Christian Responsibility to Injustice

In 2006, I was asked to respond to a question posed by the Daily Press, Victorville, California. Please find the question and the response below.

Question:

What approach should Christians take to acts we are taught are immoral but have been legalized by a government, i.e. legalized drug use, gambling and prostitution. Our government says they trust in God, but God teaches us that these things are wrong.

Response:

St. Augustine made the statement, "An unjust law is no law at all!”  These words provided the foundation for civil disobedience movements across the world. Martin Luther King held this view and wrote in a letter written from a Birmingham jail: "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws".

The problem is that while the law is a matter of public record, justice is an intensely personal matter. This is why we need a standard.  The Bible addresses morality, ethics and righteousness.  All righteous laws derive their origin from the laws of God as expressed in the Bible.  It is the standard by which mankind should and must live by.  Otherwise, society moves ever downward toward moral decay.

Christians have a moral and spiritual obligation to obey the laws of the land except when they violate God’s laws.  Jesus is our greatest example of living in a society with unjust laws.  He fought injustice through the power of persuasion, a lifestyle of integrity and boldness to stand in opposition to laws that violated the Word of God.

What, then, is the appropriate response to an unjust law? Dr. King argued that we should break it openly: “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law”.  In a society that gives us opportunities to express our views and take significant legal action to change things, we are obligated to take advantage of our constitutional rights to do so.  Jesus gave His life that righteousness would prevail.  As followers of Christ, we must be willing to do the same!