Plainly Speaking
Title: The Woman in Charge of the Chicken
by Karl J. Forehand
The Woman in Charge of the Chicken
Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution,
whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him
for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For
such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance
of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering
for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all men; love the brotherhood,
fear God, honor the king. (1 Peter 2:13-17)
When Christian Herter was governor of Massachusetts, he was running hard
for a second term in office. One day, after a busy morning chasing votes
(and no lunch) he arrived at a church barbecue. It was late afternoon and
Herter was famished. As Herter moved down the serving line, he held out
his plate to the woman serving chicken. She put a piece on his plate and
turned to the next person in line.
“Excuse me,” Governor Herter said, “do you mind if I have another piece
of chicken?”
“Sorry,” the woman told him. “I’m supposed to give one piece of chicken
to each person.”
“But I’m starved,” the governor said.
“Sorry,” the woman said again. “Only one to a customer.”
Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this
time he would throw a little weight around.
“Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am the governor of this state.”
“Do you know who I am?” the woman said. “I’m the lady in charge of the chicken.
Move along, mister.”
Hierarchy of Leadership
For all of us there are people in charge of the chicken. God has established
leadership roles in all areas of our lives. We can’t get away from authority,
even at a church picnic. Teenagers often think they have to submit to authority
only because they are teenagers, but adults know that it only gets worse
when you become an adult. We have roles of authority in marriage. We have
employers, the tax man, and the law man. I’m just getting started – we
could literally fill the page with people we have to answer to. God has
place us under authority in all areas of our lives. What is God’s will?
The Will of God
The will of God, in this instance, is that by “doing
right” we will silence the talk of the foolish. What is doing right? In
this passage, doing right is submitting to authority. All situations have
challenges. Everyone has had a boss that was difficult. Everyone has had
a teacher or parent that seemed unfair. But, beware the easy solution to
the difficult problem. Do not repay evil for evil, the Bible says. We
must live by a higher standard and submit to those in authority. God’s
will is that when someone doesn’t like you – when someone tries to “bring
you down” -- when someone is too demanding – that they would have nothing
to say because of your excellent behavior. You can’t make them like you,
but you CAN make them respect you.
The Question of Freedom
Primarily, we are free from the bondage of sin and the law. God’s standard
still applies. We can’t use freedom as an excuse to do whatever we want.
We are free to serve the righteous King and He says to submit to all human
authority. You see, we can’t escape slavery, we just get to choose our
master. Freedom is not to do whatever I want. Rather, freedom is that
we are free to do the right things. We have liberty and freedom only as
long as we obey the rules.
What God Requires
1. Honor all men
We know this intellectually. We have to look after the poor. For the
sinner, we have to love the sinner and hate the sin. But, honoring means
to “value properly.” Don’t take off on a tangent. You may be tempted to
use this as an opportunity to judge and condemn; but that is not what it
means. To value people correctly is to see them the way God see them.
First, we honor God by seeing Him as God and all that that entails. In
addition, we must learn to see people like God see them.
Valuing people, like God does means that we must realize:
- God loves them all – even the ones we can’t stand
- Christ died for them all – even the ones we won’t acknowledge, Jesus gave
His life for
- No one is your slave, but you are to be servant of all
- God desires that ALL be saved
- Everyone has a need – or many needs
- Every person has worth and value to God
Leaders are people and they must be honored and valued like God honors
them. We have to love all men and women enough to see them like Christ
see them. It is an important step in recognizing the authority in our lives.
2. Love the Brotherhood
We must realize we are “in the same boat” with other believers. Sometimes,
believers are the toughest to love. Very often, it is easy to love the
destitute, sinner that doesn’t have any hope. But, it is often difficult
to love the guy next to us in church. The poet said,
To love the world for me is no chore,
My only problem is the guy next door.
Why is it tough to love (agape) the brotherhood of believers? One reason
is that God gave us a very tough job to do (evangelism and discipleship).
These commissions come with frustrations and heartaches. We often blame
and criticize those that need our encouragement most. God’s commands to
believers are clear: “Encourage,” “build each other up,” and “Walk in unity.”
As you honor all men, don’t forget that your church members need it to.
The leaders in your church are probably the most overworked, underpaid,
under appreciated leaders in your life. You have to honor the other authority
figures in your life, but your church leadership would probably appreciate
it most. Sadly, they may be the most neglected and the one who receives
the least honor in our society.
Ponder that for a while and see if you can’t do something today that will
change things.
3. Fear God
To fear God is to reverence Him; but it is also to fear Him. In Proverbs,
it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All our duties
and responsibilities should spring from our reverence for the Lord.
- we obey the law – not because we fear jail; but because we want to please
God
- we come to church – not to please the church or win an award; but because
God says it is vital to assemble together with other believers
- we love and serve others – not to be rewarded, because often we won’t
be recognized or appreciated. Welove and serve others because we desire
honor from God.
- We live morally – not to get ahead, but to get in line with God.
Honestly ask yourself this question: “Do I often fear people more than
God?” “Do I sometimes make decisions based on what people will think or
what they expect of me?” “Do I often neglect to consider God’s will and
plan for my life in my desire to please others?”
4. Honor the King
The high positions have large accountability. They deserve our respect.
We often don’t respect the person in the office, but we must respect the
office because God has put it there to govern us. Most often our leaders
don’t deserve our respect. We have to give honor out of our lave and respect
for God.
Let me close with the self-explanatory passage from Romans
13:
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities,
for there
is no authority except that which God has established.
The authorities
that exist have been established by God.
Consequently, he who rebels
against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted,
and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
For rulers hold
no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.
Do you want
to be free from fear of the one in authority?
Then do what is right
and he will commend you.
For he is God's servant to do you good.
But
if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.
He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities,
not only because
of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
This is also why
you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full
time to governing.
Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay
taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then
honor. (Romans 13:1-7)
We owe a debt to our God and our leaders to honor them. Honor ALL men.
Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King.
Karl J. Forehand, 2001
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