Scripture & Authority: The Church's Obligation To Government

 

"Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's."

Mark 12:17

In the last two years, as governments around the world responded in various ways to COVID-19, the church in North America has had to wrestle with their response to mandates and restrictions, especially as they impact the gathering of local believers.

In many cases, church leaders went straight to passages like Romans 13:1 and 1 Peter 2:13, and they submitted to the restrictions put in place by the government, closing churches and moving to online services. And we did the same. At that time, we knew little, if anything, about this virus, other than rumours of high mortalities. Besides, we were told it would be "two weeks to flatten the curve".

But weeks, and months, went by. "Zoom services" were clearly a poor substitute for in-person gatherings. I and my co-pastors wrestled with several questions:

• Is virtual communion actually a valid ordinance when the description in Scripture details a physical gathering together to remember the Lord in His death?
• How do we perform a baptism? How long do we hold off on obedience to the Spirit?
• How do we "stir one another up to good works" if we're not actually with one another?
• How do we, as pastors, shepherd a flock we’re not in contact with?
• How do we carry out discipleship?

And it became rapidly clear that our people were suffering: the isolation, the loneliness, and the resulting depression, without the weekly gathering to worship, in prayer and in song, was taking a significant toll. We soon realized that our people -- not to mention we ourselves -- needed to gather; the writer to the Hebrews instructed the saints to "not forsake the gathering of yourselves together" (Heb. 10:25) and immediately followed that instruction with a serious warning regarding apostasy, a significant risk associated with not gathering in corporate fashion.

In addition, there were more and more indicators that the virus was not quite as terrifying as we first anticipated. That is not to say it wasn't serious, but it wasn't Ebola. As time went on, it became clear that the suffering to our congregation resulting from not gathering was at least equal to, if not greater than, the risk posed by the virus. And it was also clear that the Church could not be the Church, with all of its blessings and responsibilities, without physically gathering (Heb. 10:25). Those blessings and responsibilities include:  encouraging one another through corporate singing (Eph. 5:19-21), teaching and admonishing one another through the preaching of God’s Word (Col. 3:16), stirring one another up to love and good works (Heb. 10:24), fellowshipping with one another corporately (Acts 6:6, Gal. 2:9, 1 Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:12, 1 Thess. 5:26) and serving one another (1 Peter 4:10). Anything else would be less than God intended.

Other church leaders had determined the same ... and had opened their doors, resulting in fines and, in some cases, even imprisonment, something we NEVER anticipated here in Canada. Tragically, what proved to be most heart-breaking was the disparaging comments and criticisms against those courageous church leaders by their own brothers and sisters in Christ in other churches. Here's a quote from social media:

"It has been disappointing to hear of churches encouraging their congregations to disobey our government. So today we were so glad that {our church} encouraged us to be Romans 13 Christians. In case you don’t know what that is, Romans 13-1 says “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God and those that exist have been instituted by God.” In Canada we are very blessed to have our government working hard to give us protection from COVID-19 in the midst of a world-wide pandemic and I for one thank God for them."

Most often, what was brought up as justification was Romans 13, specifically verses 1-4:

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer."

But does Romans 13 actually teach that we, as followers of Jesus, should do everything the government instructs us to? Almost immediately, all believers would respond with "Of course not! When the government instruction would cause us to sin against God, we need to obey God, just as in Acts 5:29, when Peter said "We must obey God rather than men." But we're in a pandemic; the lockdowns and capacity restrictions are not requiring us to sin."

And this is where we are going to differ. There is a precedent in Scripture to disobey the authorities when they ask us to do what God has commanded us not to do (ie. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3). There is also a precedent in Scripture to disobey the authorities when they ask us not to do what God has commanded us to do (ie. Peter and the apostles in Acts 5:27-42). Whenever we don't obey a direct instruction from Scripture, we are sinning. So when we don't gather together (because of government mandates), when we don't stir one another up to good works, are we not disobeying what Scripture commands? When we don't sing in church (because the restrictions say we can't), when we don't address one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, are we not following the dictates of men rather than the commands of God?

More importantly, does the government have the authority to dictate how worship and all other practices of the church should be carried out?

