...”Kim Davis is a controversial figure in her own time. She makes us uncomfortable because she suggests a comfortable era for Christians in America may be coming to an end. We may reach a point where we can’t dodge anymore: either we will surrender our faith for all practical purposes, or we will suffer to maintain a stand for righteousness. But she isn’t the villain.
If it’s wrong to be defiant, and if we should disagree with the government in the most quiet, unobtrusive way possible, then we can say that many of the Biblical heroes were wrong. If we were back in their time, we could set them straight.
We might say to Shadrech, Meshach, and Abednego, “You know guys, the King’s going to give you a second chance to bow down before his idol, and you should take it. It doesn’t matter if you bow, it’s just part of your job, and you know what, ‘God knows your heart.’ Try to trick the king by bowing towards Jerusalem. He’ll think your bowing to his idol but you’ll really be bowing towards the temple. Isn’t that clever?”
We’d be dismayed when instead they turned to the King and said, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not fear to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18 KJ21)
Daniel could’ve taken a far easier, far more palatable solution when King Darius decreed no one could pray to any God or man but him for 30 days. “This is really simple. You don’t have to stop praying. You just have to make sure no one sees you praying. Go take a nap or go out into the desert alone. Pray quietly and you’ll thwart those advisers who got the law passed.” Instead, we’d find that Daniel chose a somewhat more conspicuous route:
When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously. (Daniel 6:10, ESV)
John the Baptist had a successful ministry baptizing thousands. However, he also had a problem with sin and one of the biggest sinners around was King Herod. We might say, “Teacher, we know you don’t like what the King’s done but he doesn’t care and you should do the smart thing and stay out of politics, and not say anything against him.” We’d be frustrated as we saw John’s perfectly good (though diminishing) ministry ruined by his continuing to proclaim that Herod’s marriage to his sister-in-law Herodias was unlawful.
Who was he to try and foist a biblical definition of marriage on Herod? You can’t expect sinners to follow the law of God or to act like they know God. You have to be more gentle.
Indeed, judged by modern standards, such heroes of faith aren’t heroes, only stubborn, uncooperative people who lacked the common sense to stay out of trouble.
We’ll never publicly state that. Most Christians will praise them and other righteous practitioners of the fine art of inconveniencing tyrants. We exult people for the brave and daring in defiance of wicked laws: all praise to the Underground Railroad, Corrie Ten Boom, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. We even honor Christians in other lands who stand for their faith in defiance of local laws.
We only honor civil disobedience from a safe distance. In the 1850s many a good pastor in the North would say Christians should obey the Fugitive Slave Act and return abused and beaten slaves to their masters in the South. Some congregations were unfortunate enough to have their churches located near railroad tracks during the Nazi Era. They became expert in singing louder to drown out the screams coming from those being sent to the death camps in box cars.
(I ran across this site and found the entire entry fascinating and helpful....thought sharing it would be to others as well....as Christians this may very well be the time we must now stand...)
https://caffeinatedthoughts.com/2015/09/the-age-of-disobedience/
I hinted of disobedience to wrong and got hooted at as a “non-conservative.” Oh, only LIBERALS pick and choose based on SOMETHING HIGHER!
Liberals are deluded but even they understand some fundamental principles, albeit used inappropriately.
As C. S. Lewis put it, evil is goodness used in a wrong way.