Question: There are multiple Biblical Mandate’s, from Moses onward through Hebrews, regarding a Christian’s responsibility to ‘obey’ the government, rulers, laws, authority, etc. of the State or Country in which the Christian resides. As an American who resides in the United States, the highest authority concerning civil liberties and the role of govt. is the US Constitution and Bill of Rights, however, many leaders, who vow to uphold the Constitution in their oath of office, do the precise opposite and go so far as rejecting it with the laws, ‘orders,’ and mandates, they create, and actions they take forbidden by the Constitution.

As a Christian, what, or whom, do we obey in instances of conflict between the Constitution, and national (and state) leaders?

Reply:  I asked my friend Dan Heimbach to help me with this question. The answer provided is almost completely his.

To be clear, this question really involves two parts. The first regards the extent to which Christians have a duty to obey the authority of whatever civil government we live under, and the second regards conflicts that might someday arise between what a civil leader orders and fidelity to the United States Constitution. These questions are related but not the same, and must be handled separately.

First regarding biblically defined obligations to accept and submit to what civil authority requires, the important thing to understand is that while obligation to respect the authority of civil government is unconditional, obligation to obey depends on fidelity to God. This means there is no exception to a Christian’s moral obligation to respect the authority, role and responsibilities of human government no matter how bad it gets. But there are exceptions to what Christian’s can obey. This distinction is made very clear in the response Peter and John gave to the Sanhedrin when they respectfully refused to accept and obey a sinful order saying, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). This qualification of Christian duty to obey civil authority applies to all forms of government including ours. So, even if the Supreme Court of the United States were to rule that our Constitution requires Christians to oppose something God requires, Christian citizens would have to obey God over the Constitution.

The second question does not dispute what the US Constitution requires, but asks how Christians who are good American citizens should respond if a government leader were to issue orders that are directly and openly outside boundaries of power delegated by the US Constitution. This question is easy to answer but could become hard and perhaps risky to carry out. Biblically the answer is that no human government has moral power to order wicked behavior, and Constitutionally the answer is that no US official has any legitimate legal power outside what he or she is given by the US Constitution and can therefore never legally demand or require anything of citizens contrary to the US Constitution. It other words there can be no moral obligation to act immorally and no legal obligation to act illegally.

But the reason this “easy to give an answer” to the second question could become hard to live by is that should persons ever come to occupy civil office in our land who oppose God’s moral law and the US Constitution at the same time, then a Christian’s mere refusal to obey their illegal-immoral demands, however respectfully and politely stated, will make them very unhappy and could result in persecution. In that case Christians should prepare to go to the lion’s den with Daniel.

The researchers also evaluated the “halo effect” of a congregation, and here is where things really get interesting.  By “halo effect,” the article is referring to the less tangible goods that nonetheless have real financial benefits.  For example, they determined that a “divorce diverted by counseling is worth $18,000; a suicide prevented by counseling is worth $19,000.”  How they arrived at such figures is not given.  Using such a calculus the study ascertained that First Baptist Church in Center City, Philadelphia alone provided a benefit of $6,090,032.  Other churches and congregations supplied even more.  At the final tally, the 12 congregations were determined to provide an economic benefit of $50,577,098.  

Perhaps the conclusions of the study are fairly accurate.  Without a doubt there are benefits to the transforming power of the Gospel that are obvious, maybe even measurable.  But there is a difference between economic benefit and value.  And Christians know that the Gospel is priceless.

Financially, these are certainly not the best of times. The temptation comes to “save up” in times of hardship, with intentions of “giving more” when one is able. What’s needed in such a situation is what’s always needed in instances of delayed obedience—that is, swift repentance.

A poor economy provides believers with the opportunity to proclaim something the church has always believed—that is, that we don’t worship the god of Mammon. We worship the God of Jesus Christ.

And in such times, Christians are able to show their love for all men, and especially to those in their own household (Gal 6:10). It’s one thing to show love for the poverty-stricken across the ocean. (And we should.) It’s another to show love for the poverty-stricken across the church foyer.

