CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE - WHEN AND HOW (A Symposium)

 

 

When is civil disobedience Biblically allowable, if at all? When is it Biblically required? What form should it take? The Scriptures offer diverse counsel on these questions. For one thing, we are to obey our governing authorities:

 

·       Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. (1 Peter 2:13-15)

 

However, there are clearly exceptions to this rule. If their rulings contradict those of God, we must obey God rather than the government. When the Apostles has been taken into custody, the Sanhedrin forbade them to speak of Jesus. However, Peter and John boldly retorted:

 

·       “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20; 5:29)

 

Obeying God rather than man is a principle with strong and consistent Biblical support. Puah and Shiphrah, Hebrew midwives, were compelled by their Egyptian lords kill the male Hebrew babies, but they wouldn’t and lied to the Egyptians about failing to do so. Consequently, God rewarded them for their disobedience (Exodus 1:15-21).

 

When then, is it justified to lie? Perhaps to avoid a greater sin, like not telling the National Socialists that you are not hiding Jews, which would lead to their murder.

 

Perhaps counteracting the greatest sins, for example, murder, would justify greater acts of civil disobedience:

 

·       Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work? (Proverbs 24:11-12)

 

These verses take us a step further. Civil disobedience is not only permissible, but it is sometimes mandatory. One church attender recalls hearing the cries of Jews as the cattle cars passed their church on the way to their death camps. The church would simply sing louder. Would God hold them to account for their “silence.” The verses above would give us an emphatic “Yes!”

 

What does this say about our relative silence in the face of the neighborhood abortion clinic? What should we say to feminists and politicians who even celebrate the murder of the unborn?

 

How far should civil disobedience take us? Can we find a Scriptural understanding behind which the Church can march? I am now praying about moderating this discussion among a panel of Christians. Please join me in prayer regarding this difficult issue!