Scripture teaches that God is sovereign over all and, in Matthew 28:18, we read that the Father has given all authority to the Son, because the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, is the "kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col. 1:13). That kingdom is not simply a future, heavenly kingdom; it is a kingdom that is already present here on earth. In fact, Jesus taught His disciples to pray, in Matthew 6:10 "Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

Scripture also teaches us that God has established three key institutions on earth: the family, the government and the church. To each of those He has delegated authority; the authority is still His by right, but He has delegated His authority to leaders within those institutions, to be used in the ways, and within the bounds, that He has defined. Within the family, the husband has been given authority, within the government, the rulers have been given authority and within the church, the elders have been given authority. The husband's authority does not extend to the government or to the church, the elders' authority does not extend to the government or to the family, and the rulers' authority does not extend to the family or to the church. As a result, the government does not have any Scriptural authority to direct the affairs of the church, whether it is to restrict those who gather, or to determine how worship will be carried out. It may be that the elders of a church make decisions that coincide with decisions made by the government, but this in no way implies that the government has the authority to make those decisions on behalf of the elders.

According to passages such as Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2, the government's authority extends to the following:

• punishing evildoers
• rewarding those who do good
• protecting the freedoms of the people from those who do evil

When a government is acting within its sphere of authority, we have a Scriptural imperative to submit ourselves to them. But when the government asks us to do what God has commanded us not to, or to stop doing what God has commanded us to do, we must obey God rather than man. This will involve a level of civil disobedience. {Please note: I am by no means advocating violence or anarchy. We are still instructed in Scripture to respect the authorities; this means that we will likely suffer consequences for our obedience to God, like fines, arrest or even imprisonment. If and when it happens, we ought to respond respectfully and not with hatred or violence, just as Paul did in Acts 23.}

Sadly, judging by the responses of many Canadian believers and their church leaders (and I suspect the same is true of many American believers), there is a great lack of accurate teaching on ecclesiology and church authority. I pray that Christians across North America, especially Christian pastors, would study to regain a robust view of the importance of the church, of the value and significance of gathering corporately to worship God, to be taught from His Word, and to encourage one another; virtual platforms should never take the place of this corporate gathering as a regular practice. It took time for my understanding in this area to shift.

Originally, when we were virtual, we decided not to practice communion, until such time as we could do so as an entire local body of believers. As time went on, we recognized the importance of, and need for, that ordinance and began celebrating communion in small house churches; while we firmly believed that it was intended to be practiced corporately, in person and together with as many of the local body as would gather on a Sunday, we also realized the deep longing for that remembrance feast among ourselves and our people, and we acted and obeyed according to the circumstances and the best of our understanding. In this area of church authority and sphere sovereignty, my understanding has also changed, and I recognize that I am not omniscient; I may learn something new that would enlarge or even change my understanding again. But here is where I have landed presently, with prayer and study, and here is where I stand until God shows me otherwise.

I pray that pastors and elders worldwide would revisit the passages in Romans 13 and 1 Peter 2 (and others), as I did, and recapture an accurate understanding of the authority that Jesus has delegated to them within their churches. And I pray that they would have humble hearts, ready and willing to learn and perhaps be corrected, that we would return to a bold and confident ecclesiology, rather than a passive one. The challenges by the enemy and the world are not done; the form in which they come may be different, but the call to surrender our church authority will be the same. We need to be prepared.

And above all, may we stand before our Master in that future day and hear Him declare "Well done, good and faithful servant!"

A Biblical Perspective On Choosing Sides In Issues

 

Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
    teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.

Proverbs 9:9

I don't know about you, but I struggle with involvement in issues affecting society.

I grew up attending church in a fairly conservative evangelical denomination. One core premise we were taught was this: 2 Corinthians 5:20 states "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us..." As ambassadors of another Kingdom altogether, we are not to get involved in the affairs of the countries in which we live. The follow-up to this was that we don't vote, we don't exercise our civic rights or duties, and we don't get involved in societal (read: politically-charged) issues. As Christians, we had two main instructions from our King: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you shall love your neighbour as yourself." (The Great Commandments --Matthew 22:37 & 39) And that was interpreted as living a godly life, with a focus on the gospel.

