One of the realities I find most frustrating in a switch from a Republican to a Democrat presidential administration is the speed at which Evangelicals drop all references to Romans 13 from our vocabulary.

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While a Republican is in office, any time one of us wants to critique the administration, we're met with "Ah, but Romans 13 says the government is appointed by God!"

The implication is that faithfulness to the government (and specifically the administration in power) is faithfulness to God.

But the very moment a Democrat is elected to power, this rhetoric vanishes, and we act as though it had never existed.

I remember the first time I read 1984, and scoffed at how quickly the people of Oceania shifted from anti-Eastasia to anti-Eurasia as unrealistic.

I didn't understand ideology then. As @DavidDark writes: https://twitter.com/DavidDark/status/1031185826770808833

I'd add (at the risk of stating the obvious) that ideology is also collective. My ideology sits between me and the Scriptures, shaping what even makes it from my eye to my spirit.

These folks who forget Romans 13 at the drop of a ballot aren't being intentionally disingenuous. We have an ideological idol problem.

I'm increasingly convinced the answer isn't arguing rationally (though pointing out hypocrisy and contradiction has a long prophetic history). Because the problem isn't the specific text. It's the ideology.

All that to say: we have a lot of work to do. If, like me, you're an Evangelical, it begins in our own house.

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