Canadian Pastor James Coates on "Directing Government to its Duty"

Before his arrest for continuing to hold worship services that did not comply with public health guidelines, Pastor Coates preached this sermon expositing Romans 13

I shared the other day about James Coates, the Canadian pastor who was jailed for continuing to hold worship services that did not comply with public health guidelines. This is the last sermon he preached before turning himself in to the authorities. I'm grateful for his courage and his thoughtful exposition of Romans 13:1-4. If you have some time, I would strongly encourage watching it or listening to it (It's probably worth listening to more than once). Consider this short excerpt (especially his thoughts on how we best love our governing officials):

“Can you be submissive to government while simultaneously practicing civil disobedience all at the same time? And the answer is “yes,” we absolutely can practice civil disobedience while maintaining a submissive posture. You say “how?” By humbly subjecting ourselves to the consequences of our civil disobedience. [W]e recognize we're not the government, but we have a responsibility to Christ. And when that responsibility leads us into conflict with the government, we have to bear up under that conflict graciously, humbly, submissively, but nevertheless we have to bear up under it. They have the right before god to do whatever they believe is right. They will be held accountable for that. And when they act unjustly, God will settle the score at the end of the day. But nevertheless, we can absolutely practice civil disobedience while maintaining a submissive posture. How do we do that? By entrusting ourselves to Him who judges righteously (1 Peter 2:23).

And it's important to note that practicing civil disobedience in one area doesn't mean practicing civil disobedience in every area. And so it's only at a particular point that civil disobedience would need to be practiced.

So how do we decide when civil disobedience is necessary? Let me give you three categories:

(1) When the government forbids what God commands. For example, forbidding the preaching of His Word. [We] can't comply with that.

(2) When the government commands what God forbids. For example, commanding worship of a golden image. [We] can't comply with that.

(3) When the government commands what isn't theirs to command—[and this is] critical—when the government commands what isn't theirs to command. For example, the terms of worship for a local church. [We] can't comply with that. [It’s] not their jurisdiction. They have no jurisdiction at this juncture. . .

Whose role is it to inform the government of its God-given responsibility or to call them to repentance? It's the church. Why? Because we've been entrusted with the revelation that spells all this out. In fact, if the church refuses to fulfill this role and function, then it's walking in negligence—a negligence that's incredibly unloving. Why? Because those who are walking in governmental misconduct are actually storing up wrath for themselves for the day of judgment. By not informing the government of its God-ordained role and not pointing out when the government is out of step with that role—and by not pointing out that they are actually governing unjustly—we are not loving the government. These are individuals—human beings who are accountable to God, who need to be confronted with their sin in order to realize they need to be reconciled to God through the Son Jesus Christ.

You see, complying with unbiblical and unjust government laws is neither faithful nor loving. Affirming [that] the government has an authority it doesn't actually have is neither faithful nor loving. It doesn't demonstrate true love for those in authority. It doesn't demonstrate true love for our neighbor. It doesn't demonstrate true love for the church. It doesn't demonstrate true love primarily for the Lord Jesus Christ. The church, of all institutions, has this obligation: to call the government to its God-ordained duty.”

Here’s a link to the video one more time.