God and Government

"...Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye...we ought to obey God rather than men." -from Acts 4:19, 5:29.

Yesterday in my devotions, I was reading again the well-beloved story of Daniel in the lions' den; Daniel, chapter 6. Not only is our God the creator of all, but He maintains power over His creation at all times; He is indeed, the Living God.

Daniel was the victim of those that "frame mischief by a law" (Ps. 94:20); but how would this effect the relationship he had with God? Let's look at the highlights of this account;

"Then this Daniel was preferred...and the king thought to set him over the whole realm. Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion or fault...Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God...All the presidents of the kingdom, and princes...consulted together to establish a royal statute...that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions...Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree." -Daniel 6:3-9, abridged.

"Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and...he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime." -from Daniel 6:10, abridged; bold type added for emphasis.

We all have heard this story, and probably many times over. No one really ever thinks that Daniel may have done the wrong thing, do they? Yet to hear some people spout references to Romans chapter 13, you'd think that Daniel had likely "missed the memo" from God! For that matter, if he did, then so did the apostles in the passage quoted at the beginning of this article. Throughout scripture, prophets and disciples of the Lord have defied the authorities of their time. As it is written;

"Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men." -I Cor. 7:23.

When it comes to Romans 13, I really like the summary that I found through Chuck Baldwin entitled, Romans 13 revisited; please take the time to read this vital account. Suffice it to say, those who take Romans 13:1-7 to mean, "do whatever your authorities tell you", are ignoring the testimony of the scriptures; and common sense. I personally like the opening of I Peter 2:13, which says;

"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake."

As this phrase implies, there are ordinances of man, and ordinances of God. You pay your taxes, obey traffic laws, etc. Many of the ten commandments have been adopted as laws. But if the rule of man's law tells you to be silent about Jesus Christ, you cannot obey it! God's law is contrary to this, and must come first.

What concerns me the most, is this compromising age in which we live. I think many who profess Christ, if Daniel's circumstance were somehow transferred to them, would be agreeable with it. After all, it's only for 30 days, right? Or maybe they would be very secretive with prayer, unlike Daniel- who prayed with his windows open, and facing Jerusalem.

Those compromises of which I speak take place on ordinary levels, in situations that are faced daily. The workplace is often the culprit for denials of Christ. Years ago, an attendant at a service station approached me; informing me that I am not to leave gospel tracts at the pumps. He had seen me place one there, as indeed I had done many times. This man said he was a Christian; but "company policy" dictated that I not leave them.

I thanked him for doing his duty (I can understand if he felt obliged to tell me; it was his job), but told him that I must do mine, as well. Unfortunately, he seemed to think that his position on the matter was alright; the gospel could be shared in other places, but not there!

We cannot accept such proclaimations, brethren- EVER! If we listened to all of those "regulating" the message of the gospel, few would even hear it, let alone be saved. When we hold a workplace rule above God's directions in His Word, we are serving mammon, not Christ! And, NO! We cannot do both (Matt. 6:24). How do you rationalize that only some will be able to hear the gospel, based solely upon their physical location? What about eternity? This temporal world will soon dissolve, and then all that will last will be what we have done with the Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of our heavenly Father.

It can never be said in defense to God, that the "commandments of men" prevented you from fulfilling the directives of God! If you seek employment, but the place you've applied forthrightly forbids you from carrying out Biblical instruction, you need to look elsewhere. If the place in which you already work adopts policies that are in conflict with your faith, you can, (A) Continue on in your job, upholding the Word of Truth as you have before, or (B) Quit.

Jesus promised that when we "Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness", that our needs will be provided for (Matt. 6:33; read passage, v.24-34). God is the supplier of all our need (Philipp. 4:19), and the provider of "every good gift, and every perfect gift (James 1:17); we need to learn trust in our God, far beyong what we see (Heb. 11:1).God, by His mercy and grace, has done this for us; one particular incident I will share...

Through an employment agency, I landed a job in a large warehouse, doing inventory. After about a month of work, I was offered full-time with the company directly; it was a good-paying job, and I accepted. But things really began to change, once this happened; I felt like I had sold my soul.

To get in, a regular application had to be made; one that required lies to be told for acceptance. My 1st app. was rejected, but after consulting others about it, my 2nd was accepted. "Please, Lord, forgive me!" was the cry I lifted up. Then, upon orientation day, posters in our room encouraged lying about who you are, and also greatly put down belief in God! I couldn't believe it! Outwardly, the company would say that they were for respect, and fair treatment for all; the message during orientation didn't support that false pretense, at all!

Lastly, the "straw" that broke it apart, was the scheduling. As a temp, we worked 5 days, with weekends off. Now, our schedule was being continually changed; even hourly at times, so that one could never make any plans. One imperative of my working any job, was that I would have adequate time with my wife, and would be able to continue with our website, writing articles. Now, this job was trying to steal that which had been prioritized for God. When my schedule got changed for the last time, I noted that by this change, I would have gone 3 consecutive weeks with only one day off each week! I pointed this out to my supervisor, hoping that he would rectify this situation. Needless to say, he didn't even try to.

At this point I had to make a decision, but inwardly, I already knew where the Lord's will lay. The next day, I submitted my resignation, but only with one week notice (I knew the temp agency would re-supply another worker). God made a way for me to witness greatly in departing, and I thank Him for that; I was officially with the company 6 weeks, though there were 5 additional weeks through the agency.

It was mid-month when I quit, and we couldn't see how the bills would be met. The Lord gave me the faith to step out, and trust Him, though any actual relief was unseen! Well, within those 2 weeks, we received two unforeseen gifts, of $500, and $200; a total of $700 was supplied, more than enough to carry us forward! By the time we needed more, both my wife & I had new jobs.

Brethren, there is a price to pay when following Christ. We are simply not always going to be comfortable, as is promised in John 16:33, Acts 14:22, and II Tim. 3:12. Yet it is absolutely imperative that we stand for Him that we call Lord (Luke 6:46), and not live like we are ashamed of His words (Mark 8:38).

"...So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God." -Dan. 6:23.