In recent years, many of us have wondered at the contempt and disdain which has been displayed by many on the "Christian" Right for the rule of law and government institutions. Indeed, I have commented extensively on the widespread contempt for public health measures and vaccines among certain so-called "conservative" religious elements of our society during the Covid-19 Pandemic. We've all heard the discussions about the "duty" of Christians to resist these tyrannical regulations and even fight back against government intrusions on our "rights." Now, I thought that I was fairly knowledgeable about the thinking within these elements of our society, but I must confess that I had not heard about "The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate" until a friend mentioned it in an email a few days ago!
More particularly, he forwarded to me a synopsis of a book by Pastor Matthew Trewhella titled Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate. After reading that description, I knew that I wasn't interested in reading the book, but I desperately wanted to understand why the book was causing such a stir in ultra-conservative circles. Toward that end, I discovered an interview with Trewhella that was done in the summer of 2020. That interview, Resisting Tyranny: The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate, was found on the Stand in the Gap website (which purports to be "A media ministry of American Pastors Network").
Host, Sam Rohrer, declared that the theme of the program was "Resisting Tyranny God's Way." He went on to say: "You know, the greatest ally of tyranny are citizens and pastors and government officials who’ve refused to confront lawlessness and aggressive immorality in a biblical and historical way." There it was - that awful and now familiar unscriptural justification for pastors and religious leaders to wade into politics and discourse on "God's" policy! Rohrer continued: "Without a doubt, COVID-19 has been the political justification for presidential and gubernatorially declared emergencies. And it certainly has been a vehicle to catapult tyranny right smack into our culture, our businesses, our homes, and even our churches." Now, I recognized that I had heard that same rhetoric many times before - in the sermons of CGI pastors Bill Watson and Adrian Davis!
As he prepared to introduce the author of the above-mentioned book (Trewhella), Rohrer said: "We’ll either define the problem of tyranny and resist it God’s way, and therefore defend freedom, or we’ll embrace tyranny by choosing to work the system to our own selfish advantage. And the dangers of embracing tyranny should be obvious, but I’m afraid it’s not to many. And because of the need to provide a biblical and historical solution and a roadmap to resisting tyranny, so that the more obvious historical examples of violent ways do not become necessary, we’re going to define, today, the terms of tyranny and the principle of what is known as the doctrine of the lesser magistrates. We’ll talk about that next. We’re going to talk and give both biblical and historical examples of this truth in action. And then, we’re going to conclude with a consideration of the consequences of our failure to identify and properly respond." Notice, that Rohrer takes it for granted that God wants his people to resist this "tyranny."
Next, he asked Pastor Trewhella where he would place the United States on his tyranny scale - ten representing tyranny and one representing freedom. Trewhella responded: "We’re definitely at eight, 10 being you’re sitting in a Gulag or being hunted by the officials for simply trying to live free and faithful and true to Christ. We’re definitely at eight. This is a pernicious evil, this whole COVID thing. They are actually using the citizens against each other. And they’ve convinced so many citizens that their actual lives are at stake. So, they’re vehement little tyrants themselves, playing the role of citizen Gestapo across our nation. And it’s coming to the fore with this whole masking matter." After quoting the late great CS Lewis, he continued: "People are convinced by our government and the media that their very lives are at stake because of this virus. And they are running to the arms of the state, not realizing the state is using this in order to increase their power. I’m telling you people better wake up. Don’t underestimate what’s going on, here, with this masking thing. I’ve read numerous posts, now, where the pro-mask people are talking about how the children should be taken away from those who refuse to wear masks. I’ve seen numerous videos where they’re shaming people who don’t wear masks, publicly, at stores or in public areas." Hmmmmmm, who was using Covid-19 to advance their own agenda?
Later, Rohrer set up the question that would get to the heart of what Trewhella was advocating for Christians to do. He said: "where tyranny raises its ugly head, the question arises, 'Well, what can we do about it?' What should be done about it? From a Christian perspective, we ask the question, 'How does one balance the command to submit oneself to the ordinances of man and the command to be salt and light and to resist the devil, which we are commanded to do?'"
