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Submission and Civil Disobedience: Where is the Line?

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"You are never allowed to hit" I told my daughter as I once again acted as referee in a game I hadn't realized was taking place between her and her sister. With kids you really have to make it as simple and understandable as possible. But as you do, you need to also consider the rarer situations that may arise in the future where that simple understandable rule doesn't apply. For example, if my daughter encounters someone who is touching her in appropriately, would I counsel her not to hit and try to get away from that person? No, fight! This is a situation where the rule "never allowed to hit" does not apply.

The Intentional Tension of Scripture

There are other realities or situations in Scripture that have from our perspective this tension of apparent contradiction:

  1. God is One God, but that One God is three persons: Father, Son & Holy Spirit (Trinity)
  2. God is sovereign yet we have choice (Calvinism vs. Arminianism)
  3. God needs nothing, yet makes demands of people (Abraham to sacrifice Isaac)

There is no attempt in scripture to synthesize these realities of who God is and what he has commanded and that has caused much ink to be spilled over many thousands of years from people on either side claiming that their view of God’s word is the correct one, when in reality God says both are true.

The topic that has come to the front burner in recent months has been the tension that exists in scripture between these two realities: 1) God has commanded submission to the governing authorities, and 2) God has at times called his people to disobey the governing authorities. Thankfully, this issue isn’t as complicated as the trinity or the Calvinism/Arminianism debate; but nevertheless, the question for us to sort through is: which one is it? Is it submission or civil disobedience, and where is the line between submission and disobedience? That’s where we will land, but let’s start with defining the two realities of scripture…

God has Commanded Submission to the Governing Authorities

Romans 13:1-8 - Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7 Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

1 Timothy 2:1-4 - First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

There are other passages that speak to the issue, but these will suffice for now. A good question for us to ask is, what are the purposes of submission to authorities?

  1. God removes & sets up kings (Daniel 2:21; John 19:10; Romans 13:1-4)
  2. To avoid God’s wrath and for the sake of conscience (Romans 13:5)
  3. To focus on the debt of loving one another instead of any debt owed to another (Romans 13:8)
  4. That we may lead a peaceful, quiet, godly life (1 Timothy 2:2)
  5. God desires kings & officials to be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
  6. It is the will of God (1 Peter 2:15)

So, the general rule of scripture is to be in submission to the governing authorities. However, this leads us to consider the examples of scripture where this general rule is not followed…

God Calls His People to Disobey the Governing Authorities

Exodus 1:15-22 - Then the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16 “When you serve as midwife to the Hebrew women and see them on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, she shall live.” 17 But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live. 18 So the king of Egypt called the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and let the male children live?” 19 The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20 So God dealt well with the midwives. And the people multiplied and grew very strong. 21 And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22 Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

Here we have the governing authority instituting a proclamation that would require Hebrews to murder children by throwing them into the Nile River. But it says that because they feared God, they didn’t do it and what’s more, they were deceptive about their reasons why, claiming that Hebrew women just seem to give birth faster. Now it may be true that they did give birth faster, but their primary reason that they didn’t say, was that they feared God. And God rewards the women for their disobedience. The even greater irony in this passage is that God, instead of allowing the Hebrew children to be drowned in the Nile River, drowns Pharaoh’s entire army in the Red Sea.

There are other examples from 1 Kings 18 where Obadiah hid a hundred prophets in caves to save their lives from King Ahab and Jezebel who ordered the prophets cut off from the land. Esther disobeyed the law when she approached the throne of the king in order to intercede on behalf of her people with the resignation of “if I perish, I perish.” Daniel 3 where Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow to the golden idol, Daniel 6 where Daniel refuses to pray to the king, but prays to God as was his custom three times a day. In the New Testament in Acts the apostles were commanded not to preach anymore in the name of Jesus, a command they refused saying that they must obey God rather than men.

So, in looking at these examples, we again ask the question: what are the purposes or maybe better, what are the situations for disobedience to the general rule of submission to the governing authorities:

  1. Murder (Exodus 1:16)
  2. Genocide of the Jewish People (Esther 4:16)
  3. Saving the lives of prophets (1 Kings 18:4)
  4. Worshiping a golden image (Daniel 3:12)
  5. Praying to a false god (Daniel 6:13)
  6. Forsaking the testimony of Jesus (Acts 4:19-20)

Essentially, these were situations where people were commanded by the earthly governing authorities to deny or betray the governing authority of God and refused to do so because of their devotion to God.

