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<\/a><\/p>\nToday is Inauguration Day.\u00a0 Swearing in a new president has often been seen as a rite of national renewal, the beginning of a new phase of American history.<\/p>\n
Not only is Joe Biden being installed into the presidency, but Donald Trump\u2019s presidency is ending.\u00a0 For many Americans, this will come as a great relief.\u00a0 I expect to hear lots of metaphors in the media about how the long national nightmare is over.\u00a0 But for many other Americans, the shutting down of Trump\u2019s presidency is cause for mourning, and their nightmare is just beginning.\u00a0 Still other Americans are somewhere in between, thinking that it\u2019s time for Trump to go, while also dreading what a Biden administration might do.<\/p>\n
Certainly, this Inauguration more than most signals a clear break from the past.\u00a0 In the previous Inauguration Days of this century, incumbents were re-elected and new presidents succeeded incumbents after their second term.\u00a0 This time the incumbent was turned out of office.\u00a0 Before, even when new parties took over, there was not so much political distance between the alternating presidents as there is today.\u00a0 This time, liberalism is completely triumphant over the whole government, while conservatism is in shambles.<\/p>\n
So this is a happy day for some Americans, for others. . .not so much.\u00a0 Let me address the latter, particularly my fellow conservative Christians.<\/p>\n
My father used to say that while you might not agree with the man who is president, you should still respect the office that he holds.\u00a0 That is how the \u201cGreatest Generation\u201d that fought in World War II used to think, back when Americans for all of their differences were unified in a common patriotism.<\/p>\n
I now understand that distinction between the person and the office much better than I did back then, thanks to my study of the doctrine of vocation.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s always the office that God uses and that should command our honor, not the imperfect person whom God has called into that office.\u00a0 This is true, according to Luther, even of the office of parenthood.\u00a0 He says in his discussion of the 4th commandment in the Large Catechism:<\/p>\n
We must, therefore, impress it upon the young that they should regard their parents as in God\u2019s stead, and remember that however lowly, poor, frail, and queer they may be, nevertheless they are father and mother given them by God. They are not to be deprived of their honor because of their conduct or their failings. Therefore we are not to regard their persons, how they may be, but the will of God who has thus created and ordained. (LC, 4th Commandment, para. 108)<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The offices of earthly government, Luther goes on to say, grow out of the vocation of parenthood.\u00a0 \u201c\u00a0<\/sup><\/a>In this commandment belongs a further statement regarding all kinds of obedience to persons in authority who have to command and to govern. For all authority flows and is propagated from the authority of parents\u201d (LC, 4th Commandment, para. 141<\/a>).<\/p>\n
So the 4th Commandment provisions apply to President Biden by virtue not of his person but of the office that he holds.\u00a0 That office also specifically entitles him to the \u201chonor\u201d mandated in 1 Peter 2:13-17:<\/p>\n
13\u00a0<\/sup>Be subject for the Lord\u2019s sake to every human institution,<\/em>[b<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0whether it be to the emperor[c<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0as supreme,<\/span>\u00a014\u00a0<\/sup>or to governors<\/em> as sent by him\u00a0to punish those who do evil and\u00a0to praise those who do good.<\/span>\u00a015\u00a0<\/sup>For this is the will of God,\u00a0that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.<\/span>\u00a016\u00a0<\/sup>Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but\u00a0living as servants[d<\/a>]<\/sup>\u00a0of God.<\/span>\u00a017\u00a0<\/sup>Honor everyone.\u00a0Love the brotherhood.\u00a0Fear God. Honor the emperor.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In Peter\u2019s day, the emperor was a very bad person with anti-Christian policies, but Christians are told to honor him nevertheless.\u00a0 And not just him, but \u201cevery human institution\u201d\u2013which would include America\u2019s political institutions\u2013and to \u201cgovernors\u201d sent by God in general, which would include American presidents.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, President Biden will, by virtue of his office, be entitled to our prayers:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFirst of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people,<\/span>\u00a0<\/sup>for kings and all who are in high positions\u201d (1 Timothy 2:1-2).<\/span><\/p>\n
The bottom line is, we Christians should honor and pray for President Biden, even if we disagree with him, for the sake of his office.<\/p>\n
These Scriptures hit me hard as Law, making me realize that I have sinned against them many times over many administrations.<\/p>\n
But, through Christ\u2019s grace and forgiveness, I am resolving to try to do better in regards to this new president.\u00a0 I know we keep hearing about what people think he is going to do, but the truth is, he hasn\u2019t done anything yet as president.\u00a0 So we should give him a chance.\u00a0 I\u2019ll support him when he does something that I think is good, though I\u2019ll also criticize him when he does something I think is bad.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll try not to ridicule him, make him a target of invective, or slander him.<\/p>\n
Biden says he wants to unify the country.\u00a0 Good.\u00a0 I hope he does.\u00a0 I\u2019ll co-operate with that if I can.\u00a0 He\u2019ll have to overcome both the hostility from the right and the pressure from the left to punish all of us evildoers.\u00a0 If he can pull that off, I\u2019ll have a lot of respect for him.\u00a0 If not, I\u2019ll pity him.<\/p>\n
His greatest fault is his advocacy of abortion, and my greatest fear about his administration is that it will normalize, promote, and fund this horrible evil.\u00a0 And yet, he used to be pro-life.\u00a0 He is a vocal, church-going Catholic, a religious tradition that, for all of its faults, is resolutely pro-life.\u00a0 In his continual attendance at services and as he experiences the stress and trials of his office and turns to his church for strength, he could be won back to the ethics of Catholicism.\u00a0 We should pray for that.<\/p>\n
So I\u2019ll listen to his Inauguration speech, allow myself the thrill of patriotism from the historical moment, wish the best for him, and pray that he will be good for our poor, troubled nation.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Photo:\u00a0\u00a0Glyn Lowe PhotoWorks from lisbon, Portugal, CC BY 2.0 <https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons<\/em><\/p>\n
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Joe Biden will be inaugurated into the presidency today. This will bring joy to many Americans and sorrow to others. But the doctrine of vocation teaches Christians how we can distinguish between the office and the person who holds it. Scripture enjoins us to honor and pray for those in high office, even though we may disagree with what they do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":53223,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,15,19,20,27,34,35,36,48],"tags":[2972,5136,10449,10446,4359],"class_list":["post-53149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","category-bible","category-ethics","category-government","category-history","category-life-issues","category-personal","category-philosophy-2","category-politics","category-vocation","tag-christianity-and-government","tag-inauguration-day","tag-person-and-office","tag-president-joe-biden","tag-vocation"],"yoast_head":"\n
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