Submission to Authority

I often have interesting conversations with fellow believers. They often share their feelings on this or that where someone or something has done a bad thing. Like, "The pastor acted without the approval of the congregation. The pastor was wrong." And I'll ask, "Where do you get that?" You see, I'm hearing "Church should be run like the government -- a democracy." And I'm not seeing it in my Bible. And, while American democracy is cool, it isn't biblical. (I'm not saying it's unbiblical; I'm saying it's just not in there.) So I always want to be sure that the places that I stand most firmly are informed by Scripture rather than feeling or opinion.

A current push among many in the church these days is the need for what we term "civil disobedience." The government has told us that church is not essential and we can't meet. And we need to do something about that. When Peter was told to stop preaching the gospel, he countered, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard." (Acts 4:19-20) Perhaps it's time for that. Obey God and accept the consequences from the government.

Let's examine the thought for a moment. Paul wrote something on this, but I'll go with Peter for a change.

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. (1 Peter 2:13-15)

This seems really, really absolute. (So does Paul's version in Romans 13:1-5.) Submit to the authorities. Period. We can all stop and go home now, quite literally, because we need to absolutely submit to the authorities.

And, of course, it's not that clear, is it? I mean, Peter himself refused to submit to their authority when they ordered him to stop doing what Christ had commanded him to do. So, apparently, we are supposed to always submit to human authority unless there is that rare occasion where human authority opposes a specific command from God.

That seems pretty straightforward. So, what command from God is the current government contravening when they tell us we can't gather in large groups for worship and fellowship? What are we to think about these mandates to churches?

There is the question of the legality of the commands. We have, for instance, the constitutional guarantee of the right to free exercise of religion. Is it legal for the government to contravene that guarantee? Well, yes, it is. We all recognize, for instance, that the freedom of speech ends at yelling "Fire" in a crowded venue. Killing people with your free speech is forbidden. We would all hope that "My religion requires that I kill the infidel" would not be protected free exercise, right? So the government can and does routinely impose limits on our constitutional rights. The question still remains, however. Is this a situation that qualifies?

Scripture is clear that we need to obey the authorities over us. It is imperative that we keep in mind what that means. It is imperative because it's complicated. We all have a variety authorities, starting first and foremost with the King of kings and Lord of lords. Kids have parents. Students have teachers. Citizens have governments. Workers have bosses. If you go into a store, you are subject to the rules of that store. It is everywhere. So what we have to understand is that varying authorities have varying spheres of authority. We understand, for instance, that the government can tell us what to do outside of our homes, but not inside (generally speaking). We get that a teacher can tell a student what homework to do, but not who his or her friends can be at home. We all see that a business has authority when you're in that business but none outside of that business. And the hierarchy has God at the top. It is these spheres of authority that make it necessary to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29) when human authorities command disobedience to God. They have exceeded their authority.

So, is this the case here? Is the government commanding believers to disobey God? I'm not so sure. (I said that carefully, because I think there are dissenting opinions that might be just as valid, so I'm just presenting my opinion here.) I see that Scripture commands that we not forsake assembling together (Heb 10:25). Absolutely! Is an electronic assembly not an assembly? Scripture is full of "one another" commands like "bear one another's burdens" and "love one another" and a host of others. Is there something in the government decrees that prevents us from doing those things even if we are physically removed? In places that there is genuine persecution of Christians the church gathers in small, concealable numbers. This, of course, is illegal where they are as it is, but it isn't where we are. Can we not meet in smaller numbers and still be gathering for fellowship, still be loving one another?

There is the specific concern about sharing Communion remotely. Many point to Paul's words on the topic in 1 Corinthians. "In the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you." (1 Cor 11:18) Paul speaks exclusively of coming together. Paul did not allow for coming together remotely. But does that negate it? (I would like to point out that this text is not a mandate. "Thou shalt physically gather together." Jesus's command is similar. "As often as you do this, do it in remembrance of Me" (1 Cor 11:25) He doesn't specify how often; He specifies what attitude to have when you do. "When you gather" is indicative, not imperative.) Scripture doesn't specify timing or, technically, location. If some are convinced that it must be a physical location -- an actual, physical gathering -- there is still no time requirement, so a delay in Communion for a month or three doesn't seem to be a problem, does it?

I can see possibilities that some might say, "No! God demands we do _____ and the government is blocking that from happening!" I can see that this would constitute a reason to obey God and not government. I just urge believers to have a biblical basis for it and not a feeling or a tradition of man that is the basis.

And if we decide, "Yes! These rules are opposed to God's direct commands," will we act biblically? The disciples in Acts 5 were beaten and charged, but they left "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name" (Acts 5:41). Peter wrote, "To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing." (1 Peter 4:13) Will that be our response? Or will we be outraged and take it to court and complain because we're being treated unfairly? I suspect the latter will be the general perspective, and it's not biblical.