Civil Disobedience for Christians

The question I want to look at in this article is a simple one. Is it right (before God) to engage in civil disobedience? We could expand that question to include whether it’s right before God for Christians to engage in warfare. I am going to try to give some answers to the first question which should provide a good measure of an answer to the second.

Before we get started then, it might be a good idea to define just what we mean by “civil disobedience” and why it might be necessary.

To be disobedient in this sense is to ignore any command given by a government or any of their officials who are enforcing a law of the land. It can also include deliberate breaking of civil or criminal laws. The “civil” part of disobedience adds the element of the public at large being involved in said disobedience on a wider scale than just telling a policeman where to stick his truncheon!

By and large, we are referring to peaceful civil disobedience, but there might be circumstances when it’s necessary to engage in some means of physical force, namely that of self-defence. But more on that later.

What Does God Expect from the Christian?

I’m going to answer the above question by looking at three distinct parts of God’s Word. The first place to look is:

Exodus 20:1 to 17 – The 10 Commandments – No Other Gods

I will not be going into the Commandments in detail here. It’s enough to just mention a few of them. It’s not a coincidence that the first one we need to consider is the first commandment, which states “Thou shalt have no other gods before me……” (Ex 20:3-6). If you read through that passage you will notice a few other things God requires:

• Make no graven images of anything in heaven an earth.
• Do not serve or bow down to them.
• If you do, then he will “visit iniquity” through time against you and your family line.
• He will love those who obey his commands

We now need to ask ourselves another question. What exactly constitutes “another god”? The obvious answer we might think of is, a god of another religion, such as the Islamic god Allah, or one of the literally millions of god’s of the Hindu religion. But by thinking of only these answers, we are severely limiting ourselves. Think back to what the Israelites were worshiping, even as Moses was still up the mountain with God, getting instruction on his commandments. They made themselves a calf out of the gold they collected from among themselves, and worshiped that! (Exodus 32:1-4).

So “another god” could be any thing whatever that is made into some form of idol (statue, picture or any physical item, including a person) and is then the focus of mass adulation and obedience by the people. Can you think of anything that might fit that bill? I know I can and if I started to list them here this would be a very long read indeed!

Probably the most obvious recent imposition by a government on the people in terms of worshiping other gods is prevention of Christians to enter into their places of worship. If there is a gas leak and the church is unsafe, then of course we follow safety protocols and adhere to instructions to vacate the area. That’s common sense. But when a government mandates (for any reason whatever) that places of worship must be closed and people cannot come together as a church, then that is an entirely different matter.

I know, you will say that it was all about a matter of public health. Well if you still believe that after the biggest con-job in human history over the last 2 years then you really need to get your head out of the cognitive dissonant sand.

In such a case, this is a clear breach of our God given right to worship Him in the way we have been instructed, to come together as a body and worship. I will just list here a few of the Scriptures which give us that mandate:

• 1 Corinthians 12:21 to 26
• Hebrews 10:24 to 25
• Matthew 18:19 to 20
• Acts 2:46

To mention just a few. Please go and look them up.

Does this constitute having another god? Perhaps not in the sense we’ve explained, but it is the government preventing us from worshiping our God. They have placed themselves in an authority ABOVE God by preventing Christians from worshiping him. This then is the government taking on an authority which is not theirs to take, and requiring that we obey them and not God. They do this in the same way that God expects us to obey him.

Indeed, we would not be worshiping the government (I hope) but at the very least we must follow their command in fear of punishment. The government have technically taken the place of God.

This might seem a little far fetched, but it is highly relevant given what we have experienced in very recent times, with lockdowns and so on. But how many churches disobeyed their new “god” of government? Almost none, with a very small number of exceptions, all of whom were arrested and jailed by their new god of government.

I could have told you about the love of money as a replacement for god, or those who worship idols (either statue or human varieties) but that’s been going on for thousands of years, even unto today.

Thou Shalt Not Kill

So are there any other commandments to look at in relation to civil disobedience? Sure, but I want to just look at two more. The first is “Thou Shalt not kill” (KJV). The more appropriate rendition for today is “Thou shalt not murder”. So this obviously brings in the idea of physical harm to others. And let’s not forget that we are talking about whether or not to obey the dictates of a government. In this instance, it behooves us to decide firstly under what circumstances can we defend ourselves with anything up to and including deadly force, and secondly whether or not we should engage in such force under the direction of a government either in the enforcement of civil and criminal Law or in the act of fighting against an enemy of the state.

Let’s take the first scenario first. Most Christians seem to believe that pacifism is the Christian way. They’ve been conditioned into that belief by centuries of being misinformed about Matthew 5:38-48:

It’s very true that Jesus taught that we should do everything in our power to avoid violent confrontation and to love our neighbours as ourselves. But there comes a point when your life (or the life of one someone you love) is in imminent danger from an attack and that’s the point where the confusion starts. Turning the other cheek is the phrase that is so often (mis)used here, as it is taken totally out of context by most people.

