Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - May 18, 2020


Ep 251 ｜ Should Christians Resist Tyranny？


Episode Stats

Length

36 minutes

Words per Minute

170.5378

Word Count

6,192

Sentence Count

2

Misogynist Sentences

1

Hate Speech Sentences

6


Summary


Transcript

00:00:00.000 hey guys welcome to relatable happy monday i hope everyone had a great weekend we had an almost back
00:00:08.280 to normal weekend so i had a baby shower not for me but for a friend but it was a remote baby shower
00:00:14.860 so it was a virtual baby shower which was actually better i think than a regular baby shower because
00:00:22.460 it was out of state so i wouldn't have gotten to go if it wasn't a virtual baby shower so that was
00:00:27.880 fun and then we had a gender reveal party for a friend that was actually in person but it was like
00:00:33.380 a socially distanced style like outside and so it was a good um it was a good like easing back into
00:00:40.940 normal and i hope that that was true for some of you as well maybe some of you were just like already
00:00:45.640 back into normalcy completely 100 you dove in head first and that's great for you maybe some of you
00:00:51.940 are still completely quarantined to know that i sympathize with you and i am praying for you
00:00:57.320 because this is a hard time for everyone and this episode while it doesn't have to do we're not
00:01:03.020 talking about the coronavirus today we're not talking about any specific policies or anything
00:01:06.980 like that but what we're talking about is still pertinent to everything that's been going on
00:01:12.120 because it is the question of christian resistance christian resistance to the government is there a
00:01:18.840 biblical case to make for it at all or should we be completely submissive as romans 13 says
00:01:26.680 to governing authorities so we're going to look at both sides of the argument and we're going to look
00:01:32.860 at what the bible actually says and then i will end with my personal take according to uh what scripture
00:01:41.200 tells us about that this is a subject that is pretty complex it's pretty if you want to use the word
00:01:48.100 nuanced i would say that there is nuance to this particular topic and as always but especially
00:01:55.080 with with this subject that has so many complexities to it i am willing to be proven wrong if one of you
00:02:04.500 disagrees with me and points me to the scripture or the interpretation of scripture that contradicts
00:02:11.180 uh where i kind of land on this then i am all for it sanctification is uh getting uh better and
00:02:19.180 better at getting to the truth of scripture as it actually means not just what we want it to mean or
00:02:25.100 what it means to us um but getting better at looking at scripture and understanding what god actually
00:02:32.040 means by the the words he says i'm certainly not claiming to be perfect at that but i've researched
00:02:38.760 this topic very thoroughly for you guys it took me a long time to prepare for this episode so many
00:02:44.400 of you guys have been asking me about this subject and so as always i am going to do my very best to
00:02:50.480 bring you the whole truth and nothing but the truth so like i said a lot of you guys have been
00:02:56.340 asking me about the tiny tyrants that we've been talking about in the media the tiny tyrants in
00:03:02.980 state and local government in federal government in epidemiology in the public school system academia
00:03:09.980 even in the police force we've been looking at all of this in horror and a lot of us have been standing
00:03:15.260 back and asking how the heck is this the united states of america which is supposed to be the beacon
00:03:20.200 of liberty for the rest of the world we did an entire episode called little tyrants everywhere where we
00:03:26.280 looked at different instances of tyranny and how we're supposed to approach this from a biblical
00:03:31.800 perspective but today we are going to focus not just on the tyranny that we see displayed but the
00:03:38.420 question of what do we as christians do who in romans 13 are called to submit to governing authorities
00:03:45.480 do we disobey do we protest can we petition the government when tyrants try to take control first in
00:03:54.260 order to answer that big question we have to back up and answer some other questions so we have to look at
00:04:00.020 what romans 13 actually says and what it means uh what is tyranny what does it mean what is a resistance
00:04:06.980 and what does it mean so we're going to try to answer uh with a broad brush those questions today not
00:04:14.940 necessarily in that order but those are the questions that i'm seeking to answer uh in this episode okay
