?” they demanded. Exodus 15:22-24 (NLT)

There is nothing like a little adversity to bring out the rebel in all of us! This is especially true when our expectations are out of line with what God is doing in our lives. Many people think that God wants us to be trouble free. Nothing is further from the truth. Adversity is what tests and refines our character and transforms us into Christ’s image, which is one of God’s main goals for us during our short stay here on planet earth.

If self-preservation and a life of ease are our top priorities, we will surely become a complainer; but, if God’s glory and his will are our main objectives, we will be able to pass every test.

When things do not go as we expect, we often slip into fear and the blame game. Whoever is leading us when disappointment shows up will likely be the target of our anger and complaining.

When we actually have a problem with God, we will likely blame those in authority. They are convenient targets.

The Old Testament is full of examples of God’s people turning against delegated authority when things went south. Just read Exodus and Numbers to see first hand how poorly it went for the rebels. The takeaway is that God judges rebels, and it’s never a good thing to be their camp.

When Leaders Fall Short

How do we respond when leaders sin and disappoint us by their behavior?

Unless resentment is handled correctly, it can easily morph into bitterness. Untended offenses can propel us to criticize and judge our leader’s misdeeds in an effort to overthrow their authority under the camouflage of self-righteousness.

Let’s consider Absalom’s rebellion for an example. He was infuriated by his father David’s failure to punish his son by a different mother, Amnon, for raping Absalom’s sister by the same mother, Tamar. This was a major failure on David’s part. His reluctance to judge and punish Amnon may well have had its roots in his own previous moral failure with Bathsheba. It’s hard to be tough in an area where we required mercy. It was understandable that Absalom was upset. His sister had been grievously and criminally violated and the perp got away with it! This test revealed Absalom’s heart. It showed that he was filled with pride. He failed to realize his own need for mercy, which allowed him to become judge, jury, and executioner of someone else. Absalom’s resentment escalated into bitterness, hatred, and outright rebellion. He spoke against his father, hatched a plan to overthrow him, and undertook to oust him from being king and to put him to death.

Proverbs says:

A rebellious man seeks only evil, So a cruel messenger will be sent against him. Proverbs 17:11 (NASB) 

This is exactly what happened to Absalom. General Joab took care of the rebellion by eliminating the source of the infection, driving several spears into David’s embittered son as he hung by his hair in a tree. His pride, as exemplified by his long flowing hair, is what did him in. Ultimately bitterness is fueled by pride, and pride always precedes a fall.

One of Absalom’s chief co-conspirators was Ahithophel, Bathsheba’s grandfather. This man was reputed to be the wisest man in Israel, and his counsel was considered to be almost infallible. Despite his great wisdom, he also fell to the power of resentment and harbored bitterness toward David for having committed adultery with his granddaughter, Bathsheba, and murdering her husband, Uriah, who was one of the most faithful men in Israel. As with Absalom, Ahithophel had grounds for being upset with David, who had selfishly robbed his family of something precious. His inability to forgive David, even after God did, led to his downfall. His bitterness overcame his wisdom, leading him, against all wisdom, to join a plot against God’s appointed authority. As might be expected, things ended very poorly for Ahithophel. He committed suicide when he realized the coup would fail.

David sinned mightily against God, Absalom, Bathsheba, Uriah, and Ahithophel, indeed against the entire nation, for which he deserved to die according the Law of Moses. Nevertheless, after David repented of his sin, God forgave him and promised to spare his life and retain him as king. Absalom and Ahithophel were not able to go along with this act of mercy and demanded that David be punished with death. They were even willing to carry out the sentence themselves! Could anyone have had a more just sounding position than those two? Surely God must have been on their side in this matter. David needed to go! Or did he?

David had been in a similar position as Absalom and Ahithophel many years before when Saul betrayed the trust of the Israelites by putting his own goals ahead of God’s purposes. Saul tried to kill David on multiple occasions for no other reason than that David was favored by God and was suspected of being God’s choice to replace Saul. Surely Saul deserved to die for his transgressions! But David knew better than to show disrespect toward God’s appointed authority. He refused to take matters into his own hands. The Bible records an instance where David showed mercy to his master and refused to harm him when he could have.

Then David went out of the cave and called out to Saul, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed down and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. 9  He said to Saul, “Why do you listen when men say, ‘David is bent on harming you’? 10  This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, ‘I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the LORD’s anointed.‘ 1 Samuel 24:4-10 (NIV)

As a result, David’s eventual accession to the throne after Saul was killed in battle with the Philistines was not tainted by his having been an agent of rebellion against the sitting king earlier.

Later, during Absalom’s rebellion, David reaped, positively, what he had sown years before. When Absalom attacked Jerusalem, David cast himself upon the mercies and protection of God. Those who show mercy will receive mercy in return. Humility leads to greatness in God’s kingdom.

The moral of the story is that we must not take it upon ourselves to punish and oust God’s delegated authority over us, even when he or she may fail miserably.

God is perfectly capable of doing that himself.

Conclusion

Complaining against authority derives from a lack of faith in God’s sovereignty and his promise to work things for our good and his glory. It shows that we do not understand that all authority ultimately derives from God himself and must be respected. It reveals that we lack a proper fear of God regarding what happens to those who rebel against God’s delegated authority.

So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. Romans 13:2 (NLT) 

Since God’s Word is true, we know for sure that those who are actively resisting our government’s elected officials will suffer God’s judgment, even if they succeed for the short run. But what about us? If we are chronic complainers against authority, it is time to repent. Allow the Holy Spirit to examine your life. He is perfectly capable of making us aware of any shortcoming he wishes to expose. We don’t need to resort to becoming unduly introspective. It is not enough to merely repent, however. We should begin acting and speaking with an opposite spirit, respecting those in authority over us, even when we disagree with their actions and agenda.

Is there ever a time to resort to revolution and violence? Our founding fathers and many preachers of that day thought so, but others did not. Antifa thinks so. What about us? This is a gnarly question with which each of us must wrestle. If a government violates its own laws and becomes oppressive, does this give us the right to seek its overthrow? Our founding fathers thought so. What does the Bible say? Should our respect for authority always lead to passive acceptance of oppression, or should we defend the government from enemies on the inside, even elected officials who have violated their pledge to govern according to the Constitution?

The Jews fought against the repressive Roman government and suffered a massive judgment in 70 AD. The Christians living during that general time period suffered a great persecution under Emperor Nero, in which thousands were cruelly martyred for their faith in Christ. They did not rise up against Rome; yet, they still suffered. Jesus stood for God’s kingdom, incurring the wrath of the authorities of Israel and Rome, without showing disrespect or resorting to violence. As a result,  great violence was done to him. What is the paradigm for us believers going forward? Are we to be like sheep, as Paul wrote during the great persecution of Nero?

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36  (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37  No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. Romans 8:35-37 (NLT)

There may be coming a day when you and I will have to face these questions.

Now is the time to be seeking the Lord and to make sure our attitude toward God and his delegated authority is that which will bring honor to him and blessings to us.

If the day arrives for us to make momentous decisions regarding our stance toward an increasingly oppressive US government, may we make the wise decision and be on God’s side.

Prayer

Lord, I have been guilty of harboring a bad attitude toward those you have placed in authority over me. (Name them.) Also, help me to model what it means to have a proper attitude toward authority in the future. Let me become an asset to those you have placed over me, rather than a hindrance. Prepare me and those I love for whatever may be coming down the road. Show us what we need to know,  so that when the time arrives we will be secure in our position and know what to do. Amen.