What Rights?

When your kids get to be teenagers, they begin spreading their wings. This is healthy. It is expected. It is even desired. A parent’s job is to raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We are to make sure they become responsible, Christian adults. Therefore, as hard as it may be to let go of them, their blossoming independence is both important and necessary. The other day, though, my son declared to me that “we had all reached the point where we needed to give each other proper consideration.” My son can be eloquent when he wants to be – or when he wants to avoid appearing as if he is challenging my parental authority. I wasn’t fooled. I knew that what he meant was “I have the right to make my own choices.” You can imagine the discussion that ensued.

It is interesting how we – specifically citizens of the United States – like to rely upon our rights. We believe in our rights. We incorporated many of them into our Constitution and declared them to be “God-given”. My son believed simply through no other reason than he had successfully lived to be (almost) seventeen years of age that he had earned the right for additional freedom of choice. I very quickly responded that he had no rights and no authority except that which I, as his father, had granted him. It may appear as if he has the freedom to make certain choices, but every decision he makes only carries weight if it is backed by my support. If I endorse it, it stands. If I veto it, it falls. I may choose to grant him certain authority to make decisions on his on, but until he becomes a legal adult, I can take that authority away at any point. That may sound harsh, and he took it poorly at first, until I explained it to him more fully.

You see. I have no authority either – except that which is granted to my by my authorities – which are first and foremost God and secondly the United States of America. At any point either God or the United States may take away my authority. Every decision I make only carries weight if it is backed by the support of those in authority over me. Yet even the authority of the United States only carries weight because of the authority of (first and foremost) God and (secondly) the populace. We are all under authority and none of us have any rights except those which are granted to us by grace. Ultimately, all authority belongs to Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18), yet even that authority was granted to him by God the Father (Ephesians 1:20-21).

Too often, we want to claim for ourselves authority and rights that have not been granted to us. We want to rebel against those who are in authority over us. 2 Peter 2:9-10 says

“…the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the Day of Judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority…”

In Romans 13:1-2, Paul explains that governmental authority is granted by God and we are bound to that authority. Romans 13:2 actually tells us that rebellion against authority is essentially rebellion against God, since he instituted that authority. In fact, it is a fairly uniform theme throughout the New Testament that we are to submit to our authorities. In my study of scripture, the only occasions where I have found such disobedience to be sanctioned were situations where the government officials ordered the apostles to stop preaching the gospel.

So the authority that we have is only ours because someone else (ultimately God) has granted it to us. Unfortunately, even our concept of that very authority is often skewed. We often think of “rights” in the context of human selfishness. What do I deserve? What is coming to me? The only rights we have as Christians, however, are those which are related to our heavenly adoption, namely our eternal inheritance (see Galatians chapter 4) - the right to be called a child of God, the right to receive eternal life, etc.

By contrast. our earthly authority is granted for the benefit of others, not for our own selfish use. Romans 13 explains that governmental authority is granted for the purpose of doing good for the people. Even our personal authority is granted for the purpose of building up others (see 2 Corinthians 13:10). On occasion I tease my kids by telling them that the only reason I had them was because I needed someone to do all my grunt work. Of course that is a joke and I know better. If I tell them to take out the trash because I am teaching them discipline and work ethic, then I am doing good. But if I tell them to take out the trash because I am lazy and don’t want to do it myself, then I am abusing the authority that God has granted to me as their father. Likewise, I should be giving my son certain considerations; not because he deserves it, but because he needs to learn to be a responsible adult.

I guess the thing to remember is this: We have no rights in the human sense, and any authority we may have is only granted to us by the grace of God for the benefit of others. Sort of puts things in proper perspective, doesn’t it?