AT WHAT POINT DO WE DISOBEY THE GOVERNMENT?

The following is a treatise written by Wang Yi, a pastor in China under house arrest for preaching the gospel and faithful disobedience. The time in America for faithful disobedience is on the horizon and we must possess the loving attitude and the holy courage that our Chinese brother and leader displayed. This excellent letter was drafted by Wang Yi.

What Constitutes Faithful Disobedience

I firmly believe that the Bible has not given any branch of any government the authority to run the church or to interfere with the faith of Christians. Therefore, the Bible demands that I, through peaceable means, in meek resistance and active forbearance, filled with joy, resist all administrative policies and legal measures that oppress the church and interfere with the faith of Christians. 

I firmly believe this is a spiritual act of disobedience. In modern authoritarian regimes that persecute the church and oppose the gospel, spiritual disobedience is an inevitable part of the gospel movement.  

I firmly believe that spiritual disobedience is an act of the last times; it is a witness to God’s eternal kingdom and the temporal kingdom of sin and evil. Disobedient Christians follow the example of the crucified Christ by walking the path of the cross. Peaceful disobedience is the way in which we love the world as well as the way in which we avoid becoming part of the world. 

I firmly believe that in carrying out spiritual disobedience, the Bible demands me to rely on the grace and resurrection power of Christ, that I must respect and not overstep two boundaries. 

The first boundary is that of the heart. Love toward the soul, and not hatred toward the body, is the motivation of spiritual disobedience. Transformation of the soul, and not the changing of circumstances, is the aim of spiritual disobedience. At any time, if external oppression and violence rob me of inner peace and endurance, so that my heart begins to breed hatred and bitterness toward those who persecute the church and abuse Christians, then spiritual disobedience fails at that point. 

The second boundary is that of behavior. The gospel demands that disobedience of faith must be non-violent. The mystery of the gospel lies in actively suffering, even being willing to endure unrighteous punishment, as a substitute for physical resistance. Peaceful disobedience is the result of love and forgiveness. The cross means being willing to suffer when one does not have to suffer. For Christ had limitless ability to fight back, yet he endured all of the humility and hurt. The way that Christ resisted the world that resisted him was by extending an olive branch of peace on the cross to the world that crucified him.  

I firmly believe that Christ has called me to carry out this faithful disobedience through a life of service, under this regime that opposes the gospel and persecutes the church. This is the means by which I preach the gospel, and it is the mystery of the gospel which I preach.

The Lord’s servant,
Wang Yi 

First draft on September 21st, 2018; revised on October 4th. To be circulated by the church after 48 hours of detention. English translation provided by Amy, Brent Pinkall, and the China Partnership translation team.

Wang Yi
December 12, 2018, 

IN HONOR OF JOHN CHAU, A TRUE AMERICAN HERO AND CHRIST’S MARTYR

Some say he was foolish. Others say he died in vain. Some say he was trespassing. Others say he deserved his pain. But as for me, I salute him for I know he was killed for Jesus’ Name.

The letters he wrote to family and friends showed his true heart. He counted the cost. He knew what was at stake. He didn’t want to die, but knew he might. So he made provision for that possibility too. He challenged us to obey God in our assignment and that we’d meet him beyond the veil.

His motive was pure. HIs intentions were clear. He wanted to reach those precious unreached island people with the gospel. John Chau was a true martyr.

His death defied the American dream of wealth and happiness and the love of this world. His death slapped mammon in the face. He death glorified God and won him a place.

Yes, a place next to Christ for all of eternity.

Anyone who calls that vain is foolish. Anyone who says so is living for this world.

Those who criticized him should be ashamed. It’s easy to find fault with him while sitting in your comfy sofa chair and pressing your keyboard to share your godless unworthy opinion on social media. So you really think his death was foolish and in vain? Here’s what you should think:

It’s those without Christ who sadly die in vain. It’s those who waste their lives chasing the American dream who die in vain. It’s those who labor for the meat which perishes who die in vain. It’s those who spend their lives on carnal things and the pleasures of this world who die in vain. It’s those without a worthy cause and a godly purpose who die in vain.

Many even die and are considered martyrs for unworthy causes. They too die in vain.

Some inner-city gangs could be considered fearless martyrs. In many ways, they live a life of complete abandonment. But their martyrdom is born of hate, desperation, and anger. When they die, they leave one hell and enter another. There are no visions of heaven and hopes of glory. How tragic! 

There was a new generation called “Y,” not sure if they’re around any more, who dress in vampire garb and have an obsession with death and darkness. They, too, are not afraid to die. Their perverted identification with death has conquered their fear of it. They’ve made Satan their friend.

You see, they’ve landed on a scriptural principle. Generation “Y” hates their natural life. That’s why they are willing and able to give themselves to Satan’s kingdom.

What an eerie perversion and morbid corruption of such a great spiritual truth! The scriptures tell us that one can even be a martyr without love (1 Cor. 13:3). Not John Chau. He was motivated by love. He was a true martyr.

Islamic terrorists who are suicide bombers are yet another primary example of modern-day martyrs. The promise of paradise and 7 — or is it 70? — virgins who will serve them throughout eternity motivates them to die for their god and for their cause. They also die foolishly and in vain.

And yet how tragic also when you compare today’s Islamic martyr spirit to our own. They die for a lie while many of us can’t even live for the truth, much less die for it.

John Chau lived and died for the truth that is in Jesus.

You see John Chau was an extremist and that’s what it takes to get things moving for God.

Just as a certain kind of passivity limits the ministry of God’s kingdom, a certain kind of extremism will expand it.

The Bible is a book of extremes.

Extreme acts of God and history-changing events like the dividing of the Red Sea and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, among so many others.

Extreme characters; men and women who changed the world.

Extreme demands to follow the Lord like denying yourself, taking up your cross daily, and following Jesus whole-heartedly.

Extreme blessings for obedience (Mk. 10:29–30), and extreme consequences for unrepentant sin and disobedience (Lk. 13:3, Mt. 7:21–23).

John Chau was an extremist. And I salute him and honor him today. I am stronger, braver, and will wax bolder for what he did.

American Christianity needs martyr seed. You just watch what God does with the seed of his blood.