A simple examination of Matthew chapter 5, shows us very clearly that it is revenge or vengeance that is not to be done to others. This is backed up in a variety of other scriptures such as Romans 12:19.

So let’s be clear. As Christians we should not be the instigator of a violent confrontation. But should a violent confrontation be thrust upon us, then the gloves are off! We have (human) laws which determine the level of force we may use, and they are quite sensible, even if the upholders of the law are sometimes ignorant of them. So the use of defensive methods are quite acceptable in law and we are instructed in the Bible not to be vengeful and to “love our neighbours”. Well, you can still love him while he is attacking you by deftly removing the baseball bat/knife/gun he’s assaulting you with and making sure he isn’t able to attack you any more. That’s called self-defence, in love. If you overstep and go over and above the force required to subdue the attacker, then you are in the same situation as the unbeliever.

All those Christian detractors of the use of physical force should stop using the excuse “Well the early Christians allowed themselves to be thrown to the lions!” Yes, they sure did. And the reason some of them did that was they were given the choice by the Romans of, 1. Suffer a death by crucifixion 2. Get eaten by lions in the arena 3. or renounce your God, hail Caesar and all the Roman gods. There were no other options. That hardly applies to a situation where some thug with a knife is trying to gouge out your adams apple while stealing your wallet.

It is a total ignorance of the law in this matter and also ignorance of scripture, that keeps most Christians very meek and mild and refuse to fight back (even if they could). Fighting is a scary thing. 99.9% of people in general would never think of self-defence training until after they have experienced an attack.

Now let me quickly speak about Christians in warfare. This is not an easy one to justify, and modern warfare has changed radically in recent decades. Can we as Christians justify missile attacks by remotely piloted drones? How about the indiscriminate bombing of civillians in their homes? The list of atrocities performed in the name of war is long. We might say that we have a set of rules for warfare (as laid out in the Geneva Convention) but when the combat begins, the rules go out the window.

So should Christians become conscientious objectors? Some did in the first world war and were shot as cowards. It was better in the second world war. At least they didn’t shoot them, but they were generally regarded as cowards even so.

It has got to be a personal choice in my view. looking at the ordinary soldier on the ground, he will be expected to kill indiscriminately anyone he perceives to be the enemy. He is put in that position with his platoon as a vital element to protect the other members of his team. So if a Christian is in that position, then he had better well have firmly decided that what he does comes under the term “self-defence” or “defence of the realm”. One thing is certain, opportunities exist for individual actions of horrific war crimes, and the Christian soldier will surely be faced with these temptations.

So should Christians go to war? My own opinion is that if the war is justified and causes a threat to our freedom to live a Godly life in peacetime, then yes it is justified in my mind. What role we each play in such war is up for discussion. But as in the last two world wars, most of the time you don’t get a choice. If they say “infantry” then that’s where you go. If you refuse, then there’s a very uncomfortable room waiting in the “glasshouse” (military prison to you civilians). Believe me when I tell you that these are not the nice comfy ones in civilian pokeys! No TV or playstations to pass the time.

Thou shalt Not Bear False Witness Against thy Neighbour

The second is all about lying. Let me ask you a question:

“Do you think your government/members of parliament/senators/governors etc. tell lies in public?”

I think I know what your answer will be, largely because I’ve yet to come across a politician who can give a straight answer to a straight question.

So we really don’t need to say much about lying. If you are governed by people who do not tell the truth, then you can carry on loving them as Jesus said, but we certainly don’t have to remain under their governance. Those that breach God’s commandments are not fit for the service they have been given, and therefore you are under no obligation whatever to do what they say, or trust them to deliver trustworthy governance for state or nation.

Who Do We Serve?

In the end, whether we are civillian or military, being a Christian has it’s challenges when it comes to disobeying the authorities. Most would say (and actually do) nothing. They keep their heads down and pretend that they are just following God’s orders, when in fact they are breaking them by complying with despotic leaders.

Was the reason we witnessed the total cowardice of church leaders around the world as they cowered under the blankets and kept their church doors firmly locked, just in case the virus got them? No! they did it because they didn’t have the courage or faith in God to stand against a tyranny by a government that is not fit for purpose and certainly broke every rule of God’s Holy Law.

It was plain to see, but somehow these plucky ne’er do wells were too busy checking the stitching of their socks under their blankets of shame.

I will end with this:

Acts 5:29
Then Peter and the other Apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. (King James Bible)

We serve God first. Paul explained to us in Romans 13 that we are to obey the human authorities placed over us, because they are appointed by God. But that’s where God’s involvement usually ends. Because what a leader does in his governance is entirely his own affair. They may do good or they may do evil. If in the latter case they do evil, then to hell with them!

May the Good Lord God bless and keep you.

Rev. Steven Chriscole
Grand Master Knights Templar Church

(2nd dan black belt Karatejutsu; 3rd dan black belt Iaijutsu; self defence instructor)