Putting it Together

So, putting all these pieces together from Scripture, the picture that emerges is that we are not called to 100% full, unquestioning obedience to the governing authority because there are instances where that would mean disobedience to God, and at the same time, we’re not called to 100% disobedience to governing authority because that would also mean disobedience to God and what he has established.

This conclusion might be frustrating to some people because it really does depend on the situation at hand as to whether disobedience is necessary for the sake of Christ. This quote from Desiring God is helpful:

Therefore, the demand for subjection is relative, not absolute. It depends on whether the demands of the governing authorities require us to disobey Jesus. If they do, we will not be subject at that point but will say with Peter, "We must obey God rather than men." We will honor God above the state. But if the demands of the state do not require us to disobey Jesus (as with speed limits, stop signs, income taxes, curfews, building codes, fishing licenses, and many other laws), we will be subject for the Lord's sake (1 Peter 2:13).” (The Limits of Submission to Man | Desiring God)

An example of this came a few years ago when the government made changes to the application for the summer jobs grant that required you to check a box saying that you fully agreed with LGBTQ. At that time, there were many, many Bible camps impacted by this and made the decision that that was not something that they could agree to because it would mean departing from what God has said regarding human sexuality. This wasn’t strictly disobedience to government because the government wasn’t forcing everyone to take part of the summer jobs grant, but demonstrates a time in recent history of a line that followers of Christ were unwilling and unable to cross because of devotion to Christ.

A Point of Submission

Now this brings us to the issue at hand, and that’s been at hand for a little while now and that’s mandates from the governing authorities over Covid issues, particularly mask and vaccine mandates. When we’re considering obedience on this issue, we again need to ask the question, “does obedience to this require me to disobey Jesus?”

My position, and that of the rest of leadership is that a mask wearing mandate is not an issue that forces us to disobey Christ any more than speed limits and stop signs would. I don’t like wearing them, they’re uncomfortable and they fog up my glasses, but it’s something that’s a relatively small inconvenience I need to live with. While also recognizing that there are those who have medical exemptions and others who simply prefer not to wear them and will avoid it where ever possible, I’m not condemning anyone who holds that position.

I confess that I’ve had to do some course correction here because in my personal life I have been quite lax on the mask mandates and someone pointed it out to me and I came to the place where I had to admit that they were right, my personal life wasn’t matching up with what scripture says about submission to governing authority and what I believe is best practice for the church. I’ve since then had to make changes in my personal life as this was really a blind spot for me.

There is a whole debate over if masks are effective or not medically speaking and that quite honestly is not an issue that I am going to spend time diving into. Reason being is that there are medical professionals far more qualified than me who by and large agree that they are at least somewhat effective, not that there isn’t disagreement in the medical field on this issue, but I leave them to duke it out on that issue because it’s not an issue that would force me to disobey Christ either way.

I don’t research the effectiveness of seatbelts, speed limits, building codes, or fishing licenses because there are paid professionals whose job it is to determine best practices there and to implement laws accordingly.

In conclusion I don’t believe that mask mandates are an issue that should cause us to rise up in civil disobedience to the government because it isn’t an issue that forces you to deny Christ, but is mostly an inconvenience, except for those who have medical reasons of course.

A Point of Disobedience

Having established where the line is not for civil disobedience, we need to ask the question, where the line is for disobedience here? We need to have an understanding together where the line that the church cannot cross is. I believe that the line we can’t cross as a church is vaccine mandates, meaning that someone would have to be vaccinated in order to come through the doors of the church. Here are some reasons why this issue is one that crosses the line into disobedience to Christ:

Basic God-Given Human Dignity (Masks are temporary, vaccines are permanent)

Asking someone to wear a mask is a temporary measure (you wear it into the store or church, then take it off when you leave), you aren’t asking anyone to permanently accept something into their body that they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. Vaccines of course are different. This isn’t a new issue either, there have been people who have made the choice not get vaccinated for decades and it was a personal medical choice that didn’t necessarily have to be disclosed to anyone.

