When Not to Obey (5)

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.”Acts 5.29

The threat of the Gospel
Political leaders can sometimes find religion to be a thorny issue. We have seen this throughout history, when civil magistrates have lashed out against Christians in an effort to interrupt or cease the spread of the Gospel of the Kingdom.

The Romans unleashed ten waves of violent persecution against the Church between the years 100 and 314, only to fall ultimately under the irresistible power of the Gospel.

The local ruler on the Hebridean island of Eigg slaughtered Donan and his fifty companions early in the 7^th century, hoping to extirpate the Gospel from her land. She did not.

The Medici’s hanged and burned Savonarola; his reforms went ahead anyway. Luther was put under the ban, and a contract issued on his life; the Gospel spread like wildfire. Seventy-two thousand Huguenot Christians were murdered on a single day in 1572, but the Gospel kept going on. The Church came under severe persecution in the Soviet Union; now only one of these entities remains.

When civil governments determine that the Gospel is a threat because its claims take priority over those of the powers-that-be, they can be very, very bad, indeed, downright horrid, in seeking to suppress, if not eradicate altogether, the presence of the Gospel from their jurisdiction.

Yet such policies have never worked to stop the spread of the faith, and they never will.

The mission of the Church
The reason is simple: Just like Peter, John, and the rest of the first Christians, believers understand that God, not government, is to be obeyed when it comes to the mission of the Church and the progress of the Kingdom.

When the local authorities, acting with Rome’s nod, tried to silence the spread of the Gospel in Jerusalem, they took a direct but progressive route. In Acts 4 they simply commanded the apostles to stop preaching the Name of Jesus Christ under threat of punishment (Acts 4.17-21). But the apostles were unfazed; they listened politely but let the authorities know, in no uncertain terms, that they must obey the Word of the Lord: “But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard’” (Acts 4.19, 20).

Overstepping
So why were the rulers so surprised, in Acts 5, to find that the apostles had not obeyed their command? “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” (Acts 5.28)

Well, that’s what they’d said they were going to do. Peter and the apostles answered this astonished accusation by saying, “We ought to obey God rather then men.” Remember that Peter is the one, with Paul, who said we must obey the civil authorities (1 Pet. 2.13-16). That’s true, as long as government is serving within the parameters outlined in God’s Word. But the rules of engagement change when government oversteps its bounds as, in this case, by trying to impede, obstruct, or bring to a halt the work of the Church and the Kingdom of God.

So here is the fourth principle guiding us when not to obey civil governments: Whenever government in any way tries to obstruct the progress of the Gospel or suppress the work of the Church, it must be disobeyed.

We do not yet face such a threat in this country. However, elsewhere the danger is real, and the opposition to the Gospel can be violent. Christians in Marxist and Muslim lands daily face the threat of physical harm because of their refusal to desist from worshiping God and propagating the Gospel. They understand that they must obey God rather than men, and they’re willing to pay the price such obedience requires.

Governments in free and democratic countries are not so overt in the ways they may try to impede the progress of the Gospel. But by overburdening Christian organizations with regulations and other paperwork, refusing access for the Gospel to such public venues as the nation’s schools, and threatening to control and curtail the content of Christian preaching and teaching, even democratic governments can overstep the bounds of their authority and create obstacles for the progress of the Gospel.

It is incumbent on believers in Christ, whenever we are confronted with these challenges, to stand firm like the Apostles and insist that we must obey God and not men – come what may.

For reflection
1.  Suggest some ways believers might keep apprised of government actions that may infringe or threaten their liberty.

2.  What should be the role of local church leaders in helping their people in this area?

3.  What might be some of the consequences of choosing to obey God rather than men?

Next steps: Talk with some of your fellow believers about how you might help Christians in other countries whose freedoms are under assault. See if you can get your church to adopt some specific, ongoing action on behalf of these fellow believers.

T. M. Moore

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This week’s study, When Not to Obey, is part 5 of a 5-part series on a Biblical view of government and politics, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We cannot understand God’s view of government, or how to function in a political environment apart from faith in King Jesus and His rule. Order T. M.’s books The Kingship of Jesus  and The Ground for Christian Ethics to supplement our studies of God and government.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.