On Sunday, February 22, I preached on Submission to Authority from 1 Peter 2:13–17. In the sermon I stressed the point that when it comes to texts such as these, where submitting to ungodly authority is mentioned, the examples preached are often too theoretical, philosophical, and hypothetical to be practical. So using The City (our online social networking tool), I asked the people of Mars Hill Church to give me their own personal stories about submitting to authority. I pulled some of the best stories and shared them in this week's sermon. The voices of these women added a tremendous element to the sermon and I am deeply grateful for their willingness to share. I will also share other similar testimonies in future sermons in the Trial series in order to enrich our understanding of what Peter is saying. Following Sunday's sermon, a number of people asked for copies of the testimonies that I read in the services, and so I am posting them for their benefit. The big idea is that when we think of suffering and persecution, it is most common to hear amazing stories of martyrs who died for their faith. But Peter is writing to people who were not yet dying for their faith, but living with constant misrepresentation, slander, and malice. Indeed, sometimes it is just as tough to live for Christ as it is to die for him, as the following testimonies indicate.
Testimony #1: Submitting to Authority
Ellen: I’m the half-breed child of a strong Christian mother and Jesus-hating Jewish father. Dad allowed mom to bring me to church. He was OK with the religion, as long as Jesus wasn’t brought up too much.
I was 10 when I felt God calling me to give my heart to him. I still remember sleepless nights, my burning heart: conviction. Finally, in the car on the way to pick up my dad from work, I turned to my mom and told her I need to pray. She pulled the car over, and there, in the front seat of our ‘67 Mustang, I gave my life to Christ.
When we got to my dad’s office, I rushed in and, as he came toward me in welcome, I excitedly announced, "Dad, I’ve given my heart to Jesus!" His face turned stone cold. Without a word, he turned on his heels and walked toward the back of his office.
From then on, things got worse for mom and I. As the years advanced, I came to understand that, while my dad loved me, he hated Jesus Christ and hated the "hold" Christianity had on me. Dad tried everything he could to prevent me from pursuing my "religion." He began to put restrictions on when and if mom and I could go to church. It was rough. We felt isolated.
I remember once, when I was about 14, trying to explain to my dad about Jesus, an attempt to bridge the chasm that separated us. He got up and walked away from me. I followed, tearfully asking him why he wouldn’t talk to me about it. He whirled around toward me, face red, and said, "Don’t ever talk to me about him again, kid."
My dad’s ultimate attempt at preventing me from following Jesus came the summer before my senior year in high school. I had been away for a week at summer camp. I came home to find that dad had unexpectedly sold my car (the same ’67 Mustang in which I had given my heart to Christ). He sat me down and told me how things would be for the next year: he forbade me from going to church.
I chose to obey my dad, knowing that my every move was being judged by him as he tested my convictions. It was one of the toughest things I’ve ever faced. No fellowship (except my mom—who was still allowed to go to church).
Dad’s life continued on a bitter, selfish path. He eventually pushed away my mom’s love, divorcing her, and he remained distant from me. He died a lonely death, about seven years ago, with only a handful of people attending his funeral.
God has been my true father, meeting my needs when my earthly dad turned his back; Jesus has been my Lord, brother, friend; and the Holy Spirit is my comforter and counselor. We’ve been through a lot together. God has loved me, chastened me, taught me. He has blessed me with a husband who loves him and loves me and the four amazing kids he’s given us.
Testimony #2: Submitting Ultimately to God’s Authority
Tami: I grew up in extreme poverty and was abused in multiple ways, from incest at the hands of my biological father to constant emotional and sometimes physical abuse from my stepfather. At a very young age I knew I wanted a different life, I just thought education was the only way out. When I met Jesus at 16, I knew that he offered the hope that merely "bettering" myself did not.
As a result of my "daddy issues," if you will, I was desperate for a boyfriend. I just knew that a boyfriend would love me unconditionally and make me feel whole, complete, worthy. I was always boy crazy, but in an odd way--I always had a major crush on one guy, and I’d carry it for five or six years before giving up hope that he’d fall for me and finally moving on. Honestly, I think the Lord was protecting me because I know that I would have just given myself physically to any guy who showed the slightest acceptance.
This all becomes relevant because my parents knew how much I longed for a boyfriend. When I met Jesus, however, I became swept up in the whole "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" business of the late-90’s. I came home from a Christian concert and told my parents (mother and stepfather; bio father was in prison and not a part of my life) that I was going to not only be a virgin until marriage but that I wasn’t going to date around, that I was going to seek God and wait for the man he would have me marry.
My parents were livid. I have never seen them so p***** in my entire life. My mom started grilling me--did that mean if a guy friend wanted to have coffee I’d say no, because it was a date? Could I never study with a guy? In college would I only hang out with girls and then how could I ever meet someone? What if I never spent time with guys and everyone thought I was a lesbian?
They actually yelled at me that I needed to sleep with at least--at least--four different guys, including the guy I married, to make sure he was good in bed, and I could only know that by sleeping with other guys to compare him to. Remember, I was only 16!
