“Government, like dress, is a badge of lost innocence; palaces of kings are built on the ruins of the bowers of paradise. For were the impulses of conscience clear, uniform and irresistibly obeyed, man would no longer need a lawgiver; but that not being the case, he finds it necessary to surrender up a part of his property to furnish means for the protection of the rest.” – Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 2.
Last week, we looked at the case of Pastor James Coates who was charged with violating the Public Health Act and turned himself in to the police in Alberta, Canada. Although this pastor could have been released, he did not agree to the conditions of his release, which included that he stop holding in-person services at Grace Life Church. The latest news update is that he is being held in quarantine according to COVID protocol and his trial date has been set in May.
Whether this case conjures embarrassment or apprehension in your heart, it certainly provides us an opportunity to examine our attitudes toward church, human government, and persecution. In part one of this series, we talked about what our attitude toward church should be, and in part two we will examine what our attitude toward human government should be.
As we did with Church, we must first define human government according to the Bible. As Thomas Paine noted, government is a reminder of our lost innocence as the human race. In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve chose to disobey God and, as a result, became aware of their shame. In an attempt to cover their spiritual shame, they covered themselves physically with fig leaves. Their dress was a symbol of their lost innocence. In the same way, human government is a dress, a covering for mankind’s lack of natural goodness. However, government is also a symbol of God’s grace toward sinful humankind. You see, God instituted government to protect us from ourselves and our natural bent toward evil. After the world had become so violent that God had to destroy it with a flood and start from scratch, God instituted a safeguard in order to hold back humankind from destroying themselves again. After God told Noah to refill the earth with humans again, God also told him in Genesis 9:6, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” God gave this mandate to preserve morality and to protect the sanctity of human life made in His own image. From this origin of government, we see that government is a God-ordained institution with the purpose of protecting good and punishing evil.
This definition of government as the protector of good and punisher of evil is found again in the New Testament. Romans 13:1-4 says, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same; For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” According to Romans 13, the purpose of government is to protect good and praise those that do good, while preventing evil and punishing those that do evil. Government leaders are to be servants of God on earth, executing judgment on those that violate His moral laws. Since man before the flood failed miserably at self-government, God gave us human government to hold us accountable to each other.
For this reason, Christians are commanded to “be subject” or to put ourselves under the authority of our human rulers within the context of whatever government system we may find ourselves. For example, Paul found himself within a government system that looked very different than that of modern Americans. While Paul was very aware of his civil liberties as a Roman citizen and used them to his advantage at appropriate times (Acts 16:37, Acts 22, Acts 25), Paul did not enjoy the many civil liberties that we have as Americans. As Americans, we have many more avenues through which we can legally petition the government when we believe that it has failed to protect good and punish evil properly. However, the Bible ethic for Christians’ relationship to government is one of respect, not rebellion; and the Bible ethic for Christians’ relationship to government rulers is one of submission not subversion.
Now that we’ve defined government and our relationship to it, let’s define what submission to government means practically. Respect for the institution of government and submission to government rulers does not mean that Christians can obey every single mandate handed down to them. While the two should not be in conflict, human government, like human nature, has a tendency to stray from God’s original purpose and, therefore, government laws may sometimes conflict with God’s laws. In these moments, Christians must appeal to a Law higher than human law.
Throughout the Bible, we find examples of Christians who disobeyed a government mandate in favor of obeying a Bible mandate. In Daniel 3, the three Hebrew children disobeyed King Nebuchadnezzar’s law to worship his golden image in favor of obeying God’s law to have “no other God’s before me” (Exodus 20:3). When the King gave them an ultimatum, the three Hebrew children replied, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image that thou hast set up” (Daniel 3:17-18). In Daniel 6, King Darius made a decree that no one could pray to anyone except him. In favor of God’s law, to pay what is due Him alone, Daniel prayed only to God as he usually did. In Acts 5, Peter and some other apostles were thrown in prison for preaching Christ. Then, the angel of the Lord freed them and gave the command to “stand and speak in the temple” (Acts 5:20). However, the religious powers that be gave them a conflicting command that they “should not teach in this [Jesus’] name” (Acts 5:28). When they did not stop preaching in Jesus’ name and the religious leaders confronted them about it, Peter respectfully replied, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). The religious leaders didn’t take that response very well, but the apostles rejoiced that they were “counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:40-41).
While these are examples of what we might call “civil disobedience,” they are also examples of submission to human government. The Hebrew children, Daniel and the apostles explained that they must obey God’s law over conflicting human laws, but they also submitted themselves to the government-imposed consequences of that choice. From these examples, we see that submission is a humble posture before man while also a confident appeal to God’s Higher Law. Submission is a positive attitude that says, “I will do what’s right,” rather than a negative attitude that says, “I will flout the rules.” Submission is not a negative focus on disobeying man; it is a positive focus on obeying God. It’s an attitude as much as an action.
We see the importance of this humble posture and attitude in Peter’s letter to a group of believers living under an oppressive government. I Peter 2:13-17 says, “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or to governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.”
As in Romans 13, I Peter 2 describes government to be tasked with the purpose of punishing evil and praising good. The purpose of these Christians’ submission to government was “for the Lord’s sake”—to exalt God’s name and preserve a godly testimony in their community. In submitting to authority, they would obliterate any misconceptions of Christianity in the minds of unbelievers. Their submission was demonstrated in an attitude of deference to all people, love for the brotherhood, and reverence for God and the human authorities He had allowed to be in power.
This does not mean, however, that they never disobeyed certain human laws. If the government told these Christians to stop assembling themselves together, stop preaching in Jesus’ name, or stop witnessing to their neighbors, did they obey such laws? We know from history that they did not. We also know from history that they submitted to the government-imposed consequences of that choice. Many of them died for that choice! Yet in disobeying human laws in favor of God’s laws, they were submitting to human government and they were upholding their Christian testimony.
Submission and a good Christian testimony are not synonymous with going along with the flow or being culturally acceptable or well-liked in the community. Peter said that Christians should have a good testimony that “ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” But Jesus also said that “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18). So, as Christians the purpose of our godly testimony is not to be accommodating to any cultural norms or government mandates. It is not to be culturally “cool” or acceptable. It is not even to be likeable to our worldly neighbors. While all of those things are desirable, they are not the goal. The goal of our Christian testimony is to be an accurate representation of Christ, His character, and His values to the world around us. This may gain us some fans and followers, and this may also gain us some foes. Either way, our focus should be on representing Christ in truth, grace and love.