00:04:21.680 let's first talk about the passage of scripture that is often discussed when debating this subject and
00:04:27.780 that is romans 13 1 through 7 let every person be subject to the governing authorities for there is
00:04:35.920 no authority except from god and those that exist have been instituted by god therefore whoever resists
00:04:42.920 authorities resists what god has appointed and those who resist will incur judgment for rulers are not a
00:04:50.480 terror to good conduct but to bad would you have no fear of the one who is in authority then do what is
00:04:57.420 good and you will receive his approval for he is god's servant for your good but if you do wrong be
00:05:03.680 afraid for he does not bear the sword in vain sword in vain for he is the servant of god an avenger who
00:05:10.200 carries out god's wrath on the wrongdoer therefore one must be in subjection not only to avoid god's wrath
00:05:17.200 but also for the sake of conscience for because of this you also pay taxes for the authorities are ministers
00:05:23.880 of god attending to this very thing pay to all what is owed to them taxes to whom taxes are owed
00:05:30.840 revenue to whom revenue is owed respect to whom respect is owed honor to whom honor is owed so that
00:05:38.620 seems pretty clear government authorities all government authorities we assume from this passage
00:05:44.400 are appointed by god they are to punish wrongdoing and if you don't do anything wrong then you have
00:05:50.860 nothing to be scared of we are to pay taxes we are to respect them we are to be in submission to them
00:05:57.120 and all of this this passage says is an act of obedience and submission to god as well there is a
00:06:03.940 segment of christians of very strong biblically faithful christians who believe that that is that
00:06:10.780 that christians should not protest they should not be activists should not start organizations that
00:06:16.740 ensure christian laws or even laws that promote religious liberty we are simply not to concern
00:06:23.320 ourselves with um with those kinds of things in the public sector or in the public sphere we are to
00:06:30.540 concern ourselves with the work of the church with our individual obedience to god's word not with
00:06:36.380 creating a christian society through policies that align with god's word uh here is an excerpt from a book by
00:06:43.120 a pastor that i greatly admire john mccarthur in this book is called why government can't save you this
00:06:49.060 is the quote they and its christian political activists follow the argumentation of the
00:06:54.380 declaration of independence which declares that life liberty and the pursuit of happiness are divinely
00:06:59.480 endowed rights therefore those believers say such rights are part of a christian worldview worth
00:07:05.120 attaining and defending at all costs including military insurrection at times but such a position is
00:07:11.300 contrary to the clear teachings and commands of romans 13 1 through 7 so the united states was actually
00:07:17.200 born out of a violation of new testament principles and any blessings that god has bestowed on america have
00:07:23.400 come in spite of that disobedience by the founding fathers john piper who might also greatly admire both
00:07:30.560 of these people i go to them a lot for any theological questions that i have they have awesome resources he seems
00:07:37.700 to hold a somewhat similar view about civil disobedience uh that christians should always
00:07:43.360 err on the side of submission rather than resistance or activism in a 2005 sermon piper stated that the
00:07:50.300 declaration of independence reflects quote the man-centered deism of thomas jefferson and benjamin
00:07:56.760 franklin but there's another side to this debate so that's one representation of one side and then there's
00:08:04.660 the other side of the founding fathers the men who fought for and in the revolution fought for the
00:08:10.940 revolution and in the revolutionary war were not all deists they were not mostly agnostics or atheists
00:08:18.520 many of them were deeply reverent protestant christians calvinists many of them just like john
00:08:23.980 mcarthur and john piper calvinist theology had a huge impact on the founding of the country
00:08:30.140 lock and milton were inspired by those who held to calvinism as were many of the men who wrote our
00:08:36.140 founding documents uh john calvin himself believed in democracy he certainly was not a political activist
00:08:42.060 but he did believe in the separation of powers and the obligation to push back against leaders who
00:08:48.900 oppressed their people and who contradicted god's law william wilberforce harriet beecher stowe
