Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. Rom 13:1
“When we obey the rules and laws of a nation, even though they may restrict or forbid proselytizing, God will open an even greater opportunity for the gospel than if we break the laws of the land.”
The above quote is from a returned tentmaker from the Hermit Kingdom where officials are aggressively trying to stop Christian expatriates from proselytizing and even spending time with locals outside of work hours.
The young tentmaker was adamant that he would always obey all the rules and regulations to their fullest. His morning prayer included asking God to help him be an honorable guest in this challenging country and thus leaving the door open for a miracle.
So how does one bring light into the darkness under such conditions?
Dr. Ian Malcolm of Jurassic Park fame said: “Life always finds a way.”
Apparently, God always finds a way when we remain obedient to his Word and local laws. Even with officials in classrooms monitoring what was being said and taught by the teacher, the Holy Spirit was at work. Much prayer preceded each day’s teaching, praying for the students and officials by name.
The monitoring officials were rotated every two weeks to keep them from being influenced by a foreign teacher.
Then God stepped in
For some unknown reason the rotations stopped which meant the same official stayed in the class permanently. He eventually started asking questions that were clearly not permissible which encouraged the students to do the same. This led to more and more open questions about the teachers understanding of God.
After some months of earning the respect of local people and even some authorities, a Bible study group was born right in the classroom. Since Bibles are not permitted in this country, creative methods were used to get the Word into the students hands.
The door remains wide open for committed, intentional Christian expatriate teachers to bring the Gospel to this least-reached nation. A government-imposed spiritual vacuum is crying for something to fill this void. Let it be Jesus.
By Ari Rocklin
While I rejoice in the way the Lord worked in this situation, I wonder how Peter and John would have felt about this teacher’s approach. “Let’s just keep healing people without mentioning Jesus and hope that the Sanhedrin reverse their decision.”
If I understand the opening quote from the tentmaker correctly, he is saying we should NEVER break a law. Under what circumstances would this teacher ever say, “I must obey God rather than men”?
What do others think about this issue?
As a long-time tentmaker in both the Middle East and Hong Kong, I really can’t recall being asked pointedly whether I believed in God or not, though discussions sometimes did come to matters of faith in God. I found the real challenge was to be able to help others understand what the God I believe in is like. As an American in the Middle East, I think my colleagues and contacts simply assumed that as a person from “Christian America” I had some faith in God, and I had many conversations on the God I believe in. But the university students I now meet in American from that region are move inclined to raise that question from their own secular outlook. In historically Buddhist Hong Kong, local friends and colleagues, rightly or wrongly, assumed as an American I had some belief in God. My challenge was to show by the way I lived what it means in daily life to believe in God. But as the article urges, be prepared if and when the question does come to you!
Asking about God is the core question, but it refers to all areas of what you believe. But we need to be able to answer honest questions regarding our faith, beliefs etc.
Personally, I get asked that question all the time taxi drivers, shop keepers…