Acts 5:27-29 New International Version
27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!
One of the things that has fascinated me as a parent is how silly words, phrases, even jokes, get passed down from one generation to the next. My daughter Clara has come home from school with all sorts of things that I recall from my own childhood, it just goes to show that time-honored concepts like the cooties will never really die.
A phrase we haven't heard yet from our daughter, and don't care to, but one that teens have been using for quite some time is, "You're not the boss of me." In the sitcom that ran from 1984-1992, we learned that Tony Danza's character Tony Micelli was the boss, sort of. At the same time (1984-1990), another sitcom starring Scott Baio was telling us that Charles was in charge. This is a fundamental staple of sitcoms, much of the humor of I Love Lucy, All in the Family, or Everybody Loves Raymond is the never ending struggle for the upper hand.
In the real world, the struggle for power often takes on a deadly earnestness. It is well understood that many people throughout history have been willing to kill to obtain or maintain power over others, but it has also been demonstrated over and over that other people are willing to die rather than live under tyranny. World History is many things, among them it is a story of would-be dictators/tyrants and the revolutionaries and martyrs who opposed them.
When it comes to ultimate authority, the kind with real legitimacy that doesn't depend upon the threat of violence, the most common struggle in human history has been between material and spiritual lordships. For much of history kings and priests have take up common cause, propping up the same dynasty that benefits them both. It doesn't hurt that these two classes often came from the same aristocratic families, making cooperation between them more likely.
But when the vision of secular and religious power do come into conflict, who has the true claim on being the final authority? There is no doubt, no doubt at all, that the Word of God proclaims that final authority rests in the spiritual realm with God himself. We see this play out in God's liberation of the Israelites from Egypt as Moses asserts his authority over that of Pharaoh. It is central to the story of the first king of Israel, Saul, whose power was dwarfed by that of the prophet Samuel. And prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel again and again proclaim that God's will is above that of kings and even empires. In fact, the prophets make it very clear that it is God himself who reserves the right to raise up, and tear down, kings and kingdoms to suit his purposes.
Which brings us to yet another reason why 'Christian' Nationalism is doomed to fail: It overvalues secular power. Power in this world is fool's gold, it won't last and it can never be the ultimate authority. The people of God are called, instead, to imitate the Apostles by defying the powers that be when they go against the revealed will of God. Rather than bow before them willingly, or bend before them under duress, we must follow the example of the heroes of our faith who stood for righteousness and against evil in whatever form it took, including their own government.
Who is the boss? Who is in charge? God. God alone.