00:08:54.700 abraham lincoln all three who had a hand in ending slavery were calvinists uh reformed protestants and
00:09:01.800 particularly calvinists uh what i am what macarthur and piper are have a long history of resistance to
00:09:09.840 tyranny and resistance to laws and governing bodies that are wicked and oppressive the protestant
00:09:15.580 reformation was begun by an act of resistance against religious tyranny what was at the time the corrupt
00:09:23.060 tyranny of the catholic church that was oppressing christians through unbiblical doctrine and
00:09:28.560 burdens that's just a true fact of history i know i've got a lot of wonderful catholic friends that
00:09:33.240 are listening to this this is just the fact of the origin of the protestant reformation uh through his
00:09:39.000 95 theses through his teachings on by grace through faith through his refusal to recant at the deed of
00:09:45.920 worms martin luther or worms if you want to say it in the german way uh martin luther resisted both the
00:09:51.940 religious and civil authorities at the time and not only that but his translation of the bible into
00:09:57.520 german so that lay people could read the bible for themselves for the first time helped bring about
00:10:02.880 the revolutionary idea of individualism and personal freedom in the sense that the average person could
00:10:09.020 study the bible could receive wisdom from the holy spirit and have a personal relationship with jesus
00:10:14.040 on their own rather than having to submit to the pope or other catholic leaders who were at the time
00:10:20.160 abusing their power teaching completely on biblical doctrine and extorting their congregants in the name
00:10:25.740 of indulgences and it also ignited the idea or rather reignited the idea that man is first and foremost
00:10:33.680 ultimately subject to god and that no earthly authority secular or religious could supersede the commands
00:10:41.240 god has given us in his inerrant work and these ideas of holy resistance and of individualism and personal
00:10:50.100 freedom that allows for a personal faith and of obedience to god before man-made institutions or
00:10:56.220 doctrines were perpetuated by luther and the protestant reformation and had a remarkable impact
00:11:02.340 on the founding of the united states and even the revolutionary war and by the way when i speak of
00:11:07.740 individualism i'm not talking about the hyper individualism that comes uh with moral relativism
00:11:13.160 or post-modernism i'm talking about uh the personalization of a faith in jesus christ and
00:11:19.200 personal responsibility um you could even argue that the revolution would not have happened if it
00:11:25.860 weren't for the protestant reformation in fact much of the revolution was actually religious in nature
00:11:31.340 there was a nickname for it the presbyterian rebellion it had a lot to do with religion and religious
00:11:37.100 liberty we are called protestants because of our protest against the teachings of the catholic church
00:11:43.880 but throughout history we have protested tyranny and corruption in many forms uh john knox the scottish
00:11:51.100 reformer famously said resistance to tyranny is obedience to god and he lived that out as he led the
00:11:57.820 reformation in scotland which led to the ousting of the catholic queen mary of geese this was the spirit
00:12:04.780 through the reformation through the american revolution and parts of it still live on today
00:12:10.320 that is part of why reformed protestants are also usually very politically conservative most of us
00:12:16.740 believe in smaller government and government for and by the people we don't believe in anarchy we
00:12:21.200 believe in the importance of government and the importance of law and order but we believe
00:12:25.300 in a smaller government we are sensitive to tyranny um so these are the two sides one side who says
00:12:32.880 political revolutions and rebellion are not what christians are called to do we are called to
00:12:38.180 quiet obedience and submission and to continue in our good works one side says we have a moral
00:12:44.600 obligation to resist tyranny and oppression where we see it now ultimately you guys know listening to
00:12:50.920 this podcast we don't look to john mcarthur or john piper or john calvin or john knox or any of the johns
00:12:56.460 at all to tell us ultimately uh all of these men believed and believe in the authority and inerrancy
00:13:04.160 of scripture as we do here on this podcast so that is where we have to go so let us look again at what
00:13:10.600 scripture has to tell us and to see if we get any clarity on where we should stand on all of this
