Yesterday I happened upon a piece I wrote
back in 2010. As I read it and thought about the ensuing years, and where we
are today, I realized that if the piece was true then, that it is so much truer
now. The world does not add to the burden or challenge of being a Christian, it
is the professing church; it is one thing for the world to lose its mind, it is
another thing for the professing church to lose the mind of Christ.
When Christians Drink the Cup of Rebellion
Robert L. Withers
February 10, 2010
Last
night before retiring I checked my email and read something that made me
physically sick – it was as if I had ingested spoiled meat, rancid with
maggots. It began:
“This belongs in the ‘Email Hall of Fame.’
How’s this for apocalyptic literature. This was written by a pastor’s wife in
biblical prose as a commentary on current events. It is brilliant.”
What
follows is a verbal and pictorial attack on the President of the
I
am going to restrain myself in this piece. I have already restrained myself by
choosing the word “dung” above – there are more appropriate words to make the
point, and I suppose that if I had the presence of a Luther I’d use them.
Two
preliminary comments on “biblical prose” and “brilliant” above; then I’ll move
on to the heart of the matter.
What
follows in the email is hardly Biblical prose, it is more akin to something out
of Mad Magazine; it is juvenile, written in the style of Mother Goose – with
apologies to both Alfred E. Newman and Mother Goose. The only claim the prose
and drawings have to any Biblical association is that the Bible warns us
against the sin of disrespect for authority and positively commands Christians
to honor authority. It is brilliant in
that Satan has not only used a Christian to write it, but also that our enemy
is using Christians to propagate it – Screwtape must be envious.
In
1 Peter 2:13 – 17 Christians are taught that their attitude toward government
is integral to their testimony. Considering the political, economic, and social
disabilities with which these First Century Christians lived – the
Paul
teaches, in Romans 13:1 – 7 that, “…there
is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they
who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” Paul also
speaks in this passage of rendering honor
to those in authority. Again consider the historical context; the recipients of
this letter were Christians living in the city of Rome, the seat of Imperial
power and hence the foundation of persecution against Christians – in this context
Paul teaches them that God is in control and in that knowledge Roman authority
should be honored.
Jesus
lived in submission to authority. In Matthew 8:1-13, the Roman centurion
recognized that Jesus was not a rebel or loose cannon in terms of authority –
the key element that the centurion recognized about Jesus was not that Jesus had authority or was in authority, but that
Jesus was under authority. The centurion understood that only
those who are under authority can exercise legitimate authority – Jesus commended
the faith of this Roman soldier.
What
better picture of submission to authority could we have than Christ before
Pilate? Then there is Paul and his numerous appearances before Roman
authorities. And then we have the other Apostles in the Book of Acts when they
disobeyed the Sanhedrin by continuing to preach Jesus Christ – they gladly
suffered the punishing results of their obedience to God without exhibiting
a disobedient and rebellious attitude toward authority. We might speak of
David, who even after being anointed by Samuel as a future king, knew that only
God had the prerogative to execute a change of authority – that it was not
given to David to effect a change on the throne. When David gave in to
temptation and demonstrated disrespect for Saul he repented and asked Saul’s
forgiveness.
A
characteristic of false teachers is rejection of authority, Jude 8, 2 Peter
2:10; but this does not appear to deter Christians from heaping disrespect and
rebellious abuse on the President of the
The
Biblical books of Daniel and Revelation teach that all power is in God’s hands
and that God sets up and casts down whom He will. Disrespect of the President
of the
The
introduction of the email I received terms the piece apocalyptic literature. Perhaps it is ironically apocalyptic in
that in Revelation we see a religious system riding on the Beast and the Beast
then devouring the religious system. Any religious system,
including elements of the
For our citizenship is in heaven,
from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will
transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His
glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to
Himself, Philippians 3:20 – 21.
Lord, do You want us to command fire to come
down from heaven and consume them? But He turned and rebuked them…, Luke
9:54-55.