As I grew older, I began to bump up against verses that conflicted with the premise of non-involvement. As a teacher, I wrestled with whether I should participate in strike action or not; some of my Christian colleagues said (and chose) no, while others said (and chose) yes. I saw Paul the apostle claiming his right as a Roman citizen to appeal to Caesar; is that the same as my legal and democratic right to strike once the appropriate steps had been followed? A tough decision, and one for which  Christians I respected ended up concluding differently. Ultimately, I questioned my own heart: was I striking to get better pay or benefits for me, or was my goal to achieve better conditions in which my students could learn? I used the latter as my guide, because I believed that was an aspect of practically loving my neighbour (in this case, my students) as myself. Much like the Good Samaritan, I was incurring a cost (loss of pay) in order to bless and benefit another (my students).

In this most recent issue, the one involving a stand against the mandates, I have heard Christians state that we shouldn't get involved; as ambassadors, our focus should be the gospel. But often, what they mean is a very narrow definition of the phrase "focus on the gospel" and it's often interpreted as "live according to God's instruction from the Word and preach the gospel on Sunday in church". None of those are bad things of course; we ought to live lives of holiness. 1 Peter 1:16 reminds us "You shall be holy, for I am holy." As far as preaching the gospel in church, I have to question why Jesus didn't say "Bring all the nations to your church to hear the gospel" but instead said, in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations ..."

And furthermore, what is the gospel? Is it a set of instructions you follow in order to "get out of hell free"? Inadvertently, that was the lesson I learned in church: preaching the gospel is telling people how to get saved from the penalty of their sins and get to heaven; pretty much zero impact on all the days inbetween. I have since learned that the gospel is so much more. The gospel is not just about how to get saved; that's simply the first step. No, the gospel is relevant to every single day of our lives thereafter as well; not just to inspire a heart of thankfulness, but how to live each day after we place our faith and trust in Jesus! The gospel is a lens through which we now see everything anew, and it directs and empowers our lives for Him.

What does it mean to be "salt" and "light", a la Matthew 5:13-16? Salt only acts as a preservative when it is in direct and complete contact with the meat it is preserving. How do we as believers act as a preservative if we stick to our "holy huddles" and have no engagement with the society around us? How can we be light in the world if we have no engagement with the world, no audience in the world? Are we then not just lights under bushel baskets?

What does it mean to pray "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven ..." Do we just pray this, or ought we to be actively involved in making this a reality? How does James 2:18 speak into this? "You have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." I'm beginning to see that there is so much more to a life of faith than just living my quiet life in my home and my church. And if it is true for me as a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, then it is true of me even more as a pastor of a local body of believers. I need to wisely lead the people in my charge through these times, teaching them how to navigate these times biblically and then coaching them as they put into practice what they've been taught.

One question I've been consistently asking myself is this: under which set of conditions will we have more freedom to live and preach the truth of God's Word, to gather for the purpose of worship and teaching, and to live out God's clear instruction for His church, as to gathering, discipling, ministering and exhorting? To me, the clear answer is that this country's government is very pleased with the control they exert over the people. What may have begun as a process intended to protect the people has evolved into a process to contain the people. And this has certainly been nowhere more clear than in regard to the Christian church in Canada.

In the book of Exodus, God used Moses, a man with (apparently) some speech issues to be His spokesman before the greatest power in the civilized world at that time ... and despite what seemed like overwhelming odds, God brought His oppressed people out of Egypt. I see some parallels to Canada today, especially to the protest in Ottawa. In the book of Esther, Mordecai says this to his niece, Esther the queen:  "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" I find myself asking whether I have been shown things and taught things and convicted of things for such a time as this. Will I look back afterward and be ashamed that I didn't speak up when I could have, or should have?

