Salute the Rank, Not the Man

On praying for unjust rulers

This month’s guest post was written by my husband, Shawn. He is a man of God’s word and a powerful storyteller. As we consume news and countless opinions in these post-election days, I pray his words will bring you back to the center of our Christian duty toward our government: prayerful hearts rather than prattling tongues. (Note: this piece was written long before election day.)

One of my favorite TV shows of all time is Band of Brothers. It depicts the true story of “Easy” company during World War II. At the beginning of the story the central character Richard Winters is a lieutenant reporting to the commander of “Easy” company, Captain Sobel. The two have a strained relationship, in part because of Sobel’s poor leadership. They end up going their separate ways, and through a series of promotions Winters becomes a Major while Sobel remains a Captain.

Later, they encounter one another again and the now outranked Captain Sobel refuses to salute Major Winters. This kind of blatant insubordination was worthy of court martial. It would have been easy for Major Winters to make Sobel’s life miserable for this offense. Perhaps it would have even been deserved, given the way Sobel had treated him at the beginning of the war.

Instead, Major Winters calmly tells him “Captain Sobel, we salute the rank, not the man.”

In Scripture we see something similar in the life of David. Even though he had been anointed as Saul’s successor, David refused to kill his king. Even as Saul drove him into the wilderness, away from his family, David chose rather to suffer the injustice of Saul than raise his sword against him. When someone foolishly came to David and lied to him saying that he had killed Saul in hopes of a reward, David’s response was clear.

“How is it you were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the LORD’s anointed?” Then David called one of the young men and said, “Go, execute him.” And he struck him down so that he died. And David said to him, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, ‘I have killed the LORD’s anointed.’” (2 Samuel 1:14–16)

A similar situation occurred when the apostle Paul was brought before the high priest of Israel. The high priest didn’t like the defense Paul was making to the charges brought against him, so he ordered that Paul be struck. In response Paul said:

“God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Are you sitting to judge me according to the law, and yet contrary to the law you order me to be struck?”  Those who stood by said, “Would you revile God’s high priest?” And Paul said, “I did not know, brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’” (Acts 23:3–5)

David and Paul both understood the importance of respecting someone’s rank, even if the one who held it was not worthy of it. We are called to do the same today. However, our culture has made that calling anything but easy. In his book The 7 Resolutions Karl Clauson talks about how sensational media can be a “mental bully” that prevents us from Thinking Truth. One way that we can counteract the effects of that media, is to honor and respect the rank of those in leadership through prayer.

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:1–2)

Is there a politician you have been talking about more than praying for? How can you commit to a posture of prayer toward our government in the days ahead?