In giving sacrificially, and joyfully, we proclaim that Jesus is Lord. Economies swell and recede. The kingdom, though, will never fail. And those who have entered the kingdom will never fail to give.

Read the whole thing here.

This is our annual collegiate conference and is focused on college-aged students, but we welcome seminary students, young professionals, and mature high school students. We expect a maximum-capacity 1,350 attenders (the sooner you register, the better). To register online, click here.

Below, we have provided you with a summary of the conference including its theme, and breakout session topics.

Theme: “A City within a City: Church, Culture, & Counter-Culture.” God’s church always finds herself in the midst of a broader human culture. Though the church is a part of that culture, she also bears witness to a Reality greater than the culture. For this reason, we as believers have the great privilege and responsibility of finding ways—in our colleges, workplaces, neighborhoods, and communities—to display the truth, goodness, and beauty of God and his gospel. Come and join us as we explore ways of bearing witness to God and his gospel in the midst of a skeptical, morally confused culture.

Plenary Speakers

Friday 1: Danny Akin

Friday 2: Matt Chandler

Saturday 1: Clayton King

Saturday 2: David Platt

Saturday 3: J. D. Greear

Breakout Sessions

The Church and Her Treasure (The Gospel):

What is the Gospel?  (Matt Chandler)

What is God’s purpose for “the church”? (John Hammett)

What is the church’s responsibility to the nations? (David Platt)

How do I read the Bible (OT and NT) in a Christ-centered and gospel-centered manner? (Steve McKinion)

How will Scripture memory transform my life, and how can I get started memorizing Scripture? (Andy Davis)

How do I share the gospel on a secular college campus? (Tim Miller)

How do I live a gospel-centered life? (Chad Hood)

How do I introduce the gospel in interpersonal conversation? (Clayton King)

How does a right understanding of the gospel fuel the local church’s global mission? (Dave Owen)

Is it possible to have spiritual awakening on a college campus? (Alvin Reid)

The Church in Relation to Society & Culture:

Does God care about my college major and my future job? (Jeremy Chasteen)

Does God care about the arts, the sciences, and the public square? (Nathan Finn)

How can a Christian watch movies and listen to music in a way that pleases God? (Bruce Ashford)

How does the gospel change the way we think about sex, money, and power? (Heath Thomas)

The Church in a Skeptical Culture:

What are the basic tools for defending the Christian faith? (Jamie Dew)

How does the Gospel affect my intellectual life? (David Nelson)

Why should I believe that God exists? (Steve Ladd)

Why follow Jesus rather than Muhammad? (George Robinson)

Why should I believe that the Christian gospel is true? (David Hogg)

Why should I trust the Bible (even if Bart Ehrman says that I shouldn’t)? (Ed Gravely)

If God is good, why doesn’t he stop suffering and evil?  (Jeremy Evans)

What about those people who have never heard the gospel? (Ben Merkle)

What about science, faith, and evolution? (Ken Keathley)

Is there any such thing as absolute truth? (Ed Gravely)

What are some apologetic strategies for public discourse and debate about spiritual and moral issues (Acts 17)? (Dennis Darville)

The Church in a Morally Confused Culture:

How do I answer questions about homosexuality? (Mark Liederbach)

How should I think about abortion? (Amber Lehman)

How should I think about God, sex, dating, and marriage? (J. D. Greear)

Should Christians ever support war? (Daniel Heimbach)

Does Scripture teach that women are inferior? (Mark Liederbach)

