Garlic Lemon Butter Trout Is Served Best In Blue Houses

There is a time to cast your net of reproof into the vast ocean of impersonal disagreement. It’s when the proponent of the opposing side is a general target, such as, “American Christianity” or “Liberal Ideology.” In that matter, although our language ought to still be gracious and salty, there aren’t many personal offense rakes to watch out for. In one sense, that kind of verbal jousting can be more playful, because it’s more general.

There is a different time when the objective at hand doesn’t allow for a broad net to catch an entire school, but, rather, a single line for a single catch. Your aim in that verbal sport is to respond to a specific argument made by a named someone. Even if this argument is just words on a website belonging to somebody you’ve never met, it’s a good idea to improve the flavor of your bate. People tweet out bland and empty critical responses, demonstrating their mismatch of confidence and competence in the subject at hand. Wisdom calls for humility, and humility, discernment in our meal preparation.

But there is also a time when casting a fishing line will not do. There is a time when it’s necessary to throw a rebuttal harpoon into a specific argument belonging to a familiar name and face. In that case, much more careful precision and attention is necessary. Especially if you must commune with said person on the following Lord’s Day. Christians ought to maneuver in every situation above reproach, whether they’re casting their net, fishing line, or harpoon. We are catchers of men, after all, are we not? Let our words be graciously seasoned. Feed your enemy with the finest of dinings, and if they throw it back at your face, you will at least appreciate the savor.

Well then, I have the opportunity before me to prepare just such a meal. Whether you are friend or foe, welcome to my table. Please have a seat. Let me pour you a drink. Tonight’s menu is oven-baked trout, freshly caught this morning (I’ll let you guess as to the method of fishing). Topped with melted herb butter, seasoned with garlic salt and lemon zest, and prepared with a few ounces of Chardonnay (for the fish, that is). Bon appétit.

While you’re savoring the meal, let me get to the point. There is a general sentiment shared by a vast group of Christians, incited by specific individuals, and even promoted by familiar names whom I partake with at the Lord’s Table. This sentiment is not new, by any means, to the Church at large. In fact, it has been prevalent in nearly every generation since our Lord took the throne. My grandfather told me about many conversations that he had with fellow churchmen in the 1950s USSR, which now I am having in the 2020s USA. In America, this sentiment is more pressing at the current moment than it was in the previous decade. The conversation revolves around the relationship Christian’s have with the State.

Now, I don’t think my time would be wasted crafting these words for a general audience. Understanding how Christian individuals ought to relate to state government is necessary for our wayfaring towards the Jordan. Not only is it relevant because many governing officials think they own the land we’re called to till, but primarily because the Gospel Plow is labeled “Jesus is Lord.”

However, my response is a bit more personal this time. Once a month, a group of men gather around the fire pit in my yard. While enjoying a favorite drink and smoking charred tobacco, we discuss topics pertaining to the Lordship of Christ, which includes every square inch of the created order – every thumbs-width. We call it Kuyperian Camaraderie. As we sit around the glow, we stimulate one another to take interest and dominion as far as the Lordship of Christ extends.

At the last Camaraderie, we were discussing the idea of arbitrary law, and if our consciences ought to be bound to such laws. As is usual, different men had different perspectives. Usually these conversations end at the night’s end. But following that meeting, the good Mr. Charles Weinberg published a couple posts on his blog summarizing and expounding on his take on the subject (you can read both posts here and here). He shared his published responses with the group. So, now I think it is only fair if I share mine.

Before I do, a couple words about Mr. Weinberg. He is a friend and brother-in-Christ. Our families share at the Lord’s Table together, our wives are friends, and our kids are classmates. Our fellowship is strong. And, Grant is not one who can’t handle a good verbal joust. He is not very excitable (if you know him, you know what I mean). He is good at holding his ground, and can give a punch as much as he can take one. So, because I’m called to be “all things to all people,” here I go to dismantle his argument. By the way, how is the trout?

Grant’s thesis is that a Christian must submit to everything the state government prescribes, unless its command is in explicit opposition to God’s command, or if it’s in explicit opposition to a higher law of the land. God’s law and the supreme law of the land trump whatever else the government tells you to do. Other than that, you are morally bound to obey every word that comes out of the government’s mouth.

Like a vulture narrowing down on its prey, he circles around two arguments. The first is God’s sovereignty. God puts governing officials in their place. Whatever the government tells you to do, apart from sin, you must do, because God is sovereign. Even if (this is Grant’s example), even if it legislates that all homeowners must paint their house yellow, our conscience is bound and we are morally obligated to paint our house yellow, because God is sovereign.

