The Bible has lots of great examples of faithful people bucking against the trends:
· The midwives Shiprah and Puah are told by the Pharoah of Egypt to kill Israelite babies. They choose not to, but they tell Pharaoh a lie about the Israelite women being too fast at labour for them to intercede. (Exodus 1:15-21)
· Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego defy the King Nebuchadnezzar when he instructs everyone to bow down to a large statue. They end up thrown into a furnace, but God saves them and they are untouched. (Daniel 3)
· Peter and John publicly preach and heal in the name of Jesus and are arrested and told not to do it again. As soon as they are released, they are back at it, preaching and healing. When arrested and questioned they say they will obey God and not human instruction. (Acts 5)
But in Romans 13, Paul says to obey authorities. How do we hold this in tension?
Paul believes that all leaders are answerable to God - which would be news to his leaders at the time! He also believes that leadership is about serving the common good - also a surprise to some. This passage is a whole lot more radical than we might imagine.
Christians may not be revolting, but they can still cause a revolution.
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