Good Governance Begins With Knowledge

How Superiors, Inferiors, and Equals Must Seek Their Place

Good Morning,

We are going to do something a little bit different today for our look at the Larger Catechism. In the act of taking questions out of order it may seem as if we are doing violence to the original intent of the writers. If they wanted  to keep the scope and the definition of the fifth command together they would of done so. Why should I feel the right to divide them? It’s a good inquiry worthy of an explanation. Simply put the breaking up of a multi-year look of 196 questions is going to mean that some decisions will be necessary in order to better explain the totality of the purpose of the Christian religion for believers and unbelievers alike. When it comes to this part of the law some terms are going to be used that are wildly foreign to the way we talk today, for good or for ill. Any conversation that gets into hierarchy, roles, and place is going to receive some pushback, since nearly all of our agencies and corporations operate with a strict conception of egalitarianism, that is that men, women, children, etc... are equal in such a way that any talk of difference is seen as demeaning or derogatory. Yet, we will see that the Bible is anti-egalitarian in a number of important ways.

In our walk through these three catechism questions we’ll see a couple of things that will neuter any conversation that the WLC is in any way making ontological statements about worth or value, one to another. However, what we will notice is that God has a purpose in not only making us different, but giving each of us unique roles to play in His kingdom. Our faith is patriarchal and it is so because God is God and we are not. Let’s get into the Q/A’s so we can talk more:

Q. 123. Which is the fifth commandment?

A. The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

Q. 124. Who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment?

A. By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God’s ordinance, are over us in place of au­thority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth.

Q. 126. What is the general scope of the fifth commandment?

A. The general scope of the fifth commandment is, the performance of those duties which we mutu­ally owe in our several relations, as inferiors, superiors, or equals.

As you can probably tell from the middle of the three questions there are some assumptions made about the way God made the world that need defined. The goal of the fifth command is to establish a couple of things, 1) That there are three areas of life (family, church, state) and that each of these areas of life have roles, responsibilities, and calling that will include certain truths that everyone in each of those planes will need to humbly accept if those three areas are to flourish and benefit each member of the group. 2) That the more clear we all are on this, the better it will be for all.

You can hear a bit of Paul’s concern in 1 Cor. 12 and the illustration of the different parts of the body. There is also some received wisdom in that if everyone is in charge, than no one is. Families, congregations, and the State all work best when lanes are fully comprehended and followed. Imperial movements to overwhelm superiors by inferiors, or the other way around are sure to end in judgment and anarchy. Being who we are is a blessed value to all.

To belay the point a bit if no one followed the rules on the road we’d all be dead. In other words if the yellow line becomes a tool of the patriarchy then disowning it on the basis of misguided feminism would result in a Subaru/F-150 head-on merger. The excessive image gets to the heart of the matter. God gives us rules in society for our own good. Men are to be men, women are to be women, and kings are to be kings, and servants are to be servants. There is no denying that this is the natural order of things. We remember that the Ten Commandments are not a response to sin, but are the very character of the Lord laid out for us to follow and be conformed to. If we would stand in authority over the law then we have become a law unto ourselves. We are in rebellion and there is no daylight between us and the devil. I wonder how a breaker of the revealed word is planning on speaking to the Creator about their dislike of the way He operates? Just as an FYI to those of our day who bristle at any conception of an ordered hierarchy. Honor means respect and dignifying the role God has in His world by submission in thanksgiving for His loving gift in openly showing us His ways and manner. Being ourselves is a good for all.

As we get into the particularities of what Superiors, Inferiors, and Equals are something that needs explained in the preliminaries is that care must be taken that we understand that each of these dynamics are fluid based on the circumstance of the family, church, and civil realm. For instance, Gov. Henry McMaster is the Superior of the Elders at 1^st ARP Church in Columbia, SC when it comes to his position as governor of South Carolina. However, he is their Inferior when it comes to access to the table of the Lord’s Supper. He cannot use his authority granted by the State to overthrow the right of Christ’s officers to guard the table, if necessary. Likewise, Gov. McMaster is the equal to every father in that congregation. His position as governor, or as a former elder at 1^st Cola, does not mean he gets to be father over all the children. He is only the father of his own kids. All the fathers are equal in their power in their own homes, but that influence does not extend, outside of being a good example, to the home of a non-elder, or non-governor in the dwellings of other men. Truly, in that case, every man is king of his castle.

In closing, we’ve briefly scratched the surface on what is certain to be a bit controversial. We as a church, a nation, and in our families have wandered so far off the reservation here that when we are shown the true and the beautiful we react as those who’ve spent a lot of time in the mines in their first contact with light. Let us be slow to speak, quick to listen, and hopeful in grace.

A word more:

https://gentlereformation.com/2022/07/08/the-fifth-commandment/

Blessings in Christ,

Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Pastor, Bethany ARP Church