I know it isn’t enough to say, “This is the way Christians have always done education,” without also explaining why. This brings us to my second point: a robust liberal arts education is key to any quality Christian ministerial training, because worldviews matter. The term “worldview” has become an almost meaningless buzzword in pop Christian culture, but that term represents a concept that is vital to Christian students. Every person living on this planet looks at the world with a certain set of assumptions upon which their religious beliefs (or lack thereof) are situated. Until you understand a person’s worldview, communication with them about spiritual things in a meaningful way is nearly impossible, and communicating with people about spiritual things in a meaningful way is quite important to the life of the Christian. If, for example, you sit on the bus next to a person who grew up in the southern United States and say to him, “God loves you,” he will probably have some idea of what you mean (though it would be foolish to blindly assume that). But if the person sitting next to you on the bus just emigrated here from India, when you say, “God loves you,” he most likely misunderstands what you mean, because he has a radically different understanding of God than you do. Notice that this is not a case of you presenting the Gospel to a Hindu and the Hindu rejecting it. If he doesn’t understand what you mean by “God,” or more likely misunderstands what you mean by “God,” you haven’t accurately communicated the gospel yet at all. No one would think that the phrase “God loves you” would make any sense to a person who didn’t speak English, and Christians seem to have no trouble learning foreign languages to meaningfully communicate the gospel to people. Why then would we also not learn their worldview?

If worldviews really do matter then what is the best way to teach students in general and ministers-in-training in particular to think worldviewishly? The answer is, as you might guess, a robust liberal arts education. The History of Ideas is, in many ways, the history of worldview development. To understand, for example, why Plato reaches some of his more outlandish conclusions in the Republic and yet also seems to be making a very sensible argument for God’s existence in Laws (and both apart from a knowledge of the Bible) is an exercise in worldview thinking. The roots of the thinking of a modern Hindu are found in the ancient worldview of pantheism. And the best way to understand a worldview and to learn to think worldviewishly is to study the development of those worldviews, including our own. The great works of western civilization are the literary, philosophical, and historical record of worldview development, and therefore those famous works are the best material through which to teach worldview thinking, so long as they are taught alongside a rigorous biblical and theological course of study.

Finally, a robust study of the great works of western civilization (i.e. History of Ideas) is important because in many ways the development of ideas in western civilization is the history of the development of those ideas in Christian tradition, and ideas matter. Christianity has been immeasurably influential as the interpreter and influencer of western thought, but it has also been influenced by western thought. Understanding that relationship is vital to the minister-in-training. It is can be misleading, for example, to try to understand Aquinas without first understanding Aristotle, or Calvin without first understanding the Roman Stoics which he quotes so frequently, or Edwards without first understanding Hobbes and the other post-Newtonian mechanists to which he is indebted. And yet Aquinas, Calvin, and Edwards stand as some of Christianity’s greatest thinkers, theologians, and Bible interpreters. We today are greatly influenced by them and their view of Scripture, as well we should be. But there is also a danger here. Though Christian theology is derived from God’s word, it isn’t formulated in a vacuum. The way we think about God and his Word is influenced by generations of thinkers in western culture, for good and for ill. It is easier for us to look back at Aquinas and identify where he departs from the Scripture and merely reflects his medieval culture than it is for us to examine our own theology to see where we depart from the Scripture and merely reflect our own largely post-Christian culture. Study in the History of Ideas is essential training for this necessary exercise.

There is a longstanding tradition in Christianity to teach the Bible and theology robustly but to also train Christian students in the liberal arts. Such training better prepares students to take the gospel in a meaningful way to a world that does not even share their basic understanding of God. Such training also prepares Christian students to understand the history of their theological beliefs so as to better spot where modern post-Christian culture has wormed its way into their thinking. Since tradition matters, worldviews matter, and ideas matter, training in the History of Ideas is not just essential preparation for would-be ministers, it is essential preparation for any serious, educated follower of Christ.

Not long ago I sat with a student in my office and listened to him explain to me all the reasons he had concluded that most of the education he was receiving in The College at Southeastern was a waste of his time. The student was especially keen on explaining to me how my History of Ideas course, in particular, was really just not that important. He had a number of reasons prepared, but nearly all of those reasons could be distilled down to one core assumption on his part. “If the Bible is sufficient,” he said. “I don’t need to study anything but it.”

Since I began teaching at Southeastern in 2001, I have had this same conversation dozens, if not hundreds of times, at least once a semester. “I don’t need to study anything but the Bible” is a familiar refrain in my office and in my classrooms, and I am glad the statement is made or the question asked. It affords me the opportunity to make an apologia for the robust liberal arts education we offer.

