From a broad panoramic view we see that the spiritual change in Believers brought about
by the advent of Christ, and the subsequent empowerment by the Holy Spirit, cannot help
but affect the tangible physical world we live in.
The notion that our faith can be separated from our
daily lives, behaviors, decisions and activities is not feasible if true and sincere faith
actually exists within us.
The effects of our salvation change everything in us and how we relate to everything around us.
Thus while a political philosophy can indeed call
for a separation between faith and state,
in practice for the true Believer this is an impossibility.
This reality automatically brought Peter and the
11 disciples (as well as their followers) into unavoidable direct confrontation with
the powers-that-be.
I don't recall who said it, but I once heard a person insist that if a Believer isn't
a pariah to the world then they aren't trying hard enough.
All throughout the Scriptures we are presented
with a mental picture of a wide, yawning chasm between the ways of the World versus those
who put their trust in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
"What has light to do with darkness?", Yeshua asks His disciples.
Therefore persecution of Believers by the World is inevitable and we should not
be surprised that when we come to faith it not only involves incredible gain but also
loss in the form of relationships and perhaps other things
that have meant so much to us in our past but are now incompatible with our new life.
Peter's admonishment is that since this fact is inescapable, why not consider it joy
if you are being persecuted (experiencing loss) for your faith in
Yeshua because in persecution and suffering there can be no better concrete proof that
you are firmly on the side of divine righteousness and holiness.
So it is an irony that a religion of peace and love was born and will remain in confrontation,
if not battle, with the World until Messiah returns to take charge.
This confrontation is what we're seeing in the Book of Acts, and it ought to be what
we're experiencing in our own lives.
Since this is the case, then last week we discussed the
thorny issue of what we should do when our government installs immoral laws and insists
that we obey them.
And here in Acts we find Peter making the decision that when God orders one thing and
human government the opposite our pathway is clear:
obey God, and let the chips fall where they may.
This brought us to the matter of civil disobedience, which from the Believer's perspective I
would define as knowingly and openly choosing to
disobey immoral manmade laws in order to be obedient to the Lord.
We'll not review that conversation from last week, but I will sum it up by
saying that the answer is that yes, if civil disobedience is our only avenue to obey God,
then as Believers we must take it.
And that may well mean we pay a price for it that includes loss
of personal property, fines, or perhaps going to jail.
What I'm proposing is not hypothetical or something that belongs in fiction books; it
is here and upon us now.
A few weeks ago in America's northwest a Christian bakery refused to create
a wedding cake for a gay couple.
The local government is currently trying to put them out of
business.
In France, just this week, a political leader has been indicted on hate crime charges for
saying that Islam is a religion of violence and it
worships a false god.
I told you the story in our last lesson of a Canadian minister who spent 3 months in
jail for teaching from the Bible about homosexuality; not
publically but inside the walls of his own church, to his own congregation.
Were there demonstrations of Believers against this?
No.
Did Believers try to bust him out of jail?
No.
Did other Pastors intentionally speak out against homosexuality from the pulpit in support
and dare the government to arrest them all?
No.
Did Believers go on strike or block intersections or hand out leaflets and besiege their government
in protest?
No.
There was no civil disobedience and so it was kind of a back page story in the Canadian
newspapers.
And I say to you unequivocally, there should have been civil disobedience.
If Peter had been there, I assure you there would have been civil disobedience.
Fellow Believers, civil disobedience is absolutely called for when we are being forced to commit
immoral acts, or to condone government sanctioned immorality.
Should we seek confrontation?
No.
Should we do everything as peaceably and non-violently as possible?
Yes.
But make no mistake, there will be a cost.
There is no shame in going to jail or paying a fine over refusing to be obedient to human
civil government but obedient to the Lord.
You may even have a business taken from you for refusing to do the immoral.
But if that's the case then that is what should happen.
And whatever happens, we should all count it as joy that the Lord has allowed us to
suffer for His sake.
If this sort of thing is not already happening
where you are right now, it soon will be. So you better decide right now what you're gonna do,
and how you're gonna choose.
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