Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12
This is an open letter to myself, and to all of my brothers and sisters in Christ as well.
I am concerned for you.
Lately, you have become very passionately disobedient to God's Word, and today, I want to invite you to repentance.
The Shutdown is hard. Especially for those that have lost jobs or businesses due to it.
I understand.
God understands more.
He knows.
In fact, He is the one that brought you the Shutdown. He is the one that you are angry with.
You think it is the government, but He says in His word, that it His work.
I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things. Isaiah 45:7
You are asking why. All of us are. But I am asking you to ask yourself, is your reaction to our authorities decisions right now glorifying God?
Is your main priority comfort, or is it that the world would get to know Jesus?
None of us like it when things are bad, and I am not asking you to do that either. I am asking you to seek God right now.
Seek God, and ask Him what He is doing right now, then submit to our authorities in love.
Ask Him to give you the obedience and respect for our authorities as he has asked us to have in his word.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Romans 13:1-7
You may think I took that passage out of context. That it doesn't mean what it says, but here is more from the section before:
Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.h Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave iti to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:9-21
It is okay to abhor what is evil. In fact, God's Word demands us to. But, in the same section, it says that we are to never avenge ourselves. We are to never do the work of God in passing judgement on another.
Now is a time where we can shine brighter than ever before. As we lay down our lives, in obedience to God, the world can see that we value Christ more than our comfort, and our country. Our god is not this world. Therefore, we can obey, not believing that it will make our lives easier, but because of the grace we have received in Christ.
This all is not in order that we gain favor with God, but because of the favor we have already received. Because once we were enemies of God, and Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, we can love others and live in submission to people we believe may not have our best interests in mind.
Not in order to be weak, but that God's power may be evident in our weakness.
This is about glorifying God right now. This is the moment. We may never have another like it.
Now, are there times to disobey? Yes, there are. We all think of Daniel, Peter and the apostles. We think of Jesus when he healed on the Sabbath, We know there are times to disobey, and yes there are.
Is right now one of those times?
Yes, it is if the government starts telling us that we cannot share the Gospel.
In what manner should we disobey? Most definitely not with a gun.
We disobey by doing what we know is right, in love. Not by fighting as the world would. We lay our lives down as the apostles did and were all killed in their disobedience, but all gave their life willingly.
If you are ready to die for Christ, and that is why you are disobeying, then may God give you strength and bless you!
Otherwise, obey. Love God, and love your neighbor. This is the best chance we have to live like Christ.