Pastor Trewhella responded: "Sure. Well, the standard for true Christianity, down to the ages, Sam, has been that when the state commands that which God forbids or forbids that which God commands, we are to obey God rather than man. We’re to obey God rather than the state." He then went on to cite two Biblical examples of this phenomenon - 1) When Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew midwives to kill the male babies as they were delivered, and they refused; and 2) When Daniel was ordered not to pray to God, and he continued to do so. The lesson of these examples, according to Trewhella, "when the state commands that which God forbids, like murdering little babies, or forbids that which God commands, like saying, 'You can’t pray.' We are to obey God rather than man. We are to obey God rather than the state." Then, he came, at long last, to the thesis of his book: "So, it’s extremely important that we understand the law and the Word of God. So, as his people, we can live faithful to it. When it comes to the magistrates, the lesser magistrate takes the doctrine of interposition and demonstrates or exercises it with his office, with his lawful public civil office. He stands in the gap between the superior authority that is doing evil, decreeing evil, and those that they are wanting to victimize or oppress, hugely important doctrine for us to understand."
Hmmmm, so this doctrine is focused on Christians serving as civil magistrates? Why not the average Christian lay person? And, where is the basis for this doctrine in the writings of the New Testament? Why were both of his examples from the Old Testament, and did he accurately portray those examples?
Nevertheless, Pastor Trewhella went on to make clear that Christian lay people have an important role to play in pressuring those Christian "lesser magistrates" to do "the right thing." He continued: "the duty of the people is to press their lesser magistrates to interpose when evil is being done by the superior authority, and to rally with their lesser magistrates when they do do right. That is hugely important. So, you have to prod the magistrate to do right, let him know what his duty is, and then, assure him you will stand foursquare with him when he does do right. Massively important." Trewhella also made clear that he believes that their shepherds (pastors) should be talking about elections and making clear to their flocks exactly what God's will was in these matters. Unfortunately, most of the rest of the interview is concerned with providing historical examples of these principles in action.
Again, what about the Scriptural evidence for this doctrine? Where are those Scriptural citations? And, again, why this indirect way of addressing a Christian's political obligations to resisting government tyranny? Why is this accomplished through these "lesser magistrates" instead of by ordinary Christians?
The TRUTH is that there is NO Scriptural foundation for this teaching! In fact, this "Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate" is the antithesis of the teaching of Christ and his apostles!
Of course, we should all be aware of the elephant in the room. I'm speaking of the fact that our Savior submitted himself to the Roman authorities and allowed them to put him to death! Now, if we are to follow Christ's example, what does that say about a Christian's responsibility to submit him/herself to the civil authority? Also, does anyone seriously believe that Jesus Christ personally approved of all of the ways that Romans used the taxes which they collected from their subjects? And, yet, when Christ was asked about paying taxes, Mark tells us that he said: "give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God." (12:17, NLT)
In his Epistle to the Romans, Paul wrote: "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." (13:1-7, ESV) Yes, we MUST obey God over men, but we (as Christians) must also be willing to suffer whatever penalty/punishment the civil authority wishes to impose upon us when the two are in conflict!
Remember, Matthew informs us that Jesus said: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (5:10) He also is reported to have said: "if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." (5:39-41) Notice, that Christ explicitly teaches AGAINST actively resisting those who would mistreat or abuse us! Yes, that's hard, but there is no getting around the fact that this is what Christ taught!
Likewise, in the First Epistle of Peter, we read: "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 evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." (2:13-17) In Paul's First Epistle to Timothy, we read: "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." Paul also wrote to Titus: "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work." (3:1)
Now, what about those two examples that Pastor Trewhella cited in his remarks? First, the Hebrew midwives would have had to submit to Pharaoh's judgment if God hadn't intervened on their behalf. Likewise, although Daniel continued to pray in violation of the King's decree, notice that he was thrown into the Lion's Den as a consequence (see Daniel 6:1-28). We could also cite the example of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furnace for their refusal to worship the king's image (see Daniel 3). To be sure, in all of these examples, God protected his servants! Nevertheless, the fact remains that ALL of them were subject to the civil authority who was placed over them.
Finally, Jesus instructed his disciples to pray for God's Kingdom to be established on this earth - for God's will to be done on this earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Moreover, Scripture continuously warns Christians to NOT be a part of this world - to NOT become entangled in civilian affairs - to NOT participate in the Beast or in Babylon! The clear implication being that a Christian's primary citizenship is reserved for them in Heaven! Hence, from a Scriptural perspective, the "Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate" is shown to be heretical, and that it should be avoided by all TRUE disciples of Jesus Christ!
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