00:13:16.140 as christians okay so let's get into what romans 13 says just to summarize it since we read it at the
00:13:24.100 top and you should read it for yourself i like the esv version that's another podcast episode i need to
00:13:29.100 do a lot of you have been asking me to do the different versions of the bible i like esv it's
00:13:34.480 more of a word for word translation but colloquial enough to where you can read it easily anyway so to
00:13:41.320 summarize uh the beginning of romans 13 13 1 through 7 i let everyone be subject to governing authorities it
00:13:48.060 goes on to say that authorities are instituted by god they get their power from god therefore if you
00:13:53.220 disobey them you also disobey god uh these powers are to punish the wrongdoer they don't punish good
00:13:59.620 behavior but bad behavior they collect taxes and we should pay those taxes so again that is pretty
00:14:05.520 clear pretty absolute if you study this in the original greek and you're uh you're you're still not
00:14:11.300 going to find any any caveats all the words mean what you think they mean submit to those in power
00:14:17.960 because they are given power by god you see this idea iterated in daniel 2 21 he changes god changes
00:14:25.520 times and seasons he removes kings and sets up kings jesus says in luke 2025 render to caesar the things
00:14:33.280 that are caesar's and to god the things that are god's and of course we know about the absolute
00:14:39.320 sovereignty of god nothing happens without his direct foreknowledge or outside of his ultimate will
00:14:45.320 remember as we say so many times on this podcast not even a sparrow falls out of the sky apart from
00:14:50.960 the father as matthew 10 29 says so then we can trust that much more consequential things like the
00:14:57.340 investing the divesting of governing power is also a part of his sovereign will that doesn't mean that
00:15:04.480 he likes everything that a king does or that a ruler does that it's all part of his moral will but
00:15:10.220 nothing happens outside of his grand sovereign will paul wrote this letter to the romans the book
00:15:17.020 of romans in about 57 a.d which means uh he wrote this while nero was emperor of rome you know nero
00:15:24.920 as the guy famous for violently persecuting christians during his reign although this letter
00:15:30.780 i will say was written before the great fire of rome for which blamed and nero blamed and killed a bunch
00:15:38.120 of christians but of course we know that god who is the true author of this text knew that kind of
00:15:43.920 cruel persecution was coming while this letter was being written while romans 13 was being written
00:15:49.800 this passage says knowing all of that uh to be subject to governing authorities the greek word used
00:15:57.120 for be subject to is hupotasso which means to be subordinate to to submit to to be under control of to
00:16:04.420 obey again the text is clear it would seem like the intent is clear however if you are like me you
00:16:12.980 have questions i have questions pretty much every single verse i read i have maybe not a question but
00:16:18.180 i have some sort of deeper understanding that i am trying to get to and i have questions about this
00:16:25.360 particular passage uh we can understand i can understand how god's sovereignty in god's sovereignty he
00:16:31.480 sets up leaders and he takes down leaders um again not that he is pleased with all rulers uh but that
00:16:37.720 no one comes to power outside of his will uh but what do we do with this seemingly absolute idea that we
00:16:43.960 must be subject to them when it is so clear throughout history that there are rulers who do not do what
00:16:51.400 romans 13 says governing authorities should do punish the wrongdoer and let the one who does good alone
00:16:57.960 what about the ruler who doesn't submit to god's definition of right and wrong if right in god's
00:17:05.000 eyes is to follow christ to share the gospel to meet together to do good to pray as the bible tells us
00:17:12.040 what about when the governing authorities in place see these things as wrong and they therefore punish
00:17:19.480 christians for doing what they see as wrong but what god sees as right christians throughout history
00:17:26.200 have been punished for doing what god says is good and right nero in ancient rome queen queen mary the
00:17:33.320 the first of england and the protestant reformation countless tyrants uh throughout history and to this
00:17:38.440 day they persecute and kill christians for doing what god says is righteous and christians have persistently
00:17:45.960 from the dawn of existence rebelled against these authorities in order to share the gospel to show
00:17:52.680 hospitality to meet together in our homes to read and to teach the bible to pray and we find examples
