I wonder how that last statement (particularly the interjection “and this reason alone!”) can cohere with Paul’s implication that at least one reason to be subject to authority is simply that it is “what God has instituted.” It is a bit too paradoxical, even for a German, to say that God instituted these things for no reason other than to undermine them.

Nevertheless I find the general thrust of the quote compelling. It questions who we are living for – ourselves, or God and others? We often think about subjection to authority and related concepts in terms of our own rights. We rarely ask questions about the good we might be able to do in imperfect circumstances that we wouldn’t be able to do outside of them.