And finally, I am striving to keep in the forefront that I need to be humble throughout; there is always the possibility that I am wrong, that I've missed something, that new information comes to light and I need to re-assess. In Joshua 5:13-15, the people of Israel have taken their first steps into the promised land ... and their first battle is going to be against imposing Jericho, that massively-walled, apparently impenetrable city. Joshua is now leading the people; his mentor Moses is no longer with them. I can imagine that Joshua can't sleep, thinking about the start of the battle the next day, and the huge responsibility he has to lead God's people. He goes for a walk and "When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us, or for our adversaries?" It is clear to Joshua that this individual is no mere "man" and he wants to know if the person is on their team or the opposing team. "Whose side are you on?" is what Joshua asks. And aren't we like that too? I have cringed at times when I've heard people indicate that God is on the side of those protesting. The answer from this individual hits like a gut-punch. When Joshua asks "Are you on our side or theirs?" he replies "No." Wait ... what? Is that even an answer? You better believe it. He continues "No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped ..." Joshua was face-to-face with the pre-incarnate Christ; worship was the appropriate response. And what Joshua needed to be clear on -- as do we all -- is that God isn't on our side, or on the opposing side; that's not even really the question. The real question is whether I am on God's side. Am I running ahead of Jesus? Am I lagging behind? Or am I abiding in Him, walking side-by-side, listening to that "still, small voice" and keeping my eyes fixed on Him, in case the direction and instructions change, in case He calls an audible?

None of this is simple, or easy. But as followers of Jesus, we can rest assured that we will be okay if we abide in Him and listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to us, even if that means we don't find ourselves on the same side of the issue.

Why I Support The Ottawa Protest To End Mandates

I strongly support the Truckers Protest in Ottawa ... and that has caught me by surprise.

I have had people question -- sometimes quite angrily or with accusatory tones -- why I would support ending the mandates, especially as a Christian pastor. They have called me names, they have called my character into question, they have called my faith into question. Ironically, many who have told me how I ought to respond as a Christian are not Christians themselves, and really don't know the first thing about genuine Christian faith, based on their responses. That said, there are also those who have reprimanded me, publicly and none too gently, who are regular churchgoers. Vehemently quoting Romans 13:1-4, they have suggested, in no uncertain terms, that the Christian response here is to submit to the authorities, mask up and get the shot for the greater good; it's how one ought to love your neighbour. [Incidentally, the Nazi government used the same passage in Romans to direct the churches in Germany to obey the edicts of that government as well. But more on Romans 13 later ...]

The truth is, I am a little surprised at my involvement myself. I am generally neither political nor an activist; I'm certainly not a revolutionary. And yet I feel very strongly about this issue, especially from a Biblical perspective. As a consequence, I decided to take some time to record why I support the trucker protest in Ottawa, whose goal is to end the mandates.

We were celebrating the wedding of dear friends the night that the COVID lockdowns began; it was March 14, 2020. The staff at the hall we were renting said we were the last group to use the facility; all the rest had been cancelled for the indefinite future. I was in my last semester of teaching prior to retirement, and had recently joined the pastoral team at my church. Not only did I need to learn how to shift to online teaching, I also had to learn online preaching! The rumours were flying about the COVID-19 virus and so much was unknown, so we buckled down and did our part, moving to a virtual church platform. After all, we were assured that it was "Two weeks to flatten the curve".

As the months went by, my co-pastors and I wrestled with the legitimacy of communion in an online forum. We struggled to stay connected with our congregation, how to continue doing discipleship, how to practice hospitality. It didn't take long for the damage due to lockdown isolation to surface; people were disconnected, discouraged, even depressed. That said, some also took the opportunity to step up and show love and thoughtfulness in amazingly creative ways; dropping gifts on front porches, playing harmless pranks on one another to encourage laughter and remind people that they were not forgotten. My pastor's heart was warmed as I saw people living out the reality of the family of God in a practical way. (I personally received a sweet gift of a baggie full of brussels sprouts on my doorstep ... that was one of the pranks ... 😂) 

But one thing that became very clear to us in a short period of time was this: Zoom is not church, YouTube is not church, nor is any other online digital forum. It was a very poor substitute for the life-giving gathering of believers for the purpose of corporate worship, service and exhortation. The moment the weather outside became remotely tolerable, we moved to outdoor church services, primarily in our own backyard. And I vowed I would never go back to an online forum for that purpose again.

