By Chuck Baldwin December 16, 2010 Archived column: http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=2579
Many of us grew up in Sunday School and church. We have heard the great Bible stories over and over. We heard about the story of how Moses’ mother defied Pharaoh and hid her little baby boy in bulrushes. We heard the story of how Moses killed the Egyptian taskmaster defending a Hebrew slave and later became the great deliverer of God’s people. We heard the story of young David going out alone against the Philistines’ greatest warrior, Goliath. We heard the story of how Saul’s servants refused to carry out the king’s order to murder the priest Ahimelech. We know well the story of Daniel who defied his government’s order to refrain from praying. The names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are very familiar to us. We heard our teachers and preachers extol their courage in defying the government’s order to bow to the image of their emperor. We remember that John the Baptist went to prison (and was eventually beheaded), not for preaching the Gospel, but for criticizing the king for his immoral behavior. We certainly recall the story of Simon Peter who bluntly told his civil magistrates, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” We know that the Apostle Paul wrote many of his epistles from inside government prisons. We certainly recall that before John penned the Revelation, he had been banished to an island-prison by his civil authorities.
I challenge Christians to objectively look at the great stories of Bible heroes (in both testaments) and observe how many times they are noted for either being martyred for defying a civil authority, or, perhaps, for being delivered from death for defying a civil authority. The stories of defiance to civil government (in one form or another) comprise a great percentage of all the stories contained in the Bible–perhaps even a majority of them.
So, how has it happened that a majority of today’s Christians, it seems, have become such sheepish slaves of government? How has it happened that, for the most part, the concept of courage in the face of government oppression has been totally lost to the average Christian, pastor, and church? For all intents and purposes, it is time for many Christians to shred their Bibles, because the lessons and principles of God’s Word have absolutely no influence over their attitudes and conduct.
For example, if the story of Peter in prison were being experienced today, instead of the church rallying behind their pastor and conducting an all-night prayer meeting for him, most church members would be excoriating him in the name of Romans chapter 13. Instead of Paul being let down the wall in a basket to escape the civil authorities trying to apprehend him, the average Christian today would be the first one to turn him over to the authorities.
In the mind of the average Christian, God is not God; government is God! For instance, when one well-known Christian attorney was recently confronted by the teaching of Scripture relative to the church’s independence from government (meaning, no church should allow itself to be subject to the government’s tyrannical 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt status), he said, “That might be Biblically correct, but it is not legally correct.” In other words, the “Christian” attorney would rather a church be legal than Biblical. And, unfortunately, that seems to be the attitude of the vast majority of professing Christians today. They would rather please the government than please God; they would rather obey the government than obey God; they would rather be at peace with the government than be at peace with God.
And when it comes to the courage of risking anything of value in order to do right, forget it!
Think of what Abram risked when he obeyed God and left his country and kin and struck out for a land that God had not even told him of. Think of what Moses risked when he killed that Egyptian; think of what Joshua and Caleb risked when they defied the entire nation that was following the evil counsel of the ten spies; think of what David risked when he faced the giant; think of what Elijah risked when he confronted 850 false prophets all by himself; think of what the Old Testament prophets risked when they rebuked or challenged the kings of Israel and Judah; think of what the disciples risked when they “left all” and followed Jesus; think of what the early church risked when it embraced the Gospel and defied the wishes of Rome and Jewry (not to mention their own families and friends). But these stories are more like fairy tales to the average Christian today. They serve no practical benefit whatsoever!
Let a church deacon, trustee, or elder be told by some government-backed attorney that he is really a corporate officer, subject to the laws and punishments of IRS tax codes, and that church leader will say anything, sign anything, or do anything to save his own financial security. In order to not jeopardize his own standing with the IRS, that same church leader would turn his back on his best friend, or gladly join with the government in prosecuting a fellow believer.
