Let me say at the outset that this post is going to step on some toes, including my own, and while it is not my intention to upset or offend, I do hope you give it some thought.
I don't know about many of you but a lot of what has been happening nationally and politically has caused me to do a lot of thinking, especially about where my allegiances truly lie and if I truly believe that God is sovereign. I know how that sounds and I do not mean I doubt God's sovereignty for I don't, but more along the lines of whether I act and live as if God is sovereign.
This first began on election night when I reading friend's reactions on facebook about the election results. As you would expect my friends on the political left were ecstatic while my friends on the right were distraught and angry. A small disclaimer-politically I align more with the right. I understood both sides and their reactions but I found myself with a third perspective-God's.
While my political personality was upset and felt that a bad decision had been made, that the country was headed in the wrong direction, my spiritual personality realized that God had ordained this direction for the country. Like it or not, agree with it or not, at this point in time. God has ordained the current government. We can debate as to the reason (reaping what we have sown since the 60's, repercussion of ignoring him and pushing him out of the public square, or punishment for legalizing abortion just being a few), but the Bible teaches us that God is in control and has ordained the current government.
Whether it is "render unto Caesar what is Casear's" or "submit to authority", we are called as Christians to submit to the authority of those in charge over us. That God has ordained that for the present time the government we live under. And as part of that, we are to obey the laws whether we agree with them or not. That we are to submit to the authority of those leaders, that we are to pray for those leaders, again whether we agree with them or not. We are only given permission to rebel or disobey IF those leaders and laws require us to violate God and God's laws and commands. Otherwise we are to submit and obey.
I have heard many of my friends say they are going the route of "civil disobedience" towards laws that they disagree with or feel violates their long cherished freedoms. This is especially noticeable amongst many in regards to the current efforts in Gun control. Again, I completely understand how they feel and find myself agreeing with them in principle. BUT, we must remember that as Christians we have a higher authority in God and he has commanded us to submit and obey as long as we are not required to violate God's commandments.
This has certainly convicted me as of late, because as I mentioned in the Split Personality Part 1 post, I have the Cultural/American personality that cherished freedom and wants to rebel at anything that treads on that, but I also have the spiritual personality that requires me to submit and obey. The more I pray and submit to God's sovereignty, I find myself more in conflict between the personalities. It is a continual battle between the two and I am nowhere near as faithful as I should be.
It all comes down to a personal choice-Do we really believe God is sovereign or not? If we answer Yes, then we are called (and MUST) submit to the authority of those he has ordained to be in charge regardless of if we agree with them or not. If we answer NO, then we must realize that we are not truly following Jesus as we should. See.. I told you toes would be stepped on.
I realize you are now sitting there getting mad at me. Trust me, I am mad at myself for the conviction this brings to myself. But if we truly call ourselves Christians and are truly trying to follow Jesus then it is something we must ask ourselves and consider.
I don't know about many of you but a lot of what has been happening nationally and politically has caused me to do a lot of thinking, especially about where my allegiances truly lie and if I truly believe that God is sovereign. I know how that sounds and I do not mean I doubt God's sovereignty for I don't, but more along the lines of whether I act and live as if God is sovereign.
This first began on election night when I reading friend's reactions on facebook about the election results. As you would expect my friends on the political left were ecstatic while my friends on the right were distraught and angry. A small disclaimer-politically I align more with the right. I understood both sides and their reactions but I found myself with a third perspective-God's.
While my political personality was upset and felt that a bad decision had been made, that the country was headed in the wrong direction, my spiritual personality realized that God had ordained this direction for the country. Like it or not, agree with it or not, at this point in time. God has ordained the current government. We can debate as to the reason (reaping what we have sown since the 60's, repercussion of ignoring him and pushing him out of the public square, or punishment for legalizing abortion just being a few), but the Bible teaches us that God is in control and has ordained the current government.
Whether it is "render unto Caesar what is Casear's" or "submit to authority", we are called as Christians to submit to the authority of those in charge over us. That God has ordained that for the present time the government we live under. And as part of that, we are to obey the laws whether we agree with them or not. That we are to submit to the authority of those leaders, that we are to pray for those leaders, again whether we agree with them or not. We are only given permission to rebel or disobey IF those leaders and laws require us to violate God and God's laws and commands. Otherwise we are to submit and obey.
I have heard many of my friends say they are going the route of "civil disobedience" towards laws that they disagree with or feel violates their long cherished freedoms. This is especially noticeable amongst many in regards to the current efforts in Gun control. Again, I completely understand how they feel and find myself agreeing with them in principle. BUT, we must remember that as Christians we have a higher authority in God and he has commanded us to submit and obey as long as we are not required to violate God's commandments.
This has certainly convicted me as of late, because as I mentioned in the Split Personality Part 1 post, I have the Cultural/American personality that cherished freedom and wants to rebel at anything that treads on that, but I also have the spiritual personality that requires me to submit and obey. The more I pray and submit to God's sovereignty, I find myself more in conflict between the personalities. It is a continual battle between the two and I am nowhere near as faithful as I should be.
It all comes down to a personal choice-Do we really believe God is sovereign or not? If we answer Yes, then we are called (and MUST) submit to the authority of those he has ordained to be in charge regardless of if we agree with them or not. If we answer NO, then we must realize that we are not truly following Jesus as we should. See.. I told you toes would be stepped on.
I realize you are now sitting there getting mad at me. Trust me, I am mad at myself for the conviction this brings to myself. But if we truly call ourselves Christians and are truly trying to follow Jesus then it is something we must ask ourselves and consider.
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