When I hear words like this, I feel a
little like a fuming Thoroughbred, chomping on the bit before a race,
especially when the person speaking claims to be a Christian. Why?
Because we shouldn't think like that. Romans 13:1-2 says, “Let
every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no
authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are
appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority
resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring
judgment on themselves.” We are to obey the government and follow
its laws with only one exception – if the law directly contradicts
what God has ordered (biblical examples include the Hebrew midwives
in Egypt, Peter and John in Acts 4, and Daniel).
You can argue all day about whether
pirated music harms or doesn't harm anyone, but that shouldn't be the
point. That's the language the world uses to argue for or against
pornography and homosexual marriage. The point should be what God
says, period.
In 1 Peter 2:13-16, Peter agrees with
Paul by saying, “Therefore, submit yourselves to every ordinance of
man for the Lord's sake, whether the king as supreme, or to
governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of
evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the
will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance
of foolish men – as free, yet not using the liberty as a cloak for
wickedness, but as bondservants of God.” As Christians, we are
free. Jesus paid it all, and it doesn't matter what we do in this
life, our eternal destiny is secure. Does that mean we should go sin
it up? Paul says, “By no means!” We are to be sanctified, set
apart, different from the world. A non-christian should be able to
look at any one of us in any situation and see that we are not like
them. The world is constantly looking for reasons to hate us and say
that we are hypocrites. If they look at us, and we are just like
them, they have their reason, and we have one more soul that may
never know the truth because we made life on this side look just like
life on that side. That's why not.
