Man The Barricades? (2.Peter 11.11-17)
As somebody who has a natural distrust of government, and people in positions of power, today’s reading from 1 Peter is one, when taken at face value I substantially struggle with. On the face of it disagree with. With the local elections coming up, it’s good for us as Christians to reflect on things such as power and authority, who has it? Who do we give it to? Where do we get it from? Now I’m not suggesting that we should take up arms against the government and form barricades around City Hall, like a Norwich version of Les Mis. ‘Do you hear the people sing, ‘cause they haven’t emptied the bin.’ But I think when we look at this letter within its context then it makes much more sense and is much more agreeable to those of us with a slightly less obedient mentality, when it comes to earthly government. What I don't think this letter is saying, is that we have to blindly obey those in authority. We’re not sure exactly who wrote this letter. Lots of scholars are unsure abou...