Biblical Rebellion?

Recently the Public Orthodoxy blog published a post by Rodoljub Kubat, entitled, Rebellion at the Heart of the Bible. Usually I would not respond to a piece referencing a revolt spreading throughout a land as far away from our own as Serbia. But given the revolts and rioting happening here in North America in the name of righteous indignation and justice, I thought it worth addressing his issue.

Mr. Kubat asserts that to be faithful to the Biblical tradition, Christians must be rebels. He asks (rhetorically), “If Christians are silent or approving of injustice, are they on the path of the Kingdom of Heaven? If they rise up against injustice, then one might call that a rebellion, a rebellion against injustice.” He further writes, “Rebellion theology is prophetic theology. The prophetic movement originated sometimes in the 9th century B.C. It was essentially a revolt against social injustices, especially against abuses of power.” For Mr. Kubat, rebellion against the injustice in our society is at the heart of the Christian mandate, and so to refuse to take part in the rebellion constitutes lack of prophetic faithfulness to God.

As examples of such rebellion Mr. Kubat cites the Israelites rebelling against Egyptian oppression, Jonah rebelling against God, and Christ’s ministry, especially His word in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. Kubat writes, “Both the Romans and the Jewish leaders perceive [sic] Christ as a rebel” and the Church after Him was perceived as “an anti-social factor, whose members will not confess [sic] the emperor as God.” Later, “the monastic movement and flight to the desert was a rebellion against a world governed by injustice…This is especially seen in the example of St. John Chrysostom, a great theologian and fighter against injustice.” In Kubat’s view, the Church was (and should be) rebellious at its core, but later became too entangled with powers of the world and so proved itself unfaithful to its divine prophetic mandate.

It is not hard to see that Mr. Kubat has a point: the Church during its Byzantine phase of supposed symphonia with the Empire too often made shameful compromises with Caesar in supporting a worldly status quo. This is hardly new. But Kubat’s point is not historical, but theological: he asserts that we need a “theology of rebellion” to “achieve justice in this world”. In particular he says that the needed rebellion, having found no welcome in the church, at one time “moved to the ‘flower children’…who rightly became icons of freedom.”

My Google search of Mr. Kubat could not discover his age, though the picture of him online showed a man roughly the age of my own adult children, neither of whom were present when the flower children made the news, chanted “Make love, not war”, and over-dosed in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco. The flower children were not icons of freedom, but confused young people in pain, estranged from their elders, and lost in the disillusioned turbulence of the Viet Nam years in America. But of course that was far from Serbia.

Normally rebellions in Serbia would call forth little comment from me here in North America. But we seem to be in the throes of our own home grown rebellion. We are rioting in the streets, indulging in violence, and pulling down statues at will. Like all rebellions, our own current one seeks justification for its violence in the injustices perceived in society around us. The injustices may be real. But the problem with rebellion is that the injustices we perceive can blind us to the injustice inherent in our own violence, and lead us to feel that our violence is justified because we are building a better world when we are simply tearing down the one we have. For anger always blinds those who embrace it; that is perhaps why St. James reminded us that the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God (James 1:20). It is far too easy for us to imagine that we are following the mandates of the Kingdom, when we are simply being led by the spirit of the age. And the problems attending any violent rebellion should not be that hard for us to recognize—was the Communist Revolution so long ago?

What is missing in the theology of Mr. Kubat is an eschatological perspective—to say nothing of sound Biblical exegesis and historical acumen. In fact the Israelites did not rebel against Egyptian oppression, but waited until Yahweh liberated them. As Moses said, “Yahweh will fight for you, and you have only to be still” (Exodus 14:14). Jonah’s rebellion was not sanctioned by God, but rebuked and judged by Him—which was the whole point of the story of Jonah! Christ did not counsel rebellion against Rome, but refused to acquiesce in such rebellion, insisting that His disciples render to Caesar what they owed to Caesar, and that His Kingdom was not of this world. The monks did not counsel rebellion against the world, but looked to the age to come as they withdrew from the world to devote more time to prayer. And St. John Chrysostom did not counsel rebellion either: he rebuked the Empress for her sins, but never sought to overthrow the established order—probably because he had read Romans 13.

It is just here that we arrive at the crux of the matter. As children of the eschaton and the age to come, our mandate is not social rebellion and the overthrow of the established order, but witness. The prophets (including Jonah) witnessed to the truth of God, and left the judgment (and possible overthrow of the status quo) to Him. Christ witnessed to the truth of God, saying to Pilate, “For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).

In saying this, Christ gave the Church its mandate: not to overthrow the established order and substitute a new order of its own devising, but to witness to the truth, and to demonstrate a better way. Those who hear and heed the truth will change the order from within. If we have political power and the opportunity to enact godly laws, we should do so. But ultimately the change we desire will not come from revolution and rebellion, but from the diffusion of the Gospel. Political change cannot save us if our hearts remain unchanged. The flower children thought rebellion against “The Man” could save us. They were wrong.

