26. How Should Armed Forces Members Respond to Immoral Policies and Orders?

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Today we will be digging into the question “How Should Armed Forces Members Respond to Immoral Policies and Orders?” We live in a fallen world, so all Christians will inevitably disagree with authority figures or leaders at some point. So what is our Biblical framework to handle these disagreements?

What does the Bible have to say about this question?

• Book of Daniel. Background: Daniel encounters a variety of situations in his life of service that inform us of options of how to respond when we disagree with our leaders (Daniel 1: 17-20, 2:14, 5:10-12)

  1. Appeal to Conscience and Solve Issue at Lowest Level. (Daniel 1:7-16)

  2. Private Disobedience. (Daniel 6)

  3. Public Disobedience. (Daniel 3: 4-6, 12-23)

• Book of Exodus

  • Exodus 1: Midwives do not follow the Pharaoh’s direct order to kill all baby boys.  

  • Exodus 2: Moses’ parents hide him away for 3 months, disregarding the Pharaoh’s order to kill Hebrew boys

• Acts 4: Peter and John go before the Sanhedrin: “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” 

How can we practically apply our answer to everyday life? 

• Represent Christ well even when we disagree with the authorities placed over us - strive for respect, peace, and reconciliation in all interactions.

• Strive to solve the problem at the lowest level, as peaceably as possible, using appeals to logic and conscience to change policy. 

• Our ultimate goal is to point others to Christ through the issue we are confronting. If the issue draws you into the public eye then use that opportunity to proclaim Christ.

• The road to salvation is marked with suffering. Like Christ, we must be prepared to suffer for His righteousness. Jesus says we must pick up our own cross of suffering in order to follow Him as a disciple (Luke 9:23, 14:27). 

• How we respond to hardship, suffering, and persecution is the greatest testament to our faith to a watching world. View suffering as an opportunity to share faith in Christ. 

REFLECT:

• What does this episode reveal about God’s character?
• How does this episode cause us to see our need for a Savior? 
• How can we apply lessons learned from this episode to our life?

Follow Christ for this day!

• ✝️ “Choose this day whom you will serve...” ‭‭Joshua‬ ‭24‬:‭15‬
• ‭✝️ “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬ 

Next steps:

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