I personally know of more than one case where professing Christians either lied against a beloved brother in order to protect themselves against threatened government (read: IRS) penalties, or actually testified for the prosecution (read: IRS) under oath in a court of law against a Christian brother. In each case, these “brothers” actually felt it was their “Christian duty” to betray their friends and brothers and help the government.
I am reminded of the verse where Jesus said, “Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” (John 16:2 KJV)
I am also reminded of the warning from the prophet Jeremiah when he cautioned, “Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.” (Jeremiah 9:4,5 KJV)
Jeremiah’s prophecy is spot-on! Christians today cannot be trusted to be faithful to the truth; they cannot be trusted to not betray and turn against their brethren; they cannot be trusted to not be party with slander and libel. If it means saving their own skin, or keeping their bread buttered, or staying in the good graces of the IRS, they would sell out their best friend–maybe even their own mother! And it is no coincidence that Jeremiah, himself, experienced firsthand that which he had spoken. It is no wonder he said, “Trust ye not any brother.”
When will Christians get it through their heads (and in their hearts) that oftentimes government is the enemy of God? When will they understand that they have only one Sovereign: King Jesus? When will they come to comprehend that helping government perpetrate unjust action against fellow believers is a crime against Heaven? When will they stop talking about the Bible and actually start internalizing its teachings, examples, and principles?
It has gotten to the point today many unbelievers are far more trustworthy than today’s Christians–especially when it comes to the subject of resisting unjust government. It grieves me say that many “Christian” attorneys, politicians, pastors, and church leaders are merely shills and toadies for a government that has often become both oppressive and illegitimate!
May God help us! He will have to, because we won’t get much help from the vast majority of today’s professing Christians. That is for sure!
We are living in the time of great delusion, but God is Sovereign. I watched a Christian Lawyer assert stridently to a bible class that “the rule of law must prevail”. I liked him, but dissagreed. Law, from man, is flawed, and is used by the powerful to sieze (yet more) power. Just 2 months later he was stricken with a terrible illness. I hope he found his way to repentance. Like King David, he was carried through a correction cycle. I watched a pastor entertain the pleas of homosexuals that the church is too exclusive. The pastor opened the church to homosexuals. The congregation collapsed, and the pastor’s family collapsed horribly. I strongly believe that sexual error is one of the most common mistakes a human can make, and it surely is NOT confined to homosexuality, so I could see the pastor’s point. He crossed the line, though, from, “these people have value” to “there’s nothing wrong with it at all”, and suffered a correction cycle. I have suffered them, too. God is soveriegn, and soon He will return and make that very clear.
Blessings to all believers, and to those coming to faith.
Well said. When we become Christians, God becomes our Master and our Father. He will not neglect those who are His. 🙂
. . . and we do unbelievers (that are seeking truth) a great disservice when we condone sin to avoid offending them.
Jesus said that we can’t serve two masters. We will love one and hate the other. I believe this goes for anything we trust in. If we trust in money, we will love money. If we trust in ourselves, we will love ourselves. If we trust in the government, we will love our government. Of course all of these things will sooner or later make fools out of those who put their trust in them. Jesus said that wherever our treasure is, there our heart will be too. In America, most people put their treasure in themselves. We have been blessed as a nation for over 200 years. Men, women, and children have died in the name of freedom. Men of God sacrificed all they had to ensure the freedoms we enjoy today. But how many people think about that when they make a simple trip to the grocery store? How about when we want someone to make a cup of coffee for us? What if we need a part to fix a car? What I’m saying is that we just expect these things to be here for us when we need it. We just assume that our government has our best interests in mind. We have become a nation of self absorbed people who think that it is our God given right to have the freedoms and luxuries that we enjoy while we say that we don’t need God! It’s like a child who loves candy, but has no idea where the candy comes from. Kids don’t think about the people who work long hours in a factory to make the candy. In other words, America needs to grow up and see how our blessed lives were made possible. And stop taking for granted the freedoms that we enjoy. One day we may find that we’ll have to make our own coffee, if the grocery store has it, and if our car will make it to the store, provided it still legal to drive a car.
