Great White Whale (Pt 2)

Zeal for God is good. Jesus tells us we need to love Him more than life itself. He wants us to spread the Good Word. In fact, contrary to his usual MO, Jesus flat out says it. “I will make you fishers of men.” “Go out and baptize the world.” But we can’t let this goal be the most important thing. It should be our passion, but it shouldn’t be our sole focus. When it does become our obsession, then that fat whale becomes the center of our lives, not Jesus. The ends don’t justify the means.

Lemme give you an example. China is a communist country that is often thought of as a religious oppressor. They don’t want any religion, only utter obedience and allegiance to the government. Decades ago, Christian missionaries, with good intentions, began to smuggle Christian tracts and Bibles into China to distribute. They say it’s to plan the seeds of Christ into a country with a quarter of the world’s population. Forward it to the present and people still have the same notions, to smuggle Bibles and Christian tracts into the country. But little do they know, that they don’t have to do that anymore. China produces and sells the Chinese Bible. Of course, you may be saying, China probably put some commie ideas into the Bible, further strengthening the devil government while weaking the power of Christ. Well, I don’t know what to say, but you probably need to step into the 21st century… Now, I don’t read the Chinese Bible, but I’ve heard from very reliable sources that the State-run Bible is the same as the Chinese Bible over here, not that the Chinese Bibles here are very accurate either.

But my point is, you can’t use the ends “spreading the Good word” to justify the means: “breaking the rules of a sovereign nation.” It’s not ok to break the rule to further your (yes, it’s yours! God never will ask you to break one of his own commandments) own agenda. As Peter says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.” (1 Pe 2:13). And if you don’t like to listen to the first pope of the Catholic Church, here’s something from Paul: “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good…” (Tit 3:1) And if you think Paul is nothing but a big bag of wind, listen to the big J-to-the-C. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mat 22:21)In other words, obey the Government! Believe it or not, all rulers and authority has been ordained by God. So when you subject yourself to its rule, you’re subjecting yourself to God’s rule. And if you do break the rules, prepare to accept the punishment that results.

Let’s take this example a step further. Ok, so perhaps China is more amenable to Christianity, but what about countries where it is more hostile to the Christian religion in particular? Countries with theocracies, most notably Muslim nations, such as Iran, what about them? Places where even talking about Christianity is subject to death. Is it alright to break the law then? Hrmm… good question. Stay tuned next week to find out! Or maybe not. Depends on where the Spirit leads.