Time For Average Christians To Shred Their Bibles—They Think Government Is God

Many of us grew up in Sunday School
and church. We have heard the great Bible stories over
and over.

We heard about the story of how
Moses` mother defied Pharaoh and hid her little baby boy
in bulrushes. We heard the story of how
Moses killed
the Egyptian taskmaster defending a Hebrew slave and
later became the great deliverer of God`s people. We
heard the story of young David going out alone against
the Philistines` greatest warrior, Goliath. We heard the
story of how Saul`s servants refused to carry out the
king`s order to murder the priest Ahimelech. We know
well the story of Daniel who defied his government`s
order to refrain from praying. The names Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego are very familiar to us. We heard
our teachers and preachers extol their courage in
defying the government`s order to bow to the image of
their emperor. We remember that John the Baptist went to
prison (and was eventually

beheaded), not for preaching the Gospel, but for
criticizing the king for his immoral behavior. We
certainly recall the story of Simon Peter who bluntly
told his civil magistrates,

"We ought to obey God rather than men." We know that the Apostle
Paul wrote many of his epistles from inside government
prisons. We certainly recall that before John penned the
Revelation, he had been banished to an island-prison by
his civil authorities.

I
challenge Christians to objectively look at the great
stories of Bible heroes (in both testaments) and observe
how many times they are noted for either being martyred
for defying a civil authority, or, perhaps, for being
delivered from death for defying a civil authority.

The stories of defiance to civil
government (in one form or another) comprise a great
percentage of all the stories contained in the
Bible–perhaps even a majority of them.

So,
how has it happened that a majority of today`s
Christians, it seems, have become such sheepish slaves
of government? How has it happened that, for the most
part, the concept of courage in the face of government
oppression has been totally lost to the average
Christian, pastor, and church?

For all intents and purposes, it is
time for many Christians to shred their Bibles, because
the lessons and principles of God`s Word have absolutely
no influence over their attitudes and conduct.

For
example, if the story of Peter in prison were being
experienced today, instead of the church rallying behind
their pastor and conducting an all-night prayer meeting
for him, most church members would be excoriating him in
the name of

Romans chapter 13. Instead of
Paul being let
down the wall in a basket to escape the civil
authorities trying to apprehend him, the average
Christian today would be the first one to turn him over
to the authorities.

In
the mind of the average Christian, God is not God;
government is God!

For instance, when one well-known
Christian attorney was recently confronted by the
teaching of Scripture relative to the church`s
independence from government (meaning, no church should
allow itself to be subject to the government`s
tyrannical 501(c)3 non-profit, tax-exempt status), he
said, "That might
be Biblically correct, but it is not legally correct."
In other words, the
"Christian"
attorney would rather a church be legal than Biblical.

And, unfortunately, that seems to
be the attitude of the vast majority of professing
Christians today. They would rather please the
government than please God; they would rather obey the
government than obey God; they would rather be at peace
with the government than be at peace with God.

And
when it comes to the courage of risking anything of
value in order to do right, forget it!

Think
of what Abram risked when he obeyed God and left his
country and kin and struck out for a land that God had
not even told him of. Think of what Moses risked when he
killed that Egyptian; think of what Joshua and Caleb
risked when they defied the entire nation that was
following the evil counsel of the ten spies; think of
what David risked when he faced the giant; think of what
Elijah risked when he confronted 850 false prophets all
by himself; think of what the Old Testament prophets
risked when they rebuked or challenged the kings of
Israel and Judah; think of what the disciples risked
when they "left all" and followed Jesus; think of what the early church risked
when it embraced the Gospel and defied the wishes of
Rome and Jewry (not to mention their own families and
friends).

But these stories are more like
fairy tales to the average Christian today. They serve
no practical benefit whatsoever!

Let
a church deacon, trustee, or elder be told by some
government-backed attorney that he is really a corporate
officer, subject to the laws and punishments of IRS tax
codes, and that church leader will say anything, sign
anything, or do anything to save his own financial
security.

In order to not jeopardize his own
standing with the IRS, that same church leader would
turn his back on his best friend, or gladly join with
the government in prosecuting a fellow believer.

I
personally know of more than one case where professing
Christians either lied against a beloved brother in
order to protect themselves against threatened
government (read: IRS) penalties, or actually testified
for the prosecution (read: IRS) under oath in a court of
law against a Christian brother. In each case, these
"brothers"
actually felt it was their
"Christian duty"
to betray their friends and brothers and help the
government.

I
am reminded of the verse where Jesus said,
"Yea, the time
cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he
doeth God service." (John 16:2 KJV)

I
am also reminded of the warning from the prophet
Jeremiah when he cautioned,
"Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any
brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and
every neighbour will walk with slanders. And they will
deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the
truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and
weary themselves to commit iniquity." (Jeremiah
9:4,5 KJV)

Jeremiah`s
prophecy is spot-on! Christians today cannot be trusted
to be faithful to the truth; they cannot be trusted to
not betray and turn against their brethren; they cannot
be trusted to not be party with slander and libel. If it
means saving their own skin, or keeping their bread
buttered, or staying in the good graces of the IRS, they
would sell out their best friend–maybe even their own
mother! And it is no coincidence that Jeremiah, himself,
experienced firsthand that which he had spoken. It is no
wonder he said, "Trust ye not any brother."

When
will Christians get it through their heads (and in their
hearts) that oftentimes government is the enemy of God?
When will they understand that they have only one
Sovereign: King Jesus? When will they come to comprehend
that helping government perpetrate unjust action against
fellow believers is a crime against Heaven? When will
they stop talking about the Bible and actually start
internalizing its teachings, examples, and principles?

It
has gotten to the point today many unbelievers are far
more trustworthy than today`s Christians—especially when
it comes to the subject of resisting unjust government.
It grieves me say that many
"Christian"
attorneys, politicians, pastors, and church leaders are
merely shills and toadies for a government that has
often become both oppressive and illegitimate!

May
God help us! He will have to—because we won`t get much
help from the vast majority of today`s professing
Christians. That is for sure!

Dr. Chuck Baldwin is the
pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola,
Florida. He hosts a

weekly radio show. His
website is

here.