00:17:59.800 of this kind of behavior throughout the bible the hebrew midwives in egypt who were told to kill all the
00:18:04.840 newborn babies exodus 117 says but the midwives feared god and did not do as the king of egypt commanded
00:18:12.600 them shadrach meshach and abednego refused to worship nebuchadnezzar or the idol dedicated to nebuchadnezzar
00:18:19.960 daniel 3 15 through 18 says this but if you do not worship you shall immediately be cast into a
00:18:26.440 burning fiery furnace and who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands this is nebuchadnezzar
00:18:33.000 speaking to shadrach meshach and abednego and then they answered and said to the king oh nebuchadnezzar
00:18:39.080 we have no need to answer you in this manner if this be so our god whom we serve is able to deliver
00:18:46.040 us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us out of your hand oh king but if not
00:18:51.960 be it known to you oh king that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have
00:18:58.600 set up daniel disobeyed the persian injunction which said that anyone who prays to anyone except king
00:19:04.520 darius will be thrown into the den of lions daniel 6 10 says this when daniel knew that the document had
00:19:11.720 been signed that's the injunction saying you can't pray to anyone except for the king he went to his
00:19:16.280 house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward jerusalem he got down on his knees three
00:19:22.280 times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his god as he had done previously hebrews 11 and naming
00:19:30.520 heroes of the faith says this in verses 32 through 34 and what more shall i say for time would fail me
00:19:37.800 to tell of gideon barak samson jephthah of uh of david and samuel and the prophets who through
00:19:45.400 faith conquered kingdoms enforced justice obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions quenched the
00:19:52.280 power of fire escaped the edge of the sword were made strong out of weakness became mighty in war
00:19:58.360 put foreign armies to flight uh we also know that the apostles at times ignored demands that they
00:20:05.480 stopped sharing the gospel um and as we've noted christians throughout history and today have
00:20:10.680 disobeyed and currently are disobeying governing authorities authorities to do all that christians
00:20:17.160 are called to do christians who provided refuge for the jews during the holocaust rebelled against nazi
00:20:24.040 authority christians in china today or throughout asia and and the middle east continuing to meet together
00:20:30.280 knowing that doing so could be the death of them are rebelling against the law christians have rebelled
00:20:37.080 against authorities not just by going to church and sharing the gospel um but in ways that have
00:20:43.080 pushed back also against systemic injustice as we mentioned earlier william wilberforce harriet
00:20:49.720 beecher stowe they were moved by the gospel to end slavery christians today are compelled by the love
00:20:55.720 of christ to end the atrocity of abortion you could argue that many of the american revolutionaries and
00:21:02.520 founding fathers were pushing back against what was the oppressive systemic injustice of the tyranny of
00:21:08.840 england so what do we make of all of this how do we reconcile what seemed to be what seemed to be
00:21:17.480 contradictory bible passages romans 13 and the passages that seem to approve of resistance to
00:21:23.960 governing authorities as well as the obvious benefits that have stemmed directly from resisting governing
00:21:30.120 authority like the end of slavery like producing the freest most prosperous country in the world that
00:21:36.120 in addition to our very real sins and setbacks have also welcomed uh the most immigrants the most
00:21:42.840 refugees the most orphans has sent the most missionaries the most foreign aid created the most
00:21:48.120 opportunities has allowed for the most economic mobility has the best founding documents and has
00:21:53.720 existed as the strongest force for freedom from oppression oppression in the history of the world
00:22:00.280 and i think it's this i think that this is the reconciliation because we know that the bible
00:22:05.320 doesn't contradict itself we know that truth doesn't contradict itself so i think it's this we don't
00:22:10.760 see romans 13 as only a directive to us as citizens as constituents but also to authorities so if you read
00:22:20.520 romans 13 as also directives to governing authorities that they are to be servants of god that they are
00:22:27.640 supposed to punish the wrongdoer and execute justice we start we start to get the beginning of the answer the