We stuck to that. As we did not own our own building, we held our services in the parks in the summer, rented space indoors in the colder weather and, when lockdowns inevitably returned, we moved to house churches. We had some very blessed times of gathering in those varied conditions; we always worshipped in song, we preached the Word faithfully, and we enjoyed sweet times of remembering the Lord in His death, as He commanded us to. God added some to our numbers over the last two years but, far more importantly, we saw the foundations of our congregation's faith strengthened, the roots going deep. In the culture around us, we saw lots of fear; within our church family, we saw an increased trust in God.

As the pandemic progressed, the first things to be instituted were masks and lockdowns. More information started to become available as well: the virus primarily affected the elderly and those with health issues; very few young people were affected. And yet, schools kept shifting to online learning, an approach that applied almost exclusively to young people (not to mention that the negative impact was almost exclusively felt by them.) We now know that lockdowns produced nearly no benefit, but great harms. (See article here.)

Along with the school closures came the church closures. Those who continued to stay open were warned, then threatened, then fined and chained closed. The main stream media vilified those pastors who continued to meet the spiritual needs of their flocks; what they didn't portray were the SWAT teams harassing the individuals who met in smaller groups in private homes, driving the church underground in some provinces like Alberta.

Then came the so-called vaccines. With little or no testing, they were going to be distributed en masse. The justification was "We're following the science". And yet, many scientists were warning of the dangers of a mass vaccination in the midst of a pandemic, not to mention that those who had already survived previous infection were being ignored and told to get the shot anyway. Stories began surfacing of vaccine injuries; these were quickly hushed up or discounted. Concerns were raised about a vaccine passport; those who expressed these concerns were mocked. "Vaccine passports in Canada are conspiracy theories." we were told. But before too long, vaccine passports were a reality. Some businesses initially refused to enforce them, but the previous lockdowns had exerted financial pressure on them and now the heavy hand of the government made it impossible for them to stay afloat otherwise. Then, vaccine mandates in the workplace were instituted. People with medical backgrounds who did not follow the government narrative were threatened and then fired: nurses and doctors found their licenses revoked. Right behind them were university professors, paramedics, police and RCMP officers, and private businesses followed after. Never mind that vaccines are designed to mimic natural immunity, which is always superior; natural immunity was not an acceptable alternative to vaccination in order to keep your job. But "We're following the science."

And now we're dealing with Omicron. The same fear-mongering was dispensed in the media, but none of it was warranted. Rather than spend time and money encouraging good health and fitness in our Canadian population, our governments locked down gyms and instituted vaccine mandates there. Ignoring the many studies on early treatment protocols, our government mocked and ridiculed those, leaving the people of Canada with two options: either get vaccinated or get ventilated. There was no in-between. In the meantime, many countries around the world were treating their people with multi-phase medicinal approaches, including ivermectin, fluvoxamine and other inexpensive drugs with years of safety data behind them -- and seeing great success.

And now, finally, after two very long years, the truckers have decided that enough is enough; it is time for us as a country to move on. Our government has exerted undue power over its people for longer than has been necessary. With great courage, and great sacrifice, the truckers have driven from as far away as British Columbia and Alberta, gathering momentum, support and additional trucks along the way, and have converged on our nation's capital to address the Prime Minister and demand an end to the tyrannical mandates we have endured for far too long.

So why me? What is a Christian pastor doing supporting such a thing? Is there a precedent, or a biblical mandate (pun intended) for such a thing?

As a pastor in a Baptist church, with Brethren roots, my evangelical background is Protestant ... Protest-ant, as pastor Aaron Rock reminds us in his podcast. The very foundation of the Protestant movement is one of protesting against what is unjust, tyrannical and unbiblical. With an unquestioning, blind adherence to Romans 13:1-4, Martin Luther would have never nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Catholic church. Praise God he did! Romans 13 was never intended to be blindly adhered to under every circumstance; the illustration of government and authority in Romans 12-14 was not meant to be descriptive, but prescriptive; this means that the passages in question identify what government ought to be and do, not what every government is by default. And the roles -- the very limited roles -- of government are very clearly delineated there.

