“Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” 1 Peter 2:17
Conservative ex-rocker Ted Nugent recently described President Obama as a “subhuman mongrel.” Later he told Dallas-based talk radio host Ben Ferguson, “I do apologize—not necessarily to the president—but on behalf of much better men than myself.”
P.J. O’Rourke said, “Barack Obama is more irritating than the other nuisances on the left,” according to brainyquote.com
There is even a Facebook page called “People Against Our IDIOT President Obama.”
It doesn’t surprise me that people would make these kinds of comments about our president. People have probably said similar things about every president. But what grieves me is when I hear Christians making these kinds of comments about our president or posting comments like these on Facebook.
Peter told his readers to “honor everyone.” Then after exhorting them to “fear God,” he exhorted them to “honor the emperor.” Do you know who the emperor was when Peter wrote this? Nero. One of the most wicked tyrants in history. He executed opponents, persecuted Christians and even killed his own mother. It is reported that he had Christians dipped in oil or wax, impaled them on poles, and set them on fire as torches. In the Circus Maximus, he often wrapped them in animal skins and threw them to lions or dogs that tore them apart in front of the spectators. Yet Peter told believers to honor this man.
We must honor those in power above us because God placed them there and gave them their authority. Paul said, “For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1).
Therefore God calls us to honor President Obama. This does not mean we have to like him or agree with anything he does or believe he is a good president. But we must honor him in our hearts and with our speech. For a believer in Jesus to call President Obama an idiot is a sin, not just against the president but against God.