00:22:35.640 reconciliation of what feels like appears to be sometimes a contradiction in god's word and between
00:22:41.880 god's word and the history of god's people god sets up these authorities and they are supposed to be his
00:22:48.680 servants they are supposed to be in obedience to him and we as citizens are supposed to abide by their
00:22:55.560 laws as long as as long as the laws and the policies that they are putting forth are in accordance
00:23:04.040 to what god calls good and when they are not when rulers rebel against god by calling evil good and good
00:23:11.720 evil as isaiah 5 20 says then christians must must assess if obedience to the law of a wicked ruler or a
00:23:21.000 wicked law of an otherwise good ruler is causing them to disobey god and christians do not disobey god
00:23:29.080 to obey earthly authority if the government tells us that we can't share the gospel we keep sharing the
00:23:35.880 gospel if the government told samaritan's purse for example that you must take the gospel out of your
00:23:41.800 mission statement or dissemble the samaritan's purse would be obligated to resist that if they
00:23:47.320 want to continue to honor christ if the government tells a private company or an organization that
00:23:53.000 you must provide insurance that covers abortion the company would be right if they are abiding by
00:23:58.360 christian values they would be right to resist and to fight back against that in the same way that
00:24:03.880 hobby lobby and little sisters of the poor fought back against the obamacare rule that said that they
00:24:08.760 have to provide insurance plans that cover abortion pills jack phillips the baker in the masterpiece
00:24:14.840 cake shop saga and the many court cases that that was um that his shop was involved in he was right to
00:24:23.480 refuse to make the kind of cake that he knew celebrated what went against his biblical beliefs
00:24:29.240 if you are a doctor and the equality act the democrats have been trying to pass
00:24:33.720 requires you to say perform an abortion or a gender reassignment surgery then that christian doctor
00:24:41.080 would be right biblically to refuse to do so if you are a teacher and your state's radical
00:24:47.240 sex education legislation attempts to force you to teach for example preteen boys and girls about
00:24:53.400 sexual acts that you know are contrary to what god calls good then that christian teacher refuses
00:24:59.960 if a pastor and one day the law will say this um that says that if a law says that he must conduct
00:25:07.640 a marriage that he notes is not a biblically defined marriage the godly pastor will resist that
00:25:13.880 because our obedience to god's law transcends our obedience to human law although we must make every
00:25:21.240 effort to be submissive to the earthly authority while still obeying god christians should not seek to cause
00:25:28.200 controversy we should not seek to be rabble-rousers we should not seek to subvert authority we should
00:25:33.880 not look for ways to rebel but when it comes to obeying god at the expense of obeying the government
00:25:40.920 we not only can but we must um it's in the same way that the bible calls a wife to submit to her husband
00:25:48.280 the wife looks for every possible way to do that tries to do her best to do that to honor the lord the bible
00:25:54.760 says to submit to your husband as you submit to the lord so in the same way that she seeks to glorify to
00:26:00.360 honor to submit to the lord she is submitting to her husband but she stopped submitting to her husband
00:26:07.720 or she refuses to obey her husband when obedience means disobeying christ she will pray even if her
00:26:14.440 husband tells her not to pray she will continue to tell her kids about jesus even if her husband tells
00:26:19.160 her to stop that is the christian response to romans 13 in light of all of scripture we make every effort
00:26:26.200 to submit to the governing authorities unless a law or a mandate comes in direct contradiction
00:26:32.440 to the word of god we are not rude we are not crude we are not aggressive uh we are not underhanded
00:26:39.880 in these ways but we are unashamed and undeterred in our commitment to sharing the gospel and doing the
00:26:46.360 good work that god has called us to do and i think that both sides of the debate agree on that i i do i
00:26:55.400 think that both sides of the debate agree that personal obedience to god even at the expense of
00:27:00.920 obedience to the government is right i think that the disagreement is what christians do in the meantime
00:27:08.120 so meaning do christians fight against growing and encroaching powers and policies that would