Come on–it’s worse than that! We are a nation of people who believes that we have pulled ourselves out of primordial ooze, by our bootstraps, and are so awesome that we deserve the whole universe to conform to our desires (since we believe that the universe exists because we have dreamed it into existence)! God? A god is just something some of us imagine, if we are too modest to take the credit for everything ourselves!
(For those of you who may not have read many of my posts . . . First I was being sarcastic, then I was kidding about imagining God.)
Amen! Amen! Amen!!!!
Very good post. “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Some of the most wicked people I have ever met are “Christians” who memorize Scriptures and reject Christ. If these “Christians” are into the letter of Scripture and not the power of the Holy Ghost, they are also into the letter of worldly legalspeak.
The Lord had me hitchhike the United States for most of 16 years. Time and time again, I would tell the Lord that in some states it is illegal to hitchhike. The Lord didn’t care about that—He cared that I obeyed Him.
“Let a thing here be noted, that the prophet of God sometimes may teach treason against kings, and yet neither he nor such as obey the word, spoken in the Lord’s name by him, offend God.”
–John Knox
I don’t think any of you are talking about Christians. “In the mind of the average Christian, God is not God; government is God!”-Chuck Baldwin. Clearly anyone who calls them self Christian and thinks this is not a Christian and this fellow-Chuck Baldwin- is giving the title Christian to people who are not deserving of it. That would make him as bad as them. Just because someone claims the name Christian it doesn’t mean they are. His position, like theirs, is just another form of hypocrisy. His words are offensive to those of us who are, to the best of our ability, living Christian lives. He should speak the truth and call them hypocrite of false witnesses but not Christians. The only reason to speak as he is would be to cause controversy. I hope he finds a way to address his issues with solutions instead of complaints and finger pointing.
Great post! I live in a so-called Government town and you would think the local “spiritfilled” Churches are nothing but testicles on the ever reaching arms of the Government. All of the elders are Government employees with power in the Community. You do not have to be a Christian or Conservative or practice righteousness to avail yourself to their table of Jezebel. Because of this, I will never go to another 501c3 Church again. We do Bible studies and electronic ecclessia and our walk has improved dramatically. Wading through all of the paganism, contemplative prayer and out and out idolatry and sin is more bondage than just being a lost person. I choose YHWH!
Ageed. Even under the US constitution and The Decloration of independence 1776 of which our early soldiers and statesman faught so hard for , free from the tyranny of England and its opression and taxation.
The US Constitution states and guarentees freedom and pursuit of happiness without opression.
It was in 1913 that the us gov and banks changed our REAL currency to a make believe “US Treasury” to have greater control. Just a bunch of numbers, on paper just like the dollar bill.
I dont recall any riots in 1913 and I see only churchs enjoy that special tax free status. But if you make big money and learn the loop holes. Like corp status or LLC Status.
Point being many so called penticostal
born again church pastors fail to educate there members because its not
popular.
Weve become comfortable and people
pleasers. Seeker freindly.
Im in the st paul mn area. Many penticostal churchs here have colapsed.
Our head leader of the Charismatic movement quit in 1986, stateing : It didnt work, Roman Catholasism works”.
I think they were afraid to apeak out boldly against lies and tyranny for fear of oposition from the religious community.
In fact they preached that members keep there old church membership.
Billy Graham also taught this.
Ricker. Rickereman@yahoo.com
He (head leader of the Charismatic movement in St. Paul) may have been a Vatican agent from the start.
I would not recommend the Charismatic movement, now that I have seen how the Kundalini (false Holy Spirit) has taken over.
And Billy Graham–he was definitely an agent of the enemy–he was (is? Is he still living?) a Freemason. The enemy used him mightily in building a false ‘Christianity’ and detouring many people into it.
Every single word of this post is the truth. This is one of the few times that all of the following comments are also equally as true. Praise Yahweh that the true believers can communicate online. It is easy to understand how Elijah felt in the wilderness.
Yes, praise God!