I'm not Telling the Title — Read and You Shall Find

March, 2010

by: Jack Hughes

I am sitting in my cozy room at Junior and Senior High Winter Camp. Being the speaker, they have pampered me to the point of embarrassment. My room is quite unlike the students and counselors’ quarters, which are stuffed with bunk beds, dirty socks, and the smell of damp clothing. Instead I am enjoying what might be described as a cozy little apartment, like a very nice hotel room with refrigerator, microwave, and coffee maker. A basket full of every kind of hot drink imaginable, coffee, cocoa, and teas of all kind sits on the kitchen table. In the bedroom section there is another basket full of chocolates, candies, and fruits, provided by the camp to bless visiting speakers.

I wish my wife was here, but alas I sit at the small kitchen table alone, looking out the windows at the forests wet with rain. Live oak trees surround the cabin, their branches shorn of their leaves by the fall frost, carpet the ground. Amidst the leaves are the remains of acorns, carefully picked through by the squirrels and deer. I don’t know how, but they know which acorns are edible and which ones have a rotten seed or have been eaten by a worm from within. The wind is blowing. It is cold, just above freezing, depriving us of much desired snow. I got up early, made some tea, prayed, and have gone over my sermon notes for this morning’s talk. We will be leaving today about noon to head back to the big city. A bittersweet reality that must be faced.

Knowing this review needed to be written, I decided to seek help from some of the selfless servants here at camp. “What should I address in this Review?,” was my question. Natasha Bowen thought about it for a day and suggested that I write this Review on, “Speeding – Is it a Sin?” At her utterance of these words, I must confess, a small knot began to form in the pit of my stomach. I have known someone, who on occasion, or to be completely honest, quite regularly, has purposefully gone 5 miles per hour over the speed limit. This particular individual, who will remain unnamed, would find it quite convicting to do something like write an article against themselves, hypothetically speaking. And knowing that many are like him, this particular individual knows that others would not enjoy having their unhallowed ground plowed up by the Word. This is why I purposefully did not state the title of this Review. I knew it would scare those off who would need to read it the most. But now that you have already gotten started, why not finish what you have begun? I know, it may be a bit painful, but “even Christ learned obedience through the things He suffered” (Heb. 5:8).

Here is the plan. I will first address what the Word of God says about obeying the governing authorities. You may already know what the Bible says, but I will remind you anyway just in case you have set up a system of denial in your mind. Then, I will attempt to anticipate some of the common objections and justifications people use for speeding. To modify the utterance of Hugh Latimer to Nicolas Ridley before they were both burnt at the stake, “Be of good courage fellow speeders, and play the man! Reading this Review might light such a holy conviction in your heart as I trust shall keep you from ever speeding again!”

God Says Obey the Governing Authorities

During Jesus’ earthly ministry the religious leaders were trying to discredit Him. Seeking to entrap Jesus, they asked Him if it was lawful to pay taxes to Rome. If He said, “Yes” they knew it would anger the multitudes and if He said, “No” they could turn Him into the Roman officials for telling people not to pay taxes. In their minds, they had set a trap Jesus could not escape from. In Matt. 22:17-22 we read:

Tell us therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.” And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar's.” Then He said to them, “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's.” And hearing this, they marveled, and leaving Him, they went away.

Notice that Jesus advocated submitting to even a wicked government by paying taxes! Some have tried to justify not paying taxes because the government uses our tax money for evil purposes. Yet Jesus taught that it is our responsibility to pay taxes and the government’s responsibility to use the money in a God honoring way. Even if tax money is used for evil, God still wants us to pay our taxes.

Now you might be thinking to yourself right now, “But let us not forget, that Jesus was under the law. He hadn’t died yet. The Gospels are still in the Old Testament era. We are no longer under the law system of Moses.” It is true we are under the law of Christ, but it is not true that Jesus’ teachings in the Gospel do not apply. In the great commission of Mt. 29:19-20 Jesus says we are to make disciples, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” And this is exactly what we see in the letters to the churches. In Rom. 13:1-7 Paul says:

Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience` sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

Here we see again, the same teaching of Jesus in the Gospels. Christians are to submit to, pay taxes to, give customs to, fear to, and give honor to the governing authorities. Paul wrote this about Rome, a very wicked government that persecuted Christians. The proper Christian response to government laws is to submit. Why? Because God raises up all authorities and rulers (Isa. 40:23-24). He even uses evil rulers for His purposes.

In Titus 3:1-2 Paul gives this instruction to Christians: “Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.”

Again we see God wants us to subject ourselves and obey the rulers and governing authorities. We are not to speak ill of them, be contentious, harsh, or treat them with unkindness. And if you think that Paul may have been a bit biased, being a Roman Citizen and all, hear the Word of God through Peter who said in I Pet. 2:13-17:

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.

So we can see that obeying the governing authorities is God’s will for every Christian, unless the governing authorities ask Christians to sin against God. Then Christians must obey God, rather than men (Acts 4:18-20; 5:27-32). So what do the governing authorities tell us about speeding? The California State Driver’s Handbook states, “Driving faster than the posted speed limit or than is safe for current conditions, on any road, is dangerous and illegal.” There you have it—NO SPEEDING! I know, it hurts, selah – pause and meditate! I know that right now your sin-justifying heart is saying…

But What About…?

“What if everyone else is speeding? Shouldn’t we “go with the flow?” Contrary to popular myth, driving over the speed limit while “going with the flow” is still illegal. Your chances of getting a speeding ticket are less, but the Christian is not to live by the philosophy of “What can I get away with without getting caught?” The Christian obeys the governing authorities out of love for God who says to obey them. Our motive for obeying the governing authorities should be to show our love to and glorify God. The governing authorities say, NO SPEEDING!

“If the government doesn’t enforce a law, like speeding, why obey?” The answer is simple, because God commands you to obey the governing authorities. Illegal immigration is a case in point. California knows that there are millions of illegal aliens living in the state. They know that in many cases these illegal aliens are being paid under the table by crooked employers. Yet the government has been very lax about enforcing this law. In fact, when President Bush discussed instituting strong measures to stop illegal aliens from entering the country, there was an outcry, from the illegal aliens and those who pay them under the table. Some reason that because many get away with a crime, therefore all should get away with a crime. The solution of course is to either enforce the law, or do away with it. For the Christian, as long as laws are in place, God’s plan is for them to be obeyed, which means – NO SPEEDING!

Another may argue saying, “No one can be expected to drive the exact speed limit all the time, besides, every one’s speedometer is probably off a little.” This is true. And the government recognizes this. This is why they extend grace and don’t usually give speeding tickets for people who drive 5 miles per hour over the speed limit or less. They realize people need to speed up to pass, that it is impossible to drive the exact speed limit all the time, and that some cars have speedometers that are off a little. But as the Apostle Paul said in Rom. 6:1-2, “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be!” Speeding—is it a sin? This is not a hard question to answer from the Scriptures. What is hard are the hearts of men who want to go faster than the governing authorities allow. Hopefully you have learned two valuable lessons from this Calvary Review. First, if you ever have to write an article for the Review, don’t ask anyone for ideas, it can be very painful. Secondly, God’s will for all Christians is—NO SPEEDING! I leave you now to lick my wounds, confess my sins, and pray for further sanctification. In all Christian affection, your fellow transgressor.