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Trust, Loyalty and Authority
In Light of Scripture as well as Secular and Church History

by A. W. Tozer

We have been asked, “Is a grass roots rebellion scriptural?” This line of thinking is similar to other comments we’ve heard such as “Shouldn’t we trust our leaders?” and “Aren’t we supposed to be submissive to those in authority over us?” These seem to be questions that arise concerning a loss of unity in the church.

Regarding the larger issue of unity, