Last week, I talked to a faithful, gospel-centered pastor of a growing church in Moscow about how his past year has gone.

“I bet you feel like Dietrich Bonhoeffer,” I told Evgeny Bakhmutsky.

“I re-read much of him this past year,” he confirmed.

As a Christian in the midst of a war conflict, Bakhmutsky has cried and prayed. His church helped so many Ukrainian refugees that “we gave our hearts and resources, everything we could.” He’s continued to preach the gospel to church members that include civil servants and people who do not support government actions, women whose relatives are fighting in the Russian army and women whose husbands fled the country to avoid conscription into a conflict they believe is immoral.

So it was fascinating for me to read Bakhmutsky’s take on Paul’s command to “be subject to the governing authorities” (Rom. 13:1) in this widely-sourced and thoughtful piece from Elliot Clark.

Every one of us lives under a sinful and corrupt government, Clark writes. If you’re struggling with how to respond to yours, the principles he gleans from global church leaders offer clarity, perspective, and encouragement.