Every individual must consider their beliefs, options, weigh the pros and con’s, look at the evidence and make a final decision on whether or not to get vaccinated. Not everyone comes to the same conclusions on whether or not to get the vaccine. My wife and I chose to get vaccinated because there are a lot of medical professionals who are a lot smarter than us who agree that it is effective and we want to protect those around us as much as possible. But some people look at the history of the development of vaccines, the side effects and their own medical history or family medical history and make the decision that, whether because of conscience or because it’s not worth the risk, that they should not be vaccinated and have the freedom to not do so.

This is why I believe that vaccine mandates, even within a particular field such as medical staff or truckers is not something that we should support in general because it is something that is in effect coercing people into betraying their own convictions; convictions people may have come to in the Lord. For the gospel community, Romans 14:2-4 gives us some clarity here how God desires his people to deal with each other:

2 One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. 3 Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. 4 Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Some brothers and sisters have chosen to get a vaccine, some brothers and sisters have chosen not to, but God has welcomed both and we should not think so highly of ourselves to judge each other considering that we would be judging God’s servant, essentially putting ourselves in the position of God. Let God judge between his servants, that’s not our job.

We Will Not Deny the Message of the Gospel

The other critical issue that a church vaccine mandate would introduce is that would in essence cause a group of people in our community to be unable to come and hear the message of the Gospel which is a circumstance that would necessitate us denying Christs command. The Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20 that we would Go therefore and make disciples could not be fully obeyed by us because we would be denying a group of people access to the church where we proclaim the Gospel on the basis of a permanent vaccination status that betrays their convictions.

This is a situation that “online church” should not and really cannot solve. The message of the Gospel is meant to be understood in the context of a Gospel community that lives out the Gospel message. This cannot be accomplished by any other means than a personal gathering. There are times when this has been temporarily ceased for the entire congregation (i.e., lockdown; but even this was something we went through together as a congregation), and is a reality for those who are immunocompromised and don’t necessarily feel safe to return to the church yet, but it cannot be a long-term reality for the church.

A vaccine mandate for the church would create a situation that would cause unvaccinated brothers and sisters to experience exclusion from the Gospel community and would cause an unacceptable barrier for unvaccinated people who don’t know Jesus to hear and believe the Gospel within a Gospel community.

God is sovereign over his church, the bride of his Son, Jesus Christ. I personally would not want to have someone come to the church (there are no coincidences as to how he or she ended up there, it’s by God’s hand that they are there), only to be turned away because they have not received a vaccination which God never commanded them to have in order to experience a work of his grace and be part of his Gospel community.

The church is not the only place for people to experience God, I know this personally as my conversion took place not in a church, but on a park bench. But God has ordained the gathering of his people (whether they have a building or not) as the primary place of Gospel declaration and we cannot limit that Gospel declaration on the basis of obedience to government. This is the line we cannot cross. We must obey God rather than men.

We Got a Little Convoy...

Now of course you have likely heard about the convoy of truckers making their way across the country to Ottawa to protest vaccine mandates on truck drivers, but really has reached far beyond that group to everyone in Canada who is frustrated with mandates. I don’t believe scripture opposes anyone who supports such a demonstration, but I have reservations as well. Paul invoked his rights as Roman citizen in Acts 22 because the people were about to flog and kill him, so we can’t turn around and say that invoking our rights as citizens is wrong biblically. But we need to ask ourselves what are the purposes that I’m invoking my rights as a citizen? After Paul invokes his rights, he ends up in Rome to make his case to the emperor, he has the opportunity to preach the Gospel to the ruler of the known world. His rights don’t serve for earthly comfort, they serve the purpose of the Gospel.

We need to be cautious how we speak regarding our government, that it is in such a way that emphasizes the Gospel.

Let us not forget the words Paul spoke by the Spirit to his young protégé Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 2: First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

While we may not agree with everything the government does, let us not forget our call to pray earnestly for them. Two purposes emerge out of this: 1) that we might lead a peaceful and quiet life, and 2) that they too might come to a knowledge of the truth and be saved by the grace of Christ. It’s easy to tear down government and forget that The Gospel is for them too.