Man Code entries are designed for parents or adults seeking to mold young boys into strong Christian men. Previous entries can be found here.

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Romans 13:1

Son, I’ve got some bad news for you. Do you know that part of life where you don’t like others telling you what to do? Maybe it’s an older sibling who think he or she is an extra parent. It’s definitely your parents who tell you what to do all the time. Or maybe it’s a teacher or a coach who is always giving you instructions. If you’re a normal adolescent boy, then you’ve probably dreamt of the day when you can finally grow up, move out of the house, and never have to take orders again!

Well, that’s the bad news. The truth is, you’ll always be under authority. If you spend your entire life trying to run away from all authority and only doing whatever you want to do all the time, there’s a special place in society for people like that, it’s called prison. As much as you might not like taking orders from other people, you’re going to have to get used to it. The benefit you have right now is that the people in authority over you have your concerns in mind. Some day it won’t always be like that. When you finally leave the house and live on your own, your new authorities will be the bank that own your house, the government that wants their taxes and the boss at work that may or may not like you. And for your entire life, you’ll always be under the authority of God.

So, the key isn’t to try and get to a place where no one tells you what to do, because that place doesn’t exist. There’s a part of every young man that wants to rebel and be their own master, to not take orders from anyone. But that desire is not from God, it’s what the Bible calls the ‘flesh,’ the sinful part of you that needs to be defeated inside of you. The key is to learn how to live under authority now, while your authorities (parents, teachers, coaches) love you and have your best interests in mind.

As Romans 13:1 says every authority over you ultimately comes from God Himself, so when you rebel against your parents, you’re ultimately rebelling against God. And trust me, son, that won’t work out well for you in the end. I’m not saying that submitting to the authorities in your life will be easy or even enjoyable, but it’s necessary. It’s how the world has been established by God, and the sooner you can learn to properly and respectfully live under authority, the farther along in life you’ll go. If you want to talk to folks who never listened to authority and always did whatever they wanted, go talk to the men stuck in prison.

QUESTION: Who’s an authority in your life that you’ve been struggling to obey? What’s something you can do today to start living under authority?