BIBLICAL BRIEFS 109
The payment of e-toll is as an example a controversial issue, especially because most of us struggle with the explicit, unambiguous guideline of Rom. 13: 1-8: “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behaviour, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe nothing to anyone …” There are certain cases where the government is corrupt, where the emperor is naked and sly, the tax systems are unfair and tyrannical for most people, and therefore civilian resistance at all levels is necessary to put an end to abuse, and oppose the injustices and greed of the trough-eaters of a system under siege. But as in the case of Daniel and Joseph, Christians are expected to serve God worthily, also within the framework of any unfair government system under which they are called to live. Joseph became the prime minister of pagan Egypt without giving up his faith and was used powerfully to save his fellow Hebrews from famine. Daniel had fearlessly testified of the omnipotence and sovereignty of God in the pagan courts of Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar and Darius, and he had been promoted to the highest rank in government because “the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, And bestows it on whom He wishes And sets over it the lowliest of men.” (Dan. 4:17). Pharaoh was elected by God (Rom. 9:17), as well as Cyrus (Isa. 44:28), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:37-38), as was Verwoerd and Zuma. When Jesus appeared before Pilate, He emphasized that the country’s authority was instituted by God: “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:11). But does it mean law-abiding citizens may not show their displeasure through civil resistance? Rosa Parks did exactly that when she sat down on a bus reserved for whites only. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jnr. acted likewise; the hunger strikers in captivity, the eco-activists who tie themselves to a tree, are protesting in a practical manner; Anglican bishop David Russell when he laid in front of bulldozers in 1977 when they wanted to level houses under the Group Areas Act; HD Thoreau when he refused to pay tax for a town that supported slavery; the Khwezi activists have created an enormous awareness without saying a word … The list is long and often heroic. E-toll then? Every believer must decide according to his personal conscience, in spirit and truth, what to do, or not do. That is the question
Dr Tom Gouws
