Acts 5 - Where is Your Loyalty?

  In verse 17, the apostles are thrown in the local jail by the Sadducees for preaching the gospel and healing the sick. That very night, God opens the doors of the jail and brings them out, urging them to continue spreading the good news in the temple courts. Once the apostles' escape is discovered, and they are located, they are brought in to face the Sanhedrin. 
    The high priest questions the apostles, and says "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name!"
    Then here comes the apostles' all-important reply: "We must obey God rather than men!"
   
    Wow, that response was bold, right? Well for the apostles, this was a no-brainer. Their loyalty was already set in stone. They had seen Jesus, witnessed God's power first-hand, and were commissioned at the Mount of Olives to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey everything that God commands. The commission didn't go like this: "Make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them only...if it's OK with the authorities, guys." God's commission is without conditions.
    The moment we accept Jesus as our Savior, we also receive this very commission. Too many times, we acquiesce, close our mouth, and follow the path of conformity whenever our faith is challenged by the world. When the challenge comes, there is no such thing as neutrality. Based on our reaction, our loyalty will either side with man, or it will side with God.
    Sometimes, God's laws and man's laws are in harmony. In fact, Jesus tells the disciples at one point to "render unto Caesar's what is Caesar's". In other words, "pay your taxes, peeps!" Complete anarchical behavior is not of God. BUT when man's law and God's law collide as in the story, our loyalty, like the disciples', should be set in stone already. Romans 8:38-39 says "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present, nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God..." God's love for us is inseparable. God, may our love and loyalty for You also be inseparable, and unable to be swayed by the laws and pressure of men.

~Ben