What Is Civil Disobedience?

 What Is Civil Disobedience?

When the sentries are sleeping soundly and an angel shows up, Peter doesn't leave a note on his way out of prison. He thinks he's seeing a vision, and he just goes.

In doing so, not only has Peter defied the authorities by preaching the death and resurrection of Jesus, but he's now escaped from imprisonment. I'm not an expert on the law, but I'm pretty sure that escaping from prison is against the law. So why did Peter do it?

Because we know that Christians don't always try to escape from prison. In fact, when an earthquake happens and Paul and Silas could have walked away without any issue, they stay put (see Acts 16). In Paul and Silas's case, they want to help the jailer believe in the merciful God they know, and eventually they want to make a point to the authorities about their unjust, illegal arbitrary arrests of people.

But in Peter's case, he understands that he's not above the law, but he breaks it anyway. Why?

We actually get a hint a little bit earlier in Acts 4. Peter and John had been arrested and hauled before the Council to be told off. Before sending them off, they give them strict orders: they are not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John reply, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." Peter sums up their conviction the next time he's brought to the Council: "We must obey God rather than men."

That is the core of Christian civil disobedience: "We must obey God rather than men."

Does that mean that we're free to drive 20 over the speed limit, or forge checks, or commit arson if it fits our personal goals? Of course not.

It means that the authorities, be they wise or unwise (the apostles certainly experienced plenty of the latter), should be obeyed except when we have another instruction from a higher authority.

God gives no instruction on stop signs, photo id, filling out census forms or voter registrations. So obey the authorities with respect to them.

God gives clear instructions in regards to murder and theft. So do criminal laws against them. So obey the authorities with respect to those crimes.

In fact, for a vast majority of cases, we are to obey the authorities which God has allowed to rule. Not because they are good (they might be, or they might not be), but because God gives them authority, except when it contradicts his.

Think about it this way: if you were a sailor in the navy, and a lieutenant orders you to head to your bunk, you would obey him. But if the captain has already personally ordered you to report to your station, you'll obey her, and not obey the lieutenant. It's not that the lieutenant doesn't have authority over you, it's just that the captain is a greater authority.

Notably, when they disobey the authorities by preaching the gospel, Peter, Paul, and others, don't fight or resist their arrests and imprisonment. They let it happen. They disobey orders that contradict God's instructions for them (like a ban on speaking in Jesus' name), but an order to go to jail and stay there actually doesn't violate any of God's commands to them. In fact, this becomes a way for them to publicly show that these laws are unjust, and publicly show their obedience to God over man. When they escape from jail, it's not out of a general principle or denial of government authority, it's out of a clear direction from God: the apostles are liberated by an angel in Acts 5, and Peter is again let out by an angel in Acts 12. Because an angel has let them go, they know clearly that God is instructing them to leave the jail, overwriting the order of the human authorities for them to stay in jail.

In short, obedience to God means that there are certain things we will disobey human authorities in. These limited cases are incredibly important, but they don't end the obligation to obey authorities in other things.