To clear the air first, I know that when students say, “I don’t need to study anything but the Bible,” they don’t really mean that exactly, especially since many of the students who make such claims got the idea in their heads from reading books other than the Bible. Most people are astute enough to know that when we talk about the sufficiency of Scripture, we surely don’t mean that the Bible is the only thing worth studying or worth knowing. I know of no one who would argue, for example, that heart surgeons should only study the Bible to learn how to perform bypass surgery or that the Bible is a sufficient source to learn vector calculus. When students say, “I don’t need to study anything but the Bible,” they usually mean, “I want to be a minister. I don’t need to study anything but the Bible to be trained to do that job.”

Clearly, for students preparing for vocational Christian ministry, the study of the Bible and all of the accompanying disciplines (Greek, Hebrew, Theology, etc.) are of vital importance. I will be the first to say that in-depth biblical education is of vital importance for all Christian students, not just those who are preparing for vocational Christian ministry! Knowing God’s word is of paramount importance in the life of any believer. But it is naïve to say that the other disciplines crucial to a robust liberal arts education don’t matter, disciplines like Philosophy, History, Science, and Literature. These subjects do matter, and they are especially important for those training for vocational Christian ministry. We at Southeastern think they are so important that we have created a series of courses for our undergraduate students that specialize in the study and integration of these disciplines. Those courses are appropriately named History of Ideas (HOI), and all undergraduate students are required to take at least 12 hours of HOI alongside their biblical and theological courses.

The reasons for the importance of a robust liberal arts education are legion, but they can be summarized in three simple axioms: tradition matters, worldviews matter, and ideas matter.

First, a robust liberal arts education is key to any quality Christian ministerial training, because tradition matters. It should be noted on the outset that idea that ministers-in-training only need to study the Bible is a relatively new one. It is not representative of any historic Christian tradition from ages past. It is Calvin who boasts, “Indeed, men who have either quaffed or even tasted the liberal arts penetrate with their aid far more deeply into the secrets of the divine wisdom” (Institutes 1.1.5 – and Calvin may be making reference to Seneca here). Surely Jonathan Edwards believed that study outside of the Scripture was vital to true devotion to God as he wrote essays on the human mind, optics, and spiders. Even when Tertullian infamously hails, “What hath Athens to do with Jerusalem or the Academy with the Church” (De praescriptione, vii), he makes his case against the philosophies of his day with all of the logical and rhetorical tools available to a highly educated lawyer. It is hubris of the grandest kind to think that we have outgrown the need for a robust liberal arts education for future ministers when our spiritual forefathers demanded it. Don’t forget that our “Ivy League” schools, the greatest centers of academic learning in North America, all began as places to train ministers. To claim that the Scripture is the only proper material for education, without also studying how the Scripture answers some of the great questions of western civilization (philosophy), how to address questions of right and wrong that aren’t specifically dealt with in the Bible (ethics), how to understand what role the arts play within a Christian theistic worldview (aesthetics), and so on, is actually representative of a low view of the sufficiency of Scripture rather than a high one. Christians, historically, have understood this and held their students, particularly ministers-in-training, to a very high standard of learning in the liberal arts. We should too.

For what it’s worth, the wife of a good friend of mine was horrified to receive a free copy of this book at an event during the SBC Annual Meeting in Louisville. She saw it as a key commentary on why Southern Baptists need a Great Commission Resurgence–because too many of us have become distracted by a desire to return America to her “Christian roots” (among other distractions) rather than laboring for the sake of the gospel so that more Americans (and people from every tribe, tongue, and nation) will become Christians. I agree 100%.

(I would also recommend you read Gamble’s fantastic book The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War, and the Rise of the Messianic Nation. Conservatives are not the only one who use Christian jargon and spurious history to advance a political agenda.)

HT: Robbie Sagers, pinch-hitting @ Between Two Worlds