Grant’s second argument is that since the king is the supreme ruler of the land, whatever the king comes up with is the law of the land that every person’s conscience is bound to live by. Granted, Grant concedes, we live in a Constitutional Republic. Our supreme ruler is the U.S. Constitution. But it effectively plays the role of the monarch when it comes to legislation. If a bill passes through both legislative houses, is signed into law by the Executive, and is upheld by the Judiciary, it is engraved in the Constitution, which means our consciences are bound to submit. Even if (he brings this example up a second time), even if they legislate that all homeowners must paint their house yellow, our conscience is bound and we are morally obligated to paint our house yellow, because the law of the land is supreme.

I’m starting to think Grant just really wants to paint his house yellow.

The answer to both of his arguments is the same. The answer is the key to understanding a Christian’s moral obligation to the governing authorities. It’s the key that Mr. Weinberg continues to misplace, locking himself out of his yellow-painted house. I’ll go ahead and open the door for him. Come on in, Brother. The trout is delicious. The tang from the lemon zest makes all the difference.

The answer to Mr. Weinberg’s thesis is the Lordship of Christ.

The Lordship of Christ is over the entire cosmos. Every square inch belongs to Him. Every rule is under His reign. And – here’s where the inflated spheres burn out on the hot asphalt – Christ is the only one that can claim that spot. Only Christ has legitimate authority over our entire life. Only Christ can claim supremacy. Any ruler, in heaven or on earth, that attempts to have boundless authority over every area of another man’s life is an usurper.

Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” – Mark 12:17

What things are Caesar’s? He makes it clear in the previous verse. Those that bear Caesar’s image. So then, what things are God’s? Those that bear God’s image. The state does not, may not, own man. Man – imago Dei – belongs to God. We may not render to Caesar that which belongs to God.

“Ah,” you say, “but Romans 13.”

“Ah,” say I, “Romans 13.”

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. – Romans 13:1-2

I remember hearing many times about the conversations my grandfather had with his brothers regarding the application of Romans 13 to living under the Soviet Regime. There is a difference – one that’s important to understand – between resisting governing authorities and resisting what they claim to have authority over. Yes, Christians must submit to governing authorities. Why? The Apostle answered that question in the next section.

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. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. – Romans 13:3-7

Why should we submit to the State? Because the purpose of the State is to reward the good and punish the evil. But who, I ask, get’s to define what is good and what is evil? By what standard is that judgment to be made? The governing authority “is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.” Who says who the wrongdoer is? God. The governing official is explicitly not given the authority to define good and evil apart from God’s standard. He is to judge what is good and what is evil. He is not to define it. As soon as the State presumes that kind of defining authority – which belongs only to the Maker of Heaven and Earth – the State is an usurper. Caesar is claiming that which is God’s, and by the order of Christ, we may not render it to him.

In all of history – whether in a monarchy or in a democracy – the “king” was never to be the law. Rather, the “king” was always to submit under God’s law, and uphold righteousness, as prescribed by our Lord. The king becomes a tyrant when he presumes that he is allowed to define good and evil. Whether or not he’s gotten away with it in the past is irrelevant.

Men coerce, manipulate, and force their overreach onto other men, and misinformed Christians claim Romans 13 as a reference text for people to bow the knee. But, like Romans 13 claims, we must only pay what is owed. If we submit when submission is not warranted, we are in disobedience. May Caesar draft his own job description? Does Caesar get to tell us what to render to him? The State receives its authority from God, yes, but does God give it authority over whatever facet of life the State declares to have authority over?

As soon as the State acts like its authority encompasses every thumbs-width, it is attempting to scale the Kingdom of Heaven and dethrone the Rightful Ruler. In that moment, it is the Christian’s moral obligation to mock that kind of pitiful act and laugh in derision. We don’t resist in spite of the Lordship of Christ. We don’t resist in spite of God’s sovereignty. We resist because of it. We don’t root our disobedience to the State’s dictate in our obedience to a constitution or to a king. We root it in our obedience to the King.

Mr. Weinberg, my friend and brother, ends his 2-part article with this paragraph.

It is the duty of each citizen to protect this great country that we are in. This is done first through education and second through good men. Education first because good men must know. Good men second because we cannot stand idly by for our government to corrode under our watch. It is the duty of each generation to stand firm and protect what has been built. America is only one generation away from falling apart. It is always only one generation away. Do not let your generation be the one to lose this great country.

Amen, and Amen. When a tyrant, whether king or congress, demands unbound obedience in every sphere of our life, when he declares that it is wrongdoing to have anything but a yellow-painted house, for the sake of this great country, and for the sake of the Lordship of Christ, we have the immediate and moral responsibility to paint our houses blue. And then invite guests over, and prepare for them an Oven-Baked Garlic Lemon Butter Trout.