Choose Your Battles

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing right you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Live as free men, yet without using your freedom as a pretext for evil; but live as servants of God. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

1 Peter 2:13-17

There is a habit among people of telling others what they should do. Authority is apparently a pretty big deal for some people.

People love to tell others what to do.

People love to rant and rave about how important it is that we all “obey the law”, how we should all “follow the rules.”

People can get downright annoying with it. I sometimes think some people go out of their way to be downright annoying with it.

In my more curmudgeonly moments, I’ll respond to such nuisances with something snarky like “I’ve got bad knees that only bend before God.” I like to believe that is true: if push comes to shove and I have to choose between obeying God’s Law and obeying man’s laws, I hope I will have the strength to choose God’s Law, no matter the consequences.

I say “I hope” because, thankfully, not everything forces a choice between obeying God’s Law and obeying man’s laws. Most of the time, most of man’s laws—at least the ones which impact me—don’t contradict God’s Law.

God’s Law says we are not to kill each other, and so does man’s laws.

God’s Law says we are not bear false witness to each other, and so does man’s laws.

God’s Law says we are not to steal from each other, and so does man’s laws.

A good portion of the time, even most of the time, if I am being mindful about God’s Law I am not violating man’s laws. Most of the time, it’s just not a problem to obey man’s laws, because it means doing what I am going to be doing anyway.

Then there are times when man’s laws become….inconvenient.

If I am driving down the highway going faster than the speed limit, I am violating man’s laws…but what about God’s Law? There’s not a clear cut commandment that says “Thou shalt not drive fast.”

One could construct all sort of philosophical arguments about safety, and saving gas, and being a good steward of the environment to conclude that it’s not a good idea to drive above the speed limit, but it’s really a stretch to say there’s a clear moral dimension to whether or not one should speed down the road.

Of course, if I get caught speeding, I’ll have to pay a fine, but the speed limit, the ticket, and the fine are all part of man’s laws, not God’s Law.

I tend to not like to spend money, so I generally choose not to speed. It’s just not worth it to me.

Then there are times when man’s laws are….unacceptable.

At the height of the hysteria over COVID, the government was doing all it could to force people to accept the COVID inoculations. The government went out of its way to make inoculation mandatory.

This was a problem, because while I find no great moral dilemma in traffic laws, I had—and have—great moral dilemmas with the COVID inoculations. While there may not be a commandment that says “Thou shalt not speed,” there are multiple passages in the Old and New Testament that amount to “Thou shalt not put crap in your body.” To my mind that rules out ever taking the COVID inoculations.

For a time, it appeared as if I might be put between the proverbial rock and the hard place: I could either allow myself to be inoculated against COVID or I could stand firm to my beliefs, and risk being exiled from most of civilized society, being unable to work, or potentially even go to the store to buy groceries.

The consequences being bandied about for refusing to take the inoculations were quite severe.

Thankfully, the government mandates all came to naught. The courts ruled them illegal and shut down their entire effort. I was spared having to make that final choice between compliance with man’s laws and following God’s Law.

Yet there have been other places where someone has seen fit to impose authority over me, over what I do, and over what I say. Perhaps the most notable experience of this came on social media, where I had made a number of comments challenging the prevailing narratives about COVID. On one platform, LinkedIn, matters came to a head when my account there was abruptly suspended—I had been accused of repeatedly spreading “misinformation”.

For the better part of the next two years I was banned from that plaform.

I did not have to be. I could have simply kept my thoughts to myself and not argued publicly against various COVID narratives and policies. I had that choice.

However, there is that little thing about not bearing false witness. Lying is not something we’re supposed to do. Even remaining silent when you know the truth of a matter is problematic, morally speaking.

We are called to speak the truth, to bear witness to the truth, in all things and at all times. Sometimes that puts us in the position of having to speak a truth people don’t want to hear, and which some people will go to great lengths to silence.

Silence for me was not an option. Silence was not the right thing to do. Silence was not what I saw God’s Law commanding at the time.

And so I was cancelled, with my access to LinkedIn only being restored late last year.

Have I “learned my lesson”? No, not at all. I still speak my mind and say that which I believe needs to be said, consequences be damned.

It may result in my being terminated from LinkedIn or other social media platforms at some point.

It almost certainly will result in my offending at least some people.

It will almost certainly result in some people being upset by my weekly sermons here.

Sooner or later I am going to say something that someone will not like.

When that happens, I will have to decide what to do in response to someone’s presumed offense. I might choose to argue passionately on the particular point at hand, or I might simply “agree to disagree” and turn my mind towards other and more productive discussions.

Must I meet every opposition with fire and fury? Thankfully, no. Many times, perhaps even most times, I have the option of simply walking away. Bearing true witness does not necessarily mean making a fight out every debating point. Conducting myself in such a way as to (hopefully) be God’s light to the world does not require me to lecture everyone interminably.

It does require me to remember that arguments are never about me. The facts are what matter. The truth is what matters. That truth is not changed because I am the one speaking it. The facts are not altered because I am the one who is raising them.

If I have borne witness to the truth, if I have given a full and fair presentation of the facts as I have them, then I have done what I can do. I do not need to fight farther than that, and if I do fight farther than that then I am fighting for my own ego and not the truth.

That is true whether I am debating on social media or having conversation with local law enforcement.

We are called to stand for what is right. We are called to stand for what is true. But we are also called to be mindful about when and where and how we will stand. We are called to choose our battlefields with care, and to choose our battles with even greater care.

We are called to bear witness to the truth, and we are called to be mindful and deliberate about how we bear that witness. We are called to be mindful especially that disputes should be about the truth and not about our own ego.

I am not always wise enough to know when to just “walk away”.

I am not always wise enough to choose my battles with the greatest of care.

My prayer this day and every day is that I will receive enough wisdom to choose my battles better. My prayer this day and every day is that I will grow enough wisdom to walk away from the unnecessary fight.

My prayer for you this day and every day, is that you will receive enough wisdom to choose your battles better.

When it is possible to choose peace, we are called to choose peace.

We are called to be witnesses to the truth, in all things, and at all times. That means we are also called to be witnesses to the truth that peace is an option more often than not.