Testimony #3: Serving Chatty, Ignorant Fools
Maxine: The worst I ever experienced was at my daughter's memorial service. My brother ridiculed our pastor's sermon by telling everyone who would listen that he was waiting for someone to pass out the Kool Aid. Emily: I am an undergraduate at the UW. Recently in one of my classes I met a girl who for some reason put a fair amount of effort into pursuing me as a friend. In response to her suggestion, we got together to watch a movie.
Instead of watching the movie, however, we got into a rather long theological conversation (beginning with her asking me the question: "Is Mars Hill one of those churches where they believe that people who aren’t Christians are going to Hell?").
The next day I received a livid email from her in which she stated (direct quote), "I think it would be child abuse to bring a kid to Mars Hill." Later during class discussions she would bring up Christianity and criticize it. She also made more personal comments such as, "It is amazing to me how many ‘Bible-school-believing fundamentalist Christians’ could be in an Honors class." Deborah: Here are some ways I’ve been mocked recently: "Are you crazy? Keep your day job and don’t be a stay at home mom! How can you trust that your husband will always be there for you? Don’t leave this company! Don’t you know that this is a good company to work for? Keep your day job because you don’t know if your husband will always be there for you and your kids"
And, "Wow, you have a really good singing voice. If you sang other songs besides those Christian ones maybe you could make it big time. I’m sure a lot of people would like to listen to you if you sang something else besides that Christian stuff. I think Christian music is lame. You're wasting your time singing for those kids at Mars Hill."
..."Why do you get up so early? To pray? You must be out of your mind!"
..."What’s that you’re reading? The Bible? Don’t you know that is full of nonsense!"
..."You are not allowed to put up your ‘Merry Christmas’ sign. People might be offended here at work."
..."What? You haven’t moved in with your fiance yet? Wow--you’re going to do it all at once: get married, and then move? Why don’t you move in together now so that you don’t have to do it after the honeymoon? You’re getting married so quickly! Don’t you think that is a bad idea? You haven’t lived with him yet and maybe he’s not your type!" Nicole: Ever since my husband and I felt called by God for me to stay at home with our child, everyone, even our Christian family, has had nothing good to say about it! It is pretty sad, especially when we tell them that this is something we feel God wants us to do and know that it is right.
All we get is that I am "wasting" my talents on staying at home. We know that it is best and that God wants this for us and we have never been happier! We rarely argue, and things just go so much smoother than when I worked. Our daughter is blossoming so much more, and we have more than enough to live on, even when we thought it wouldn’t work.
I can see the fruit in our lives when we do what God wants us to do, and hopefully this will be an example to all of our family who think we are crazy! Heather: I’m not sure about sharing this, but here goes. Until almost a year ago I lived in the world and lived hard. My background included everything from abuse, being victimized, promiscuous, drugs, Wicca and New Age practices and beliefs, single motherhood, etc. Top all this off with the fact that I am seriously (I mean hospitalized) seriously bipolar. I was not a pretty picture.
I’ve worked and lived in my community for over ten years now. My friends, coworkers, and family knew me and knew what I was. I proved a source of endless entertainment and worry for them all. Almost a year ago at Mars Hill Olympia, I found Jesus--no, he found me. I got saved. And Jesus transformed me!
I mean within two weeks I wasn’t using any substances (not even cigs, which I had smoked over two packs a day for twenty-four years), I quit my bad relationship of over ten years…and all this with no urges to go back! I jumped into my new journey with Jesus leading me onward. I am crying as I write this…my gift appears to be crying.
Everyone I called a friend or a social acquaintance turned on me. At work I was openly jeered at, tempted--people kept betting when I’d go back to who I was, "C’mon have a ciggarette. Get laid. Too good now for us?" etc. It was sooo horrible! My family…loved that I was clean but was not fond of how I got here...Thank you Pastor Mark for bringing Mars Hill to our area…It literally saved my life.
Testimony #4: Striving to be like Jesus
Diane: In August 2007, I went on a family outing. Most of my brothers and sisters (not Christians) were there. Over the weekend, everyone was drinking excessively and attacking me for my faith, saying I was the "religious one" because I did not join in.
My sister-in-law, with whom I had spent a lot of time building a relationship and sharing my faith with, said to me, "Now Jesus, that’s a hoax if I’ve ever heard of one. Dying on the Cross and coming back to life? As if that could ever happen."
When I got home I was devastated for how I was treated by my family. I shared with my community group what had happened and they prayed for my family to be saved. Then on April 29, 2008, I got a phone call from my brother. His eighteen-month-old son had fallen into their above ground swimming pool and the doctors at Mason County Hospital didn’t think he was going to make it.
The boy was airlifted to Children's Hospital in Seattle where he lived for about 24 hours; he had been without oxygen for too long and they couldn’t save him.
The first thing my brother had asked of me when he called was for me to start praying. At the hospital, several people from different religions showed up, including Christians, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and New Age whatevers.
I called Mars Hill and Pastor Steve Tompkins was there with us at the end. My brother and sister-in-law said they felt the most supported by Pastor Steve and me. Praise Jesus they have seen through all of the lies of false religion and found the truth in Jesus. They now attend an Assembly of God church, and are growing faster spiritually then I’ve ever seen two people grow.
Praise Jesus, even through pain and persecuting he works miracles!
To hear Pastor Mark read and discuss these testimonies, check out the Submission to Authority sermon.