If you want the ultimate example of a leader, look to Jesus. You will not find a greater example of servant-leadership in the entire human race. Mr. Trudeau has forgotten this; he has forgotten that he is the prime minister, a public servant. He is there to serve the people, to minister to them, all of them, which requires, above all else, the characteristic of humility. And along with this, there needs to be a heart for the people. Instead, he has divided the people of this great nation; he has insulted, and denigrated, and demeaned, a large portion of the people he should have been caring for, should have been unifying. The fact that he won't take the time to even listen to the truckers indicates clearly that he has forgotten what it means to be Prime Minister.

And the Church was never meant to be quiet in the face of injustice. Both the Old Testament and New are replete with judgment against injustice, with instruction to support the widow and the orphan, to protect the weak and the oppressed. Micah 6:8 reads "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" As followers of Jesus, Christians ought to be in the front lines, standing up against injustice and oppression, especially in the area of government overreach, because we of all people have the greatest example of loving, caring leadership in Jesus Christ, the King of Kings. I find myself often questioning whether the Church in Canada should have been at the front of the protest, rather than the truckers.

Too often, I have found that the Church in Canada has been eager to do the government's bidding, even when it contradicted the clear instruction of Scripture. While Hebrews 10:24, 25 exhorts us to "consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some ...", many churches kept their doors locked and stuck to Zoom as their fall-back position. I can understand when we were in the first few months of 2020 and only had the rumours of a pathogenically deadly virus to inform us, but I'm still seeing churches today that are "online only". Churches are not super-spreader sources.

I have been told that I should be getting the shot and obeying the mandates because that is how a Christian loves his neighbour. This implies that doing so is the only way to show love for my neighbour ... but that's just not true. I can love my neighbour by being wise and careful about my contacts with others; I can love my neighbour by isolating when I'm sick, I can love my neighbour by bringing them a meal when they are sick. And I can love my neighbour by fighting for viable alternatives to an experimental shot with a track record of causing massive injury and many deaths.

And then there is the matter of conscience. Romans 14:4, 8 lays out very clearly the responsibility of each believer to live out their conscience before the Lord, not before other believers. The Baptist Creed states that "each person has the liberty to choose what conscience or soul dictates is right, and is responsible to no one but God for the decision that is made." Certainly, we do well to talk with one another, to receive counsel from one another, but ultimately, it is before our own Master that we stand or fall. When Christians get on social media and disparage those who come to a different conclusion than they have, they are sinning in two key ways:

1. They are not following the steps laid out in Matthew 18:15-20. You've "aired the family's dirty laundry" in public; that's not how it should be done, and God doesn't take kindly to that. You go to your brother or sister privately, not publicly. Social media shaming of a brother or sister in the Lord is reprehensible, and needs to be repented of; it is primarily a sin of pride.
2. You've gone directly against Romans 14 by implying that the way that God calls you to respond must be the one and only way to respond; by default, you are suggesting that God was unsuccessful in reaching that brother or sister, and you need to step in. This, too, is the sin of pride, and needs to be repented of.

I would suggest that, as Christians in this nation, we have forgotten what the Gospel is. We have mistakenly taken the Gospel to simply be that thing that gets us saved from hell and saved for heaven. But we've lost sight of the fact that the Gospel is for right here, right now; it is relevant and powerful for every single day of our lives ... or Jesus would have swept us all up to heaven the moment we got saved. The Lord's Prayer says "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth ..." The Kingdom of God is intended to already be impacting the life of the Church in this world today. Gospel work is Kingdom work, and it includes seeking justice for the oppressed and the wounded, advocating for truth, and for righteousness.

In Matthew 21:12-17, Jesus flipped some tables in the temple, He drove out the animals and He stood up against the religious leaders because of the greed and injustice that was being perpetrated in His temple and against His people. Unlike Jesus, I am not a king, or any kind of great man; I'm an obedient servant of His in a small church in Oshawa, seeking to follow Him to the best of my ability.

And I believe that means I'm following Him to Ottawa to join the truckers.