Christians always have had to consider how best to relate to the authorities in their society. Regardless of whether the government is democratic or dictatorial, ruled by a king or by popular consensus, there has been the question of how much a follower of Jesus should be supportive or subversive and when to be which. This precisely is the issue being addressed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans. In the heart of a great but oppressive empire, the new believers in Rome were figuring out what it means to be a follower of Jesus being ruled by pagan (and at times even anti-Christian) governmental officials. Paul urges the believers to trust that even pagan rulers were part of God's "gift" of government, to be the best of all citizens, and to apply the power of God's love to their involvement in the institutions of society.
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