00:27:14.360 threaten our ability to legally obey god and there's probably some disagreement also about
00:27:19.320 if uh milit military insurrection or a a revolutionary war is ever justified so the question is do we fight
00:27:28.120 for freedom of speech freedom of religion and all of the freedoms guaranteed by the first amendment and
00:27:33.560 do we even fight for the second amendment knowing that it protects the first amendment and protects us
00:27:38.120 against tyranny that seeks to take away all of the freedoms that we enjoy do we fight against
00:27:43.960 all the instances of tyranny knowing that tyranny always leads to the inability of christians to
00:27:50.120 legally obey christ do we care about the laws that are passed that contradict god's law or court cases
00:27:56.680 that do so the equality act roe v wade do we care about any of those things do we use the legal system
00:28:02.760 to fight against injustices can we make organizations that advocate for things like religious liberty by the
00:28:09.480 the way i've mentioned the equality act twice now if you want to know what it really actually is you can
00:28:14.360 go back and listen to an episode titled the equality act um or do christians get out of the realm of
00:28:20.520 politics and governance and simply ensure that our personal lives that our families and our churches are
00:28:25.880 doing the work that god has called us to do no matter what this is where the two sides of this debate
00:28:31.960 probably disagree a one side that says that we are to uh just work on and focus on the obedience
00:28:39.720 of our our families and our homes our churches we spread the gospel we do the work that we can do
00:28:45.560 without worrying about what's going on in the political sphere and we obey the authorities until
00:28:50.360 doing so means disobeying god then we quietly let strongly persist in obeying god and then the other
00:28:56.520 side that says christians should be fighting against tyranny since tyrants by nature are not
00:29:03.160 servants of god and are not fulfilling their responsibilities in romans 13 that's what
00:29:07.880 people like john knox believed um they it's the belief also that uh inevitably tyranny will place
00:29:15.240 christians in the position of having to disobey earthly authorities to obey god and not only that but
00:29:21.320 tyranny has caused immense suffering of people of all backgrounds and all faiths every dictatorship
00:29:27.080 even and especially those who rise up in the name of common good and compassion have ended in suffering
00:29:33.560 and murder and persecution so this is where my opinion comes in you've probably already been able to pick up
00:29:40.120 on it so far if you didn't already know coming into this podcast um it's hard for me to see a
00:29:46.440 biblical case for not resisting things like communism and fascism and all sorts of tyranny
00:29:54.040 and all of its big and small forms when you look at the absolute devastation and injustice they have
00:30:00.280 reaped over the past century um it's hard for me or all of history but especially over the past century
00:30:06.840 especially when it comes to socialism and communism and fascism it's hard for me to see a biblical case
00:30:13.240 for abolitionists not doing what they did to end slavery they were activists they used political
00:30:19.880 and private and social means uh the resistance to the government what i believe um is a good and
00:30:27.480 biblical resistance to the government both individually and collectively both in the private
00:30:31.960 and the public sector by christians when it has been done well when it has been done in what i believe
00:30:38.520 is a godly way is defensive rather than offensive it is pushing back against evil dictates that threaten
00:30:45.800 freedom that lead to suffering and persecution that is what the revolutionaries did in my opinion
00:30:51.800 they declared independence from britain they didn't try to topple britain they simply said british law
00:30:57.160 is unjust and its tyranny is in contradiction to romans 13 that's what a lot of them believed and we would
00:31:03.080 like to create a society where men are free to speak free to worship free to create uh the government
00:31:10.040 of their choosing they were done with tyranny for a plethora of reasons those were just some of them
00:31:16.040 my personal belief is that christians are called to occupy stations in the government and the political
00:31:21.640 sphere and all different kinds of spheres um because god made the government these things aren't inherently bad they
00:31:28.280 are institutions that god thinks uh are important he doesn't believe in anarchy government is necessary
