To Obey or Not to Obey: When Authorities Clash with the Believer's Conscience

“Guys, tuck your shirts in!” the umpire barked, simultaneously issuing other orders that had nothing to do with winning the game. My 14-year-old rolled his eyes while reluctantly complying, as did the other players on his team.

I’ll never forget what ensued. My son’s coach had had enough of this guy’s demands and told him so. The ump stormed off the field, leaving both teams scrambling to find a neutral party to call the game.

Not being a sports aficionado, I failed to understand the importance of what had just occurred. Another parent enlightened me.

“On the baseball field, the ump’s word is law. You don’t argue with the ump, and you don’t question his calls. When he gives an order, the team needs to follow it.

“That coach taught these boys a very bad lesson today.”

The saddest thing about this event is that not one adult – not even the dad who related its impact to me – raised any objections.

This happened 20 years ago, but it may as well have been yesterday – which brings me to my first point. As a retired public-school educator, I observed over my long career a steady decline in respect for authority. Towards the end of my tenure, I heard an administrator remark that traditional discipline methods are no longer effective because “kids are different today.”  I would agree while adding some thoughts of my own: kids have changed because parents have changed, and parents have changed because values have changed.

We live in an age of defiance. High-ranking political figures urge military members to “refuse illegal orders” from the Commander-in-Chief; an attorney interrupts and argues repeatedly with the judge in an Oklahoma courtroom and is eventually led out in handcuffs. With such high-profile examples of insubordination, how should Christian parents guide their children in Biblical patterns of obedience?

The Scriptures urge believers to submit to governmental authority in passages like Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 but, as author and pastor Joe Carter argues, there are exceptions. Notable figures like Rahab, Daniel and his friends, and the apostles risked everything by resisting ungodly orders. Ironically, the Bible praises Rahab’s treasonous actions (in direct defiance of her king) while condemning her compatriots’ compliance, which Hebrews 11:31 describes as disobedience.

What can we glean from all these dueling ideas?

For one thing, we must admit this issue is not cut and dried. It therefore behooves believers to wrestle with decisions that pit us against governing bodies, asking God to help discern when to obey versus when to reject demands from authorities.

Such shades of gray create problems for rule followers like me. I’m much more comfortable living within the confines of rules than stirring up pots that may boil over. The Lord, however, finds ways to stretch his people, and I’m no exception. As a state employee but first and foremost a citizen of heaven, I experienced several dilemmas requiring me to choose between employer and conscience. I here offer a few pointers – the results of numerous nail-biting sessions in which I had to make the tremulous leap into respectful noncompliance:

1)     Be polite but firm. If it becomes spiritually necessary to refuse an order from a superior, maintain decorum. Resist the urge to spew emotional superlatives. Follow the pattern of confident respect with which Daniel and his friends stated their positions.

2)     Be open to direct guidance from God. Gideon may have taken this concept a bit too far, but he wasn’t all wrong when he asked the Lord to provide tangible direction via signs. I faced one situation which legally required me to report a supervisor’s misconduct. I had little confidence and even less time to decide what to do. As I agonized during my lunch break, a member of upper management “happened” to traipse through an area of the building she didn’t usually frequent at a time I just “happened” to be trekking there, too. I took this as a divine nudge, sent up a prayer, and plunged.

3)     Pray and, if time permits, fast in the spirit of Nehemiah. In the aforementioned scenario, I didn’t just fret over the circumstances. Leaving my lunch untouched, I found privacy in my car, called my prayer partner, and together we implored God for guidance. I then experienced the divine encounter described above.

4)     Trust our lavish Lord. He promises to arm us with any arguments and tools necessary for the battles to which he calls us. I found God’s grace sufficient when my superiors “invited” me to a meeting (which included an attorney) to flesh out details of the previously mentioned incident. When they asked a loaded question, no one was more surprised than I when a cool, rational answer emerged from my trembling lips. God means it when he promises to equip his people.

5)     Last, but far from least: stay in touch with the Lord. Don’t wait till a moral crisis arises to start praying and interfacing with his word. Faith curves often seem to come out of left field, but when believers consistently walk with him we can rest in verses like Psalm 112:7: “[The righteous] is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.”

In summary, whenever possible, we are called to live lawful, obedient lives. This prevents chaos on baseball fields and battlefields, in courtrooms and conference rooms. However, we can rest in the fact that God will settle our knocking knees and position them atop steady feet when we’re called to respectfully resist. In these times of shaky leadership and ever-shifting values, we must be ready for both possibilities. The wisest preparation is to suit up in God’s armor every day and march into each battle with faith.

After all, if ballplayers don chest protectors and batting helmets to safely compete, how much more must God’s people rely on heavenly PPE to accomplish his will?