Obey God or Government?

   There are times that a Christian has to decide between obeying God or obeying government. I know that Christians are commanded to submit to civil authority (see Romans 13:1-7)–but only as long as that human authority isn’t telling them to disobey one of God’s clear commands. In light of an impending Supreme Court decision, I believe that Christians may soon be forced to choose between obeying God or government. More on that in a minute.

   There is a clear example in the Bible when Christians chose to obey God rather than government. The story is in Acts 4:1-20. Peter and John were arrested by the Jewish Temple guards because they were telling people about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Out of fear of the crowds, the governing religious leaders decided to release them. But before they did “… they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18).

   Peter and John stood boldly before them and said, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19–20). In other words, they recognized that there was a higher authority than the tribunal sitting before them.

   Let’s fast forward to the present day. The United States Supreme Court will soon rule whether or not same-sex “marriage” must be recognized in all 50 states. On the surface we might think that sanctioning homosexual “marriage” will have no effect on those who disagree with the decision. Present reality, though, tells us otherwise.

   If homosexual unions become a protected class in our country, then it will be open season on those who hold religious convictions contrary to that lifestyle. We don’t have to use our imaginations here. It is already happening. The owners of a bakery in Portland have been fined $135,000 by a judge because they turned down a request to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple. Legal action has also been taken against flower shops, caterers, and other bakeries for having similar religious convictions.

   Very few deeply religious people may actually own bakery shops, but what if a homosexual couple asks a Christian pastor or a Muslim Imam to perform their “marriage” ceremony? Who is that religious leader going to obey? Will he obey the government, who may threaten fines or imprisonment, or God who established the essence of the marriage union at the beginning of creation?

   The idea of bowing the knee to what the government believes is being promoted more than you may realize. Just last week Hillary Clinton was speaking at a Women in the World Summit in New York. In that speech she made this shocking statement: “Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed.” (Emphasis mine) The context of her remarks had to do with women’s rights, including abortion, but that line of thinking threatens our First Amendment right to the freedom of religion.

   I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what the Supreme Court will decide about homosexual “marriage.”  I don’t know what challenges my faith may face. There is one thing, however, that I do know: I will never (by God’s grace) violate my faith in Christ by bowing to popular secular religious beliefs.

   Joshua’s challenge to the people in his day stands as a good challenge for us today as well. “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living;