The fundamental issue here is ecclesial: does the Church belong primarily to the age to come, or to this age? Are we strangers and sojourners passing through this age, witnessing to the truth, and doing what good we can while we are here? Or are we citizens of the world, with a mandate to change it and make it a better place to live? The dichotomy, of course, is not absolute: obviously either way we must strive to work for peace and justice and help the poor. And either way we set our hearts on the Kingdom to come. Nonetheless the choice between two basic orientations and two fundamental tasks remains.

Christ does not call us to rebel or promote revolution, but to offer revelation. It is our message which is revolutionary—and if society does not heed the message, we may not take up arms to put our message into effect. Peter tried to do that in the garden of Gethsemane—and Christ told him to put his sword back into its sheath (John 18:11). In so doing He took the sword from the hand of any of His followers who would resort to rebellion to establish the justice which can only come about through a transformed heart. Rebellion is not Biblical, and is always wrong. It seeks a political solution to a spiritual problem. The true solution was given to Nicodemus long ago: you must be born again.

Christians must be rebels.

I agree with this statement, however when I have used this I have to follow up with the following:

Be rebels against the machinations of man and the deception of Satan. Be obedient to God and accept his word (The Bible) as the irrefutable truth. Do not accept interpretations or protestations that contradict the word. Jesus warned of many false prophets that would lead the flock astray. We have to be obedient to the Lord's word as the only defense against this.

Evidence of "false prophets - those who speak for God - are as follows:

Normalizing homosexuality in the church.
Normalizing gender identity in the church.
Allowing women to lead a church.
Telling the church to follow human laws when doing so clearly violates God's law.
Placing limits on who can join or attend a church. We are called to reach out to sinners and show them the truth of salvation through Jesus, not to shun them because they are sinners or our "flavor" of faith.
Condemning others to Hell. Only the father may judge, we are not to judge but forgive and lead sinners to salvation. We are called to punish criminals and are justified through God to fine, imprison, or execute under the law. Only God can judge what happens in the afterlife.
Commanding the church body support an organization, politician, or group that commits acts that are an abomination to the Lord. For example, telling a church body to support a Democrat who supports abortion and/or gender identity rights.
Selectively ignoring or adding passages in the bible to fit in with a desired narrative.

Be a rebel against lies and a crusader of God's truth.

For 16 years Millions and millions of good peaceful people calling themselves “Tea Party” marched and gathered to call attention to the moral decay of our country. Nobody noticed. The propaganda of the socialists completely blocked their voices. The Tea Party was mostly a Christian rebellion against the loss of the Moral fabric of family & country. AFAIK there was never an unlawful event, no fires, No windows broken and we even picked up all the trash when we left the grounds. So, how do we as Christians rebel without sinning? We tried. We failed. We have loved Trump as our voice, but it’s an awful burden for one man, even one who is God sent. I am not convinced that America can be saved. Will churches reopen when the Covid scare is finally over? I fear many will not. Church attendance is a habit that is easily broken. We no longer feel the urge to Crusade as in days of yore. I tried, but now I’m too old to do anything except pray.

The socialist have brought war to us and we are called to fight it. Defending ourselves and the faith is not sinful; Capitulating to evil is. The Lord gave you a life to live and the wisdom that comes with it and the power to ask him to save yourself and others. Faith is very much like carrying a cross; it's hard to walk with and too easy to cast off. Be strong, brother, and listen carefully to what the Lord tells you in your heart and by his word and act on that. If that be prayer, then bless you and keep praying. For others that may be other acts, even martyrdom, and so be it if he wills it.

It's frustrating to not know God's plan - and I feel that frustration daily - and yet I still pray to him and ask him, through Jesus for forgiveness, though I do not deserve it, and ask him to use me for his work while I live and breath. It is his will that I wish to be a vessel for and it is his will when and how I will be used for his work. And maybe I won't even realize it when or even after that work is done. When I kneel before him and give account for my life's acts I hope that he will reveal to me how I was part of his plan. And if that comes, I will be calmed in my heart for I know that I served him on Earth - this broken, sinful, selfish little man that I am lost in a world in servitude to Satan was able to bring the kingdom that much closer to others. What a glorious day that would be, worth a lifetime of suffering.

And know this: Socialism gains its strength by convincing its followers that salvation comes from the government; it becomes "God" and all are required serve it or else. By design Socialism has to destroy faith in God because that is a power it cannot conquer. I believe that socialism is the beast spoken of in Revelation speaking its many blasphemies against God. Do not give in to that evil and try to spread the gospel to everyone you can as we are all commanded to do. One soul saved is worth all the tribulation one can tolerate.

This is one way you can be a Crusader without living by the sword.

God bless you and keep you brother! You are not alone.

1 Samuel 15:22-23 (AMP)
22 Samuel said, Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim (household good luck images). Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.

Oh, btw, where “dah choich” sez rebellion = witchcraft, I reply:
“Citizens Constitutional Right Under the 1st Amendment.”
Also, accepted into American military chaplains manuals from 1976 forward.
I just state.

I do not say ‘ right or wrong’, because, if it is a citizens’ Constitutional right to exercise their freedom of religion, as they see fit to do so, you, me, or ‘they’ have nothing to say about it.

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