Resistance and its consequences

A ruler who lacks understanding is a great oppressor, but he who hates covetousness will prolong his days (Proverbs 28:16).

The California Department of Managed Health Care mandates that all employers provide coverage for abortions in the health insurance plans they offer employees, with no religious exemptions. Even churches are required to follow this immoral law.

This isn’t a mere birth control mandate. The California law requires coverage of on-demand, dismemberment abortions. The U.S. Supreme Court found a previously unknown right of privacy (apparently hidden within the document for almost two centuries) for women to kill their own children, yet freedom of religion, which has been part of the Constitution since its inception, gets short shrift.

That’s why Christians must resist these attempts to shut us up and close us down. “We will take this to the point of being jailed, if necessary, being arrested, if necessary—whatever it takes,” Pastor Jack Hibbs told the pro-life advocacy group Live Action last year. His church, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills in Southern California, is one of three churches that filed suit last month in federal court against the state government.

“This abortion issue for a Christian is not a political issue—it’s a biblical issue,” Hibbs said. “God is the engineer of life—He’s the giver of life. I cannot think of a human being more defenseless than an unborn baby.”

Pastor Hibbs said he feels violated. That’s no exaggeration. Christians get no respect. Nobody cares about offending us. The more the culture decays, the weaker our protections against tyranny. Now we’re expected to obey laws that promote sin.

Obeying laws is a biblical principle, but what of the unjust law or the one that causes us to sin? If the government passes a law that bars us from preaching the gospel, the decision is easy. We break the law. Less clear-cut is paying for what liberals call “healthcare” and euphemistically refer to as a “medical procedure.” If you believe abortion is murder, do you obey laws that require you to promote and pay for it?

Resistance has consequences, as John the Baptist knew. King Herod locked him up for telling him he was wrong to marry his brother’s wife. When the king’s wife told her daughter to ask for John’s head on a platter, Herod indulged her. To his small credit, Herod was reluctant. Because abortion is legal, abortion advocates believe everyone, even pro-lifers, should either promote it or keep quiet about it. And our leaders indulge them. Are any of them reluctant?

Although we won’t be hearing about American Christians’ heads on platters just yet, persecution is part of who we are. We “land of the free” believers have been blessed. Even so, James, the brother of Jesus, told us to “count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.”

And we will need patience in abundance. The country is on a downward trajectory of degeneracy. Courts are now granting special rights and more power to those who seek to suppress us.