“John Bunyan spent a number of years in jail, and it was not for preaching the gospel, as is commonly supposed. He was there for preaching the gospel 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦. A lot of modern Christians, far more cooperative than they ought to be, will immediately wonder

why Bunyan didn’t hie himself down to the Department of Preaching Licenses, and stand in line like a good boy. The answer has to do with the nature of lawful authority. How do jurisdictions work? Now the issue I am raising does not have to do with whether or not Bunyan made the

right call. My point is that he lived in a time when men had to make such calls regularly, and they knew what the issues were when they did so. We are not so fortunate. We tend to assume that if the existing authorities tell us to do anything short of swearing an oath to worship

Satan, then we have to do it. This does not exhibit a mature theology of resistance. Certain truths lie right on the surface of the Bible, and this is why true Christians generally do well in times of overt persecution. When they are commanded to bow down to an idol, they know

that Daniel’s three friends refused to do so (Dan. 3:16). When they are commanded to stop spreading the gospel, they know that this was the point where the apostles refused to cooperate (Acts 5:29). Where Christians don’t do as well is when times are relatively peaceful, and they

are asked to do something that seems relatively minor, but which surrenders the jurisdictional principle. Another way of saying this is that Christians do better when the trap has sprung than they do in refusing to take the bait.”
- You Know Who