A Broken Nation: Answer 2a

Well, we've covered how to verbally respond if your leaders are trying to lead you in the wrong direction, but what do you do if that doesn't work? In order to stay true to the beliefs that we hold to as Christians, we have to resist, but how?

The first key, I believe, is in the heart of your resistance. I always try to define my heart by the words I use to describe my actions. In this case I would say that peaceful resistance is good, revolt and rebellion are not. It's at this point that most of my friends bring up some historical fact about the American or French Revolution, or any one of a million other revolts, revolutions and rebellions to try to prove their argument that we can forcefully resist our leaders, but not one of them has been able to argue it strictly from scripture. We (I say "we" because I do it to) always want to take what we think is good and then make it Godly, but the reality is that Godly things are way beyond good.

For instance, Christ tells the parable of the unforgiving debtor in Matt. 18:21-35 where a man was owed money and he forgave the debt. There's more to the story, but the point is that being paid money owed to you is a good thing, but forgiving the debt of another is a God thing. Jesus himself was hung on a cross for doing NOTHING wrong. Had He gone to heaven to sit at the right hand of the father for His life lived, that would have been a good thing, but instead HE was punished for things he didn't do so that WE could sit with the father. This is the ultimate God thing!

It breaks my heart to realize how much the concepts of freedom, fairness, individual rights and personal liberty have infiltrated the mindsets of those who call themselves Christians. The truth is that we have become slaves to Christ (Rom. 6:22) and we are called to be servants to each other (Matt. 20:26). God has called a people who would be a blessing to the nations, yet we constantly put ourselves higher than the world around us. We say things like "I deserve...", "I'm blessed because...", "He owes me...", "I have the right to...", "It's only fair that...", etc. DON'T WE GET IT YET? We are called to humility, meekness, love, selflessness, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, forgiveness and self-control.

As American Christians we always want to lift up examples of active resistance that lead to good outcomes, but in the second part of this answer I want to lift up examples of peaceful resistance that lead to God outcomes.

Technorati tags: revolution, Christians, servants, freedom, rights, liberty

A Broken Nation: Question 2

What do you do when your leaders are un-Godly and want to lead you in an un-Godly direction? This is a very real problem in many of our churches today, not to mention current and past governments, families, schools, businesses, and the like.  What do you do if you're a Christian in Nazi-Germany during the time of Hitler? How do you balance Acts 23:5 where it says, "Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people," (NIV) with the two greatest commandments of loving the Lord your God with all your heart and loving your neighbor as yourself?

Christ says in Matt. 5:39 to not resist an evil man, yet throughout the rest of the scripture, it's very clear that we should not follow our leaders in an ungodly direction. Throughout history the Church has wrestled with this, especially when it comes to war. One attempt to solve this issue has been the drafting of the "Just War Theory". Other groups like the Quakers have chosen to refrain from participation in war except as medical staff.

For most of my life I've heard that supporting America, no matter what, is the best way to show respect to our leaders. But what about when America is in the wrong? (I even feel dirty writing that last sentence... Man we've been indoctrinated!) Better yet, what about when your church leadership is wrong? For instance, what do you do when your church wants to build another multi-million dollar building 10 miles down the street from the slums where people can't get enough to eat?

The real question becomes, how do you love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself, when doing so requires you to not follow your leaders? Obviously, you have to resist, but how?

To find out more, read Answer 2.

Technorati tags: resistance, indoctrinated, Just War Theory, Quakers, un-Godly