Should Christians Rebel?
In 1524-1525, chaos ensued, and the blood of 100,000 peasants flooded the streets. Hard to visualize that number? Imagine roughly the same number of attendees who cheered on the teams at the World Cup Final in Lusail Stadium suddenly lying dead. As the Renaissance Era dawned on the horizon, the Peasant’s War beamed as the last attempt to revolt against the corrupt nobles and gave way to the dying pangs of feudalism. Yet, you rarely hear of this momentous event, but the effects still echo throughout history.
Similar to what transpired then, some aspects of Christian nationalism echo the same mentality as that of the German Peasant Revolt. Having served in the military, I have witnessed the atrocities of war and the damage it leads in its wake, all done in the name of religion. There are certain aspects of Christian Nationalism and the mantra many purport that rings eerily similar to that of Islam and Sharia Law. This mentality to establish and enact a theocratic state suggests that God is not already reigning as Chief Supreme and hurts rather than helps the ministry and gospel advancement of the local church, similar to that during the Reformation.
Rebellion Prevents the Promotion of Truth
Martin Luther’s nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses, an action the Roman Catholic Church labeled blatant rebellion, gave rise to other Reformers such as Thomas Müntzer. Unlike Luther, who revitalized biblical truth, Müntzer insisted that Reformation needed to push beyond the barriers of the church and flood into the streets of the secular. Luther advocated Romans 13, holding fast to the belief that God ordains the government independent of how one feels or how corrupt they are. Submission is to be given to the leaders since God has ordained and appointed them.
On the other hand, Müntzer rebelled by rejecting Sola Scriptura and asserting that dreams and visions are on equal authority as the sufficiency of Scripture. The problem with Müntzer and the rebellion is that his movement, driven by eschatology, shaped his ideology. For Müntzer, he interpreted Daniel 2:44 as God giving him an apocalyptic vision for establishing the kingdom, giving rise to doubts concerning Scripture and evangelism. Müntzer assumed the work of the Spirit: he thought he was solely responsible for promoting a physical realm rather than allowing the Spirit to evangelize and establish the kingdom of heaven as spiritual and a work of the Spirit. Consequently, Müntzer prevented many from fulfilling the Great Commission as they were preoccupied with rebelling and waging war on their day's “secular elite” lords.
Rebellion Breeds Disunity
Müntzer hindered and devalued the primary focus of the Reformation, accusing Luther of hypocrisy and for not supporting the peasants over the nobles. Luther advocated repentance and reconciliation. Müntzer did not, leading a rebellion blinded by selfish ambitions and breeding seeds of distrust and disunity. Where Luther defended the authority of God’s Word against the corrupt practices the Roman Church condoned, Müntzer focused on personal attacks calling Luther a “Doctor Liar.” The conflict between the two former Catholic priests was now creating factions and divisions within Christianity during the infancy of the Reformation, weakening the potential influence and unity protestants could have in demonstrating Christlike behavior to unbelievers and others looking for hope during a bleak time.
Yet, do we not see history repeat itself? Are these polarizations and political feuds not unlike what we see in today’s climate? This disunity continues as far right and left evangelicals criticize, condemn, and display a lack of humility and sacrificial love towards each other and a world without hope in need of the gospel.
When Christians do not prioritize the reading and study of Scripture and applying every aspect of God’s Word, disunity will enter the church as cancer. It will destroy the Christian testimony to those observing from outside. As Paul reminds the church in Philippians 2, Christians are to agree, and the same love and be united in the Spirit. When Christians are preoccupied with social and not spiritual reform, disunity and misappropriation of the Great Commission ensue.
Rebellion Paves the Way for Unbiblical Ideologies
The Peasant’s War ended in tragic failure as Müntzer and other leaders were executed. Sadly, the motivations behind this rebellion echo into our context as the relationship between religion and revolution persists today. Luther insisted that violent uprisings are never justified because it violates the principles and thoughts of Scripture by ignoring and rejecting passages of Scripture that preach that God is sovereign and removes kings and sets up kings (Daniel 2:21). Religious-backed revolutions always amount to what we now see play out as terrorism throughout the globe where suffering and death are inflicted on the innocent and produce a world of violence rather than peace.
Romans 13 outlines how we are to view and engage in the political sphere as Christians are to be subject to the governing authorities. The word “subject” means subjecting oneself to obey and submit to one's control. When the government violates God’s commands and instructs Christians to do likewise, the Christian is not obligated to obey the command that contravenes God’s law. However, only the order given by the government that violates God’s command is to be disobeyed, not the entirety of the governmental system. Rebellion fueled by religious zeal should not be found in the Christian’s life, for when we do this, we fail to trust that God is in control, we fail in our testimony and witness of the life-transforming effects the gospel has, and we become like the world as opposed to being in the world but not of the world (John 17:14). When Christians rebel, we lower the message and hope of the gospel to being man focused, and give the world reason to hate us. The Bible clearly states that if the world hates us, let it be because we speak the truth in love. When we speak Scriptural truth and give the word of our testimony, we live in God's presence and offer our bodies as a living sacrificial, acceptable, and pleasing unto God because He is our king, and He is in control, and this world is not our home (Matt. 16:25; Luke 17:33; John 12:25; Rev. 12:11).