CHAPTER 11
“I'm Above the Law.”
You may never had heard anyone say this out loud, but most lifestyle criminals believe that they are entitled to violate the laws of society and the rights of others. They believe that the laws don’t actually apply to them. And the more they get away with breaking the law, the more they do it.
Before you get on your high horse and say, “I would never do such a thing,” examine your own conscience. Have you ever under-reported your income when you submitted your taxes? Did you ever over-claim your expenses? Sometimes we feel “entitled” to do this because we don’t approve of the way the government spends our tax dollars. Or we think we already pay too much in taxes anyway. But if you’re audited, and investigators determine you willfully defrauded the government, you could be looking at 75% in penalties plus jail time.
As drivers, we’ve all subconsciously considered ourselves to be above the law at some point in time. Have you ever parked in a no parking zone or a handicap spot, because you’re “just going to be gone a minute”? When a traffic light turned yellow, did you ever punch the gas and breeze on through the “pink” light instead of slowing down to stop? Did you ever roll through a stop sign without making a complete stop, if no one was around? Have you ever gone over the speed limit because you were running late, or because everyone else was going a zillion mph over? When you were younger, did you ever get behind the wheel after a few too many drinks thinking, “I can drive myself home; I’m not really drunk”? Many of us have routinely broken traffic laws without seeing any consequences and thought, “If no one gets hurt, does it really matter?”
In other words, it’s not just criminals that operate under this thinking error. We’ve been guilty of this as well. But the fact is, no one is above the law, any law … not a high-ranking politician, not a priest, not a police officer, not a millionaire, not a celebrity, not a lawyer, and certainly not criminals. We are all accountable for our actions.
From a Biblical perspective, submission is the proper response of the believer to those who in a position of authority over us. We are to obey man’s laws as though they are God’s laws. Submission to civil authorities facilitates the task God has given to those who govern, to punish the wicked and protect the righteous.
Continue to Chapter 12
