How to Obey God Rather Than Men

We must obey God rather than men. Acts 5:29a

I’ve been wondering a lot lately about how we apply such a verse.  What does it mean for those of us who live in a free nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles?  It’s not like any of us are ever going to be the next Polycarp.  We are free to express our faith and to openly worship God, and specifically for Christians our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  There is nothing currently that forces us not to worship Him, or to live our lives in a way that would be disobedient to Him.  Don’t get me wrong, I realize in some ways we have lost some of our religious freedoms and there is always legislation being discussed that could make us lose even more, and we certainly should be engaged in the political process of fighting such battles, but let’s just say I’m still thankful to live in a country that for the most part gets religious freedom.

Our issues revolve more around what separation of church and state actually means and how we handle the expression of our faith in that context.  Things like invocation prayers at school events or having nativity scenes on town property.  I’m sure you have an opinion on such things, but to use a verse like Acts 5:29 as a reason to defiantly open a school commencement with prayer is probably taking it a little out of context.  I like the idea of having prayers at graduations but we can still obey God and not man without them.  I think for us, one of the best ways to make sure we are obeying God and not man is to follow the example of the apostles at the end of chapter five. They never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. (vs. 42).  Earlier in Acts they were told to be Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (1:8).  Wherever you live is your Jerusalem.  My hunch is if we focused more on the daily proclamation of Jesus as the Christ in our work places, schools, and neighborhoods, the church would be a lot better off.  If you want to fight publicly for our religious freedoms, then I think that’s great, just don’t forget the more important daily proclaiming of the good news that Jesus is the Christ.  You have His light, now go and let it shine.