Tag Archives: civil disobedience

Kingdom of God 6

Church, Church Bulletin, Culture, Daily living, God, Government

.”..be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

Daniel 3:18

“But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”

Acts 5:29

The Kingdom of God reigns above any government of mankind. Earthly rule protects the believer from the avarice, greed, and violence of the worldly person who has no respect for God’s laws. The Christian is to be subject to those laws. However, when man’s laws contradict or oppose God’s laws, we must refuse to obey the government. Today, some engage in violent opposition to the government at the drop of a hat. They wrap themselves in the banner of the divine while breaking civil laws. We must not do likewise. The decision to engage in civil disobedience must come only after a careful study of the Bible.

Civil disobedience did not begin in the 1950s and 1960s with the civil rights movement or the anti-war protest movement. The two verses above show that resisting the authority of the state has been established for a very long time.  For us, we must take care to avoid a flippant appeal to disobedience. I offer three ideas to consider.

Civil Disobedience Requires the most Extreme Circumstances

God’s people have often found themselves in dire straits. They were attacked by other nations (Judges 4:2; 6:1; 10:7 et al.), enslaved (2 Kings 25), opposed by religious leaders (Acts 4:1-3), arrested and executed by kings (Acts 12:1-3) and generally persecuted by authorities (Hebrews 11:32-40). Despite all the opposition, civil disobedience was uncommon.

In Daniel 3, the king demanded that the Hebrews worship his pagan god. In Acts 5, the religious leaders demanded the apostles to stop preaching the gospel. In the USA, the Constitution constrains the government from issuing such orders. The time may come when such restraint is removed, but for now, we are blessed. Only an extraordinary assault on our faith would justify lawless opposition.

Civil Disobedience Is a Last Resort

Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not initiate a confrontation. It arose as a response to their obedience to God. Obedience drove their actions, not publicity. Had the rulers left them alone, there would have been no clash. History records that when Rome tried to prevent Christians from worshipping,  they assembled in hiding.

Another blessing of our nation is the right to petition the government for redress (relief) from burdensome rules. Last week, a federal judge slammed the door on attempts by New York to single out houses of worship for restrictions during the health crisis. Often, our complaints are better addressed in venues other than the media or the street.

Only after using venues of appeal and discussion may the Christian resort to civil disobedience. It is a tactic of last resort.

Civil Disobedience Demands Careful Consultation with the Lord

Before a person willingly breaks the law under God’s banner, he had best be sure his actions have divine approval. Daniel and the apostles were inspired. They received truth directly from on high. We do not. However, we have the inspired word of God that guides us into all truth (John 16:13; 2 Peter 1:19-21). How foolish to charge into lawbreaking without a knowledge of the word of God. So, the one planning disobedience does so only after an intense study and researching of God’s word.

Equally important is a prayerful spirit. Just as Bible study must be intense, our prayers must be fervent. Only then, after prayer and study, may we solemnly engage the exceptional act of disobedience. That prayer and study must be motivated by a desire to know truth. Approaching the Scriptures or bowing in prayer with our minds already made up is dangerous. We must seek to know the will of the Lord, not to find confirmation of our ideas.

Let us earnestly seek to be subject to the laws of government while being faithful to the real king, Jesus!

What are your thoughts? Please comment.

Abortion and Pro-Life

Abortion,

The slaying of George Tiller has caused an odd twist in the abortion debate. Those in favor of abortion rights are complaining about the taking of his life while some in the pro-life community have taken a more relaxed few of his murder. To be fair, those opposing abortion who accept murder are very few but their existence is highlighted by left leaning reporters and give the false impression that all of us approve of murder. Also, those who support abortion do not all support the idea of partial-birth abortion. Nevertheless, the abortion supporters are winning the media contest. What happened was terribly wrong and must not be accepted or condoned.

Continue reading Abortion and Pro-Life →

Civil Disobedience

Church Bulletin, Culture,

The willful disobedience of civil laws as a means of protest has a long and established history among world governments. Mahatma Ghandi, a civil organizer of the first half of the 20th century may be the best known advocate for civil disobedience. Known as the Father of India, Ghandi fought against an oppressive system through the use of targeted civil disobedience coupled with an absolute demand for non-violence in all protests. In this country, Martin Luther King Jr. was an advocate of civil disobedience as well and used the protests of the late 1950’s and 60’s to protest racial inequality.

Others have stood beneath the banner of civil disobedience but have allowed and even encouraged violence as part of their protests. These sorts of organizations are today better known as domestic terrorist fronts. With the last month, numerous preachers have joined the ranks of civil disobedients by violating IRS rules and regulations regarding political activities by organizations receiving tax exemptions from the federal government. Is there a place for civil disobedience in Christianity? If so, what guidelines must we employ to decide if civil disobedience is appropriate?

The Bible clearly teaches that civil government is ordained or approved by God. Writing to Christians just prior to the outbreak of Nero’s awful persecutions against Christians, Paul said, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God” (Romans 13:1). Jesus instructed his followers to pay taxes to government when he proclaimed, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars and unto God the things that are God’s” (Mark 12:17). The Egyptians were harsh masters over the Israelite tribes. The cry of persecution was heard by God and Moses was sent to deliver them (Exodus 3:7, Exodus 3:9). The Israelites were so numerous that the Pharaoh of the day imprisoned them so they could not fight against them (Exodus 1:9-11). Yet the masses of Israelites were never disobedient to the Egyptians. Even though God’s plan was to bring them out, God never directed any form of civil disobedience against Egypt. We may conclude that the mere harshness, incivility or godlessness of a government toward its subjects is no reason for civil disobedience.

There are at least two examples of “approved” civil disobedience which will guide our discussion. In Daniel 3, Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar erected a great idol image and give orders that all must worship the idol when certain music was played. Three men of God refused. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego wouldn’t bow – they engaged in civil disobedience. Nebuchadnezzar was enraged and called for the three to be brought to him. “He commanded certain valiant warriors who were in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in order to cast them into the furnace of blazing fire.” (Daniel 3:20). We know their actions were approved by God because God delivered them from the furnace. In Daniel 6, Godly Daniel was the subject of a vile scheme in which the King was tricked into making a decree which banned prayer to any other than the King himself. Daniel continued his prayers as before, thus engaging in civil disobedience (Daniel 6:10). He was brought before the King and ordered cast into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:16). His civil disobedience was likewise approved because he was delivered from the sentence of death (Daniel 6:22).

We learn from these two approved cases the following:

1. Civil disobedience is approved when laws prevent obedience to God,
2. Civil disobedience does not expect or ensure freedom from consequences,
3. Civil disobedience only occurs appropriately in rare cases.

While one can agree with the principles of the preachers who oppose IRS control over the pulpit, and I surely do, one must not resort to civil disobedience when other venues are available. Even when other avenues are not available, civil disobedience remains an unsatisfactory tool unless one is prohibited from complying with God’s word or mandated to personally sin by government laws. Christians should be the best citizens possible and must eschew lawlessness.