By Larry Rosenbaum
In the book of Acts, the early Christians were repeatedly beaten, imprisoned, and put to death for preaching the gospel. Paul defended his right to preach the gospel in the Roman legal system, using his Roman citizenship and appealing to Caesar (Acts 25). While in jail, Paul’s greatest sorrow was hearing of other Christians who criticized him. They said he wasn’t really an apostle and was probably in jail for some wrongdoing. Actually, the opposite is true. God’s Word promises that “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” While our persecution is minor compared to theirs, God’s Word is true today as it was 2000 years ago.
There is much confusion in the church today concerning the Christian’s relationship to the government. In Romans 13, we are told to be “subject to the higher powers.” In this passage, Paul is commenting on Jesus’ teaching to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s (Luke 20).” Three chapters later, Jesus appears before Herod and “he answered him nothing.” He also refused to submit to Herod’s desire that he perform a miracle.
In Acts 5, when the Jewish high priest commanded the apostles to stop preaching Jesus, “Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Most laws are morally correct or morally neutral, and we should obey them. A law legalizing homosexual acts is morally wrong, but does not require me to act immorally. But when the governmental authorities tell us to disobey God’s commands, we must obey God rather than men. In many nations, it is illegal to preach the gospel. Yet, God has called Christians in these nations to risk jail and even death to obey Him.
In the U.S., we still have great freedom to preach the gospel. While freedom of religion has been greatly compromised by court rulings, freedom of speech and assembly are still very strong. But as our nation becomes increasingly wicked and public opinion turns against “fundamental” Christians, the rights of Christians have increasingly come under attack. I believe that we should use the legal system, as Paul did, to preserve our freedom to preach the gospel as long as possible.
I think the day will come when public outcry against Christian preaching will become so great that courts will ignore their own rulings and take special actions against Christian preachers, as they have against abortion protesters. When the two witnesses are killed in Rev. 11, “they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” Ungodly people will not forever tolerate uncompromised Christian preaching.
Sometimes Christians ask me about the use of loudspeakers. After all, Jesus and the apostles didn’t use loudspeakers. Nor did they use automobiles, airplanes or printing presses. And they didn’t deal with the kinds of noises we have today on city streets. While a few preachers can preach effectively without amplification, most damage their throats by yelling and sound like they are angry at people. The U.S. Supreme Court has declared that “loudspeakers are today indispensable instruments of effective public speech.”
There is also the issue of loudness. In a big city, any kind of gathering that makes noise is bound to disturb somebody. People sleep at noon as well as at midnight. We picked a location at 5th St. and Market that is as far as possible from businesses and residences, yet having a lot of street traffic. We turn our speakers away from the two businesses that are near us. We believe the city has a right to establish a reasonable level of sound. But we think that it should be measured objectively by a decibel meter and that it should be enforced equally towards every group using loudspeakers (the Chinese New Year Parade, the Haight St. Fair, the Gay Parade, etc.) — not just against us. Enforcement based upon complaints discriminates against unpopular groups.
