The Free Exercise of Religion
The beginning of the first amendment to the United States Constitution reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. We will focus on the “prohibiting the free exercise” element. The present difficulty is that historic, orthodox Christianity holds homosexuality to be evil and prohibits it by the power of the Spirit (e.g., excommunication) and the postmodern state holds it to be good and supports it by the power of the sword (e.g., ruinous fines, other penalties; gag orders; potential imprisonment). How should an historic, orthodox Christian act in these circumstances?
First and foremost, an historic, orthodox Christian has liberty as a gift from God. This is commonly called “Christian Liberty”. It is the truth that, through faith in Christ, we are free from the bondage of compelling temptation and also from enslaving sin, endless death and hell. We are freed into a compulsion to righteousness and also into eternal life and heaven. This liberty is not given by the state and therefore cannot be taken by the state. The state can take our property, freedom of movement and even life, but it cannot take our liberty. We were created in the image of God with liberty, forfeited it by our sin and were restored to it by the life, death, resurrection and present rule of Jesus Christ. If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. Christian liberty is the first and greatest freedom of an historic, orthodox Christian. No state can threaten this in the least.
Second, our supreme allegiance to God frees us from an absolute allegiance to the state. We are bound to God as our Supreme Court and are therefore free from the laws and judgments of men that are in anything contrary to His Law. This is commonly called “Liberty of Conscience”. We are obligated by Him to submit to the laws of men including those laws that are unreasonable. But, when those laws require us to do something God has prohibited or forbid us to do something God has commanded, we must obey God and disobey men rather than obey men and disobey God. The Bible is full of such examples including, especially, the Israelite midwives in Egypt, Daniel and his friends in Babylon and Peter in Jerusalem. The first commandment requires us to have no gods other than the true and living God, therefore we are free from all authority, however otherwise legitimate, in those specific things in which they require us to disobey Him.
What does this mean for us in our current circumstances? It means that we may be forced into conscientious objection and civil disobedience. This is not the fraudulent kind that looks for opportunities to disobey in order to draw attention to our convictions. Instead, it is doing our best to love God and our neighbor, seeking to obey the state whenever possible but continuing to obey God when commanded to disobey Him. We must do this quietly, humbly and with patient endurance. The Israelite midwives were minding their own business when the state required them to participate in the murder of the male infants they delivered. Because they were required by law to do that which God prohibited, they simply continued to do what they had been doing. God’s law set them free even from the laws of the great state of Egypt. Daniel had such integrity, even as a civil servant, that his enemies knew the only way to destroy him was by making his religion illegal. He also simply continued to do what he had always done. His practice was made illegal but that did not make it wrong and did not prohibit his free exercise of religion. God’s law set him free even from the laws of the Medes and Persians.
But the Israelite women were liable to the wrath of Pharaoh and Daniel was actually thrown into the lion’s den. So we must be prepared to suffer for our civil disobedience as well. It is disobedience after all. Suffering is often the price of gaining and maintaining liberty. Christ died to give us liberty and we may need to suffer loss in order to enjoy liberty, exemplify it and pass it on to others. Jesus said, “Blessed are you when you are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. Salt burns decayed flesh and so is quickly washed away by those who are burned. Light blinds those who love darkness and so is quickly extinguished by those who are blinded. But that is what an historic, orthodox Christian is called to be: the salt of the earth and the light of the world through faith in Christ. Suffering for the sake of truth and righteousness is the normal Christian life. The last two or three hundred years were an anomaly in the whole history of God’s people. Most of the time, we were a persecuted minority not a ruling majority. None of this argues against the legitimacy of one civil government contending with another to protect or restore the liberties of its citizens. Such was the American Revolution. But we are focusing on the duties of Christian private citizens who are facing tyranny.
Welcome to the old normal. Suffer patiently in speaking truth and doing right in the enjoyment of your Christian liberty and liberty of conscience. Here we stand; we can’t do anything else. God help us.
Kit Swartz, Pastor Emeritus The Reformed Presbyterian Church Oswego, NY
