In this Episode of The GRID, host Chris Kuhlmann examines civil disobedience and the believer. When is it appropriate? When is it our duty? He discusses the subject from both the Constitutional and Biblical perspectives.
CREDITS
Host: Chris Kuhlmann
Written by: Chris Kuhlmann
Produced by: Shaun Griffin
Music composed by JD Kuhlmann
Art: Shaun Griffin
Sound: Chris Kuhlmann and Shaun Griffin
Sponsor: The Law offices of Joshua Kuhlmann
Give him a call at 903-574-3789 for a free consultation.
Visit us at www.kingdompatriot.us and check out our Vision Video
SHOW NOTES
Two Perspectives: Biblical & Constitutional
Today, unlike some of the other topics, we are going to address this from two primary perspectives, biblical and constitutional. However, let’s talk about the latter first.
Constitutional
According to the country we live in, when should we engage in civil disobedience, when should we disobey the laws or authorities that have been placed over us?
“Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.—Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these states. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.”
According to the declaration of independence, the time to “throw off such government” is a time when patience has finally worn out…when we have patiently suffered at repeated injuries, repeated injuries….for clarity, the time for throwing off a government is not the first time the government makes a decision that a Conservative Christian doesn’t like. If you understand the plight of the founding fathers, you know that they petitioned King Edward, they communicated, asked for representation, and over and over they were rebuffed and were relegated to suffer at His hands with any potential for recourse. Having come to the conclusion that peaceful petition would not yield any changes, the founding fathers issued this declaration so that the entire world could see that the quest for independence was not without cause or merit. This included:
At every stage of these oppressions, the colonies petitioned for redress in the most humble terms…each petition was answered by more repeated injury. Thus, “A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people”
Why did I spend the last few minutes reading this from the declaration of independence? I read it so you could understand several things 1) The colonies faced continual injuries and persecution from their government, 2) They petitioned many times for their issues to be resolved and just to be heard, 3) Their injuries/violations were only met with further constitutional persecution, 4) as a LAST resort, they declared their independence and prepared for war.
So where are we now in this process…to state my position for the government who is undoubtedly listening in, I don’t believe we are at stage 4, preparing for war, at least not physical war. However, we are clearly passed stage 1. Conservative Christians in this nation clearly are being met with injury and persecution fairly widespread that this point….not to the degree that the colonists were, but the government bureaucracy is not even shy now about showing it’s disdain for the traditional conservative Christian values that our nation was founded upon. We truly have entered the day that the bible says “They will call what is good evil and what is evil good.” I personally believe we are in the midst of the back and forth of stage 2 and 3….that is why the Kingdom Patriot Group was formed. To petition, to united the voices of faith and freedom to return our nation to those founding principles, but do so with the gentle and humble, yet the solid resolute nature of Christ.
Constitutionally speaking, we should be pushing back more than ever. Our voices need to be heard and we never want to get to Stage 4.
Biblical
Now biblically speaking, I want to preface this discussion that I’m going to give you principles, not “the answer”. I believe you have to pray the Lord and as you seek Christ for his direction, consider these principles.
Here’s a couple of scriptures to consider before we even have this discussion.
Romans 13:1-2 “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
Galatians 5:1-2 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
(Some have used this as justification for disobedience, but I believe this is taken out of context as it really is talking about the yoke of slavery in regards to circumcision."
As a general rule, I believe the Lord calls us to obey those in authority over us…but that is not always the case. You really have to know what the heart of Christ is. For example, in Jeremiah we see the Israelites exiled to Babylon and the Lord told them to except this faith, to flourish in captivity upon the promise that they WOULD be rescued one day. On the other hand, in Exodus, we learn that the Lord says “I have heard the cry and suffering my people” and then ultimately instructs his people to rebel/escape Pharaoh in a call to obedience; and the Lord delivers Israel in a miraculous way. I will come back to this shortly.
When is it crystal clear to rebel against those in authority?
Issues unclear in scripture
Principals we need to understand, embrace, and live by
While I think that outright banning preaching and worshipping is a ways off, the government’s appetite for control is always progressing and is insatiable. We are already seeing that if a pastor preaches the bible and calls same-sex marriage a sin that he’s committing discrimination at best and a hate crime at worst…there are open calls for shutting down pastors, censorship, and even criminal prosecution of such pastors.
These are principles that I believe we can apply to the most egregious actions of the day. For example, vaccine mandates. From on perspective, you can argue that the government is to be obeyed, on the other hand you can say the government is asking us to obey something they do not have the authority to do, and lastly you can argue you can’t support something that clearly has the spirit of the anti-Christ in it. At the end of the day, these decisions of obedience must be met with a principled approach, bathed in prayer, with the consultation of many. I absolutely believe that there is a time to be biblically disobedient, but I also believe that bar is high. Similarly to the constitutional perspective, I don’t think biblical disobedience is for light and transient causes (unfair tax code), but where there is a clear direction that is opposed to Christ, we not only have the right, but the duty, to engage in peaceful civil disobedience.
I think as Christians we need to be super careful in not being disobedient for “light and transient” causes either constitutionally or biblically, but to say there is not place for biblical disobedience would be incorrect. When we do disobey those authorities for anti-biblical actions, we are called to make sure our actions lead others to Christ. So many times, I see Christians standing up with angry defiance that doesn’t lead others to Christ, but rather looks like angry open in-your-face-defiance. I think in biblical disobedience we are called to be gentle, humble, meek but firm resolute conviction.
Fellow kingdom patriots, seek God, carefully pray about these times and situations. Disobedience must be in the right time, the right way, with the right conviction, with the right leading from the Holy Spirit. Seek the counsel of others, humbly pray, ask yourself if this disobedience is purely about “my rights” or are we standing against an offense to God. If we do these things, I believe we will find we are not standing alone, but with other Kingdom Patriots.
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