And how do we know that God cares that much about the abuse of authority? Paul tells us in Romans 13: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; 4for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority* does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. 6For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing.” In other words, humans are given authority as servants of God; and if humans misuse that authority for their own purposes rather than in ways that mark them as “servants of God” (vs. 6 above), God’s wrath will be directed at such persons along with anyone who colludes with such abuse (such as the neighbor’s or father’s or son’s wife who doesn’t call out to her husband for help when the neighbor/son/father-in-law is attempting the rape).