Not Going to Bow

We are called to be different from the world, and in our devotion to Christ, that may place us at odds with people around us.  We can exhibit Godly courage as we seek to exalt Him. 1st Peter 2 reminds
us:
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

We have been shown mercy by God - He sent His Son so that we might be forgiven for our sins and have eternal life. So, we should always be merciful toward others.  Our love for God will lead us to a different viewpoint from the world, so we are faced with courageously standing for His truth, which may not be the popular path.  Nevertheless, in pleasing our Lord and having His peace, we can be devoted to distinctiveness.

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The power-hungry King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, even after having his dreams interpreted by the winsome Hebrew young man named Daniel, and having admitted it was through God that Daniel was able to bring the interpretation, defaulted back to His ways of self-centeredness.  In Daniel chapter 3, he built an idol, a statue, and demanded that the people worship it.

Three Hebrews refused to bow, and we pick up in that chapter with the king's words:
15 Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?"
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king.
18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up."

We know that they survived the fiery furnace, and Nebuchadnezzar made another declaration in support of the one true God.

O'Neal Saddler refused to bow.  The FaithIt.com website reports that at a protest march in Hartwell, Georgia, this African-American state trooper, when asked to bow with protesters, responded in this way, as the article states:

In response to a crowd harassing him for not kneeling like the rest, the officer, O’Neal Saddler, made it clear that while he means no disrespect, he only kneels for one person: God.

“If I didn’t have any respect, I was supposed to be out of town this weekend with my wife,” O’Neal explained in a brief video clip that has since gone viral on Twitter. “I took off today, this weekend, but I’m out here to make sure y’all are safe. So don’t go there with respect. I have much respect, but I only kneel for one person: God, God, God.”

Sam Coonrod refused to bow.  He was in a similar situation to that of Trooper Saddler.  He plays for the San Francisco Giants.  Major League Baseball opened its season, and the Giants and their opponents, the Dodgers, were asked to bow in protest before the National Anthem and to hold a large ribbon that the players held as they lined their respective baselines. Coonrod held the ribbon, but thought that to take a knee was a bridge too far.  He stated, according to the San Francisco Chronicle:

“I meant no ill will by it,” Coonrod said. “I don’t think I’m better than anybody. I’m just a Christian. I believe I can’t kneel before anything but God, Jesus Christ. I chose not to kneel. I feel if I did kneel I’d be a hypocrite. I don’t want to be a hypocrite.”

John MacArthur refused to bow.  Faced with restrictions in his state on indoor worship, MacArthur and the leadership of his church made the difficult decision to meet in person this past Sunday. Yesterday, I quoted from an article at the Capstone Report, which shared some comments made by Dr. MacArthur at the packed service on Sunday.  The venerable pastor stated:

“They kept the abortion clinics open…along with the liquor stores,” MacArthur said noting how the State of California and local officials prioritized their own interests over the spiritual interests of the church.

In another part of the message, MacArthur made a specific point of highlighting how the secular world does not understand the church.

“We understand that the world does not understand the importance of the church,” MacArthur said. “The world does not understand that it is not only essential, but it is the only hope for eternal life for doomed sinners.”

MacArthur pointed out that the places providing spiritual needs were shut down while other needs were places for physical needs were kept open.

The decision not to "bow down" will perhaps come with a price - for instance, it is unclear what action that the state of California may take against Grace Church.  Sam Coonrod has to deal with his teammates - even though he likely shared their sentiments, his chosen form of expression differed from theirs. And, O'Neal Saddler faced the harassment of the crowd.

So, first of all, we have to make sure that our convictions are rooted in Scripture.  We shouldn't want to be different just for the sake of being different, or to make some sort of show.  We have to make sure that we are not calling attention to ourselves, but to the Lord who calls us a peculiar people.

And, we have to be ready to face the consequences.  There may be a cost for expressing ourselves. But, instead of violating our conscience, we can have peace and stability in our hearts.  And, the power of the Holy Spirit can give us the direction in how to express the reasons why we took the actions we did.

Finally, the Church needs to be bold.  Yes, we should be forthright in expressing our love for other individuals and be devoted to speaking into a variety of issues. And, we should do it in the right way - God's way, not the way of the world.