Group chat w/ keith

Preface: The majority of this is ripped right from a conversation I had with a few friends in our group chat (one of a few I’m in). This wasn’t intended as a blog, but in our discussion, we decided it should be. I am sharing these portions of our conversation with their permission, in the hopes that the conversation would continue with you, your friends, your group chats, and your timelines. Your Facebook friends will love it! Lol 

I wanted to ask about the scripture that states that God appoints leaders, because I think that’s the reasoning a lot of people use [to justify their support of the current President of the ‘United’ States].

Romans 13:1-7 | “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

The problem with the use of this scripture to justify supporting the 45th President is that it didn’t apply to the 44th President. He was the anti-Christ and they had to oppose him. But the 45th President wants to end abortion, so he must be from God 🙃

Truth is, they (those who use Romans 13:1 to justify supporting the 45th President) want white supremacy upheld. They will use any means to justify it. And they’re so used to white supremacy that whenever it is challenged, they think God’s will is being challenged. They celebrated the county clerk woman, years ago, who refused to do her job and issue marriage licenses to gay couples. They defended the bakery that refused to make a cake for a gay wedding. They defended Hobby Lobby when they refused to provide women the health care options that would have otherwise been available to them. 

What they fail to capture, in their narrow and self-serving interpretation, is that Pharaoh Ramses was an agent of God too. 

No one disputes that Pharaoh was evil. 

— ex post chat-cto —

A leader being used by God does not automatically make them good people.

How is that to be interpreted?

Very generally speaking: the Church should obey the law and not try to overthrow the government. Remember, when these letters were written, they weren’t divided into chapters and verses. What comes right before it is important (Romans 12:21). Here is another reference:

Proverbs 8:12-17 | “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power. By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just; by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth. I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.”

If you look through the Bible, at how God works, there are things He allows that He does not necessarily prefer…God established a succession of judges to rule over Israel and lead them, after they settled in Canaan. But the Israelites saw that the other nations had kings and they wanted to follow the other cultures. In 1 Samuel 8, Samuel (the last judge of Israel) tells God that the people are rejecting him as judge and want a king. 

God tells him… they aren’t rejecting you, they’re rejecting Me! …but give them a king anyway. They’ll wish they hadn’t asked for it, but since they insist… 💁🏽‍♂️

Saul was made Israel’s first king, but by chapter 15, God regrets making Saul king and has David anointed as the next king. God made Saul king, but also regretted doing so because he did not obey Him. 

Later, in 1 Samuel 24, we read that David has an opportunity to kill Saul (who had been trying to kill David). David chose not to because Saul was still God’s anointed king. David wasn’t going to lift his hand to kill the king that was trying to kill him. He didn’t have to like him to honor him as selected by God (even if God Himself was tired of him). 

When you consider the full biblical context, it doesn’t mean lick the leader’s boots. It means, do what is right, even if the leader does what is wrong. America is approaching her day of reckoning. The man serving as the 45th President has helped to usher this in. 

— ex post chat-cto —

We are seeing allegiance to an ideology more than we’re seeing allegiance to a person. This ideology is not Christianity. The person is merely a catalyst.

[Is that] because people are accepting this as Gods will and not standing up for injustice?

No, they are convincing themselves that it is God’s will, so they don’t have to do anything about it and white supremacy remains in tact. 

— ex post chat-cto —

There is a difference between accepting and convincing. Something has to be a reality in order to qualify for acceptance. 

When we receive salvation, we do so—in part—by accepting the truth of Jesus being the Son of God, the truth that His death atoned for our sins, and the truth that His resurrection affords us the opportunity for new life as well. 

In order for us to take something that isn’t true and esteem it and live it as truth, we have to make an exchange (see Romans 1:25). We cannot simply accept a lie as truth; we have to trade in the truth and convince ourselves that the lie is true. We have to dispose of truth to believe a lie. They cannot coexist. Where the truth is present, a lie cannot stand…so there has to be an exchange.

Let’s take the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma as an example. There once was a thriving community of Black people. It was destroyed; hundreds of people murdered, their bodies thrown in the river or buried in random graves. The 45th President decided to hold a rally in this city on the weekend which commemorates the two and a half years delayed freedom of a quarter million Black slaves in the state of Texas.

Now, we can call that decision racist, or we can exchange that truth for some other explanation. In order to believe racism was not a motivation for this convenient alignment of facts, you have to dismiss the facts as irrelevant—somehow make them not true or not as true as others might have you believe. 

The same goes for the shameless use of Romans 13:1 to justify supporting a person whose words and actions only align with the truth of God’s Word like a broken clock aligns with the correct time of day. This, especially, when the same deference is not given to all leaders. An exchange has to be made. 

Fortunately, each moment of every day offers us another chance to trade our lies back in and walk in alignment with The Truth. That’s where real freedom is found anyway: in the knowledge of the Truth (see John 8:31-32).

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Keith Goosby II is the founding minister of NET Church. He has served in ministry for over 20 years, in various capacities–including music, social media management, teaching, preaching, consulting, and leadership. Keith’s first church experience as a child was a home church. Since then, he has attended and served at churches sizing from just a few to over 10,000–of various denominations and affiliations. As NET Church is being planted, Keith continues to serve at his Dallas home church, Golden Gate MBC, in Dallas, TX, under the leadership of Minister Vincent T. Parker. Keith is married and currently lives in the Dallas area with his wife and three sons.

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