00:31:37.160 and good and so christians should in my opinion occupy these stations christians are called to speak up
00:31:43.960 against injustice to seek justice and love mercy and support laws that allow maximum freedom for people to be
00:31:51.560 able to conduct their lives while still giving the government the authority to punish wrongdoing and collect
00:31:57.240 taxes now let me give some clarifications um it is true that jesus did not come as a political
00:32:03.400 revolutionary it is true that the apostles did not start political revolutions it is also true that
00:32:09.160 neither jesus nor the apostles seem to care very much or speak very much about civil liberties their
00:32:15.400 primary concern was the gospel and ours should be as well there will come a day when politics no longer
00:32:22.920 exist activism will not exist debates will not exist but the gospel in its glory will that is our eternal
00:32:31.000 pursuit that is our hope the government cannot save us and depending on your eschatology you believe
00:32:37.640 that things are only going to get worse and worse before jesus comes back i believe that persecution
00:32:43.880 and tribulation for christians is inevitable and that it will worsen uh but does that mean that i don't push
00:32:50.440 back against darkness in all its forms whether it's in the form of public policy or persecution i
00:32:56.280 personally don't think so i think that i do push back against those things we are still called to good
00:33:01.240 work uh even while we anticipate trials and hardship and injustice and jesus tells us to pray that god's
00:33:07.640 will is done on earth as it is in heaven we do that by sharing the gospel we do that by loving our neighbor
00:33:14.440 but we may also do that uh by making sure that the cake baker doesn't go to jail for working accordance
00:33:20.760 in accordance to his conscience we also do that by uh trying to abolish abortion we also do that
00:33:26.280 by trying to put an end to sex trafficking and of course we think the main and the most important and
00:33:30.920 the most effective way to do that is to simply share the gospel not in order to change society and not
00:33:36.920 in order to change laws but the gospel is an end of itself but we know that sharing the gospel is the
00:33:43.480 way to spread justice the best but i do believe that christians are free to and even obligated to
00:33:49.880 try to use every means necessary in order to end these kinds of injustices injustices as peacefully
00:33:58.440 um and as obediently and as submissively as possible uh we thank god that we live in a country
00:34:05.560 where our voices still matter uh jesus said render to caesar what is caesar's and right now in america
00:34:12.440 we still have the right to decide what is caesar's and out of compassion and care for our fellow man
00:34:18.440 we direct others and our leaders toward decisions that are righteous and good that does not mean
00:34:24.440 forcing people to be christians um or forcing them to abide by the bible we believe in personal liberty
00:34:32.840 but from the magna carta to the constitution laws that prioritize individual freedom have taken their
00:34:39.480 ideas about property rights and due process and equality etc from the biblical text and since god
00:34:46.200 is the ultimate and the only supreme moral law giver it makes sense for us to continue to seek to align
00:34:53.160 our laws with these principles from which people of all faiths and backgrounds have benefited we ensure
00:35:00.680 that the justice we're seeking aligns with the bible's definitions of justice impartial and based on truth
00:35:06.440 we do all of this with the knowledge of the gospel and our hope in christ he is the king of kings he is
00:35:13.800 our savior he is our perfect righteous judge he is our ruler he is our transcendent law giver we don't make
00:35:21.000 an idol of paul of politics or politicians uh we don't fixate on politics or social issues we don't obsess
00:35:28.840 over them we don't allow them to steal our joy remember the joy of the lord is our strength we allow the
00:35:35.480 love of christ to speak truth and fight for righteousness in all things uh and i do believe
00:35:42.600 the majority of our thoughts and time should be dedicated to personal obedience and good work
00:35:48.520 although this can and does cross over into public advocacy but our priority is our own relationship
00:35:56.120 with christ and our obedience to god and sharing the gospel doing good work loving our families loving our
00:36:02.360 neighbors no matter what comes so i hope that makes sense i hope it at least gives you food for thought
00:36:08.280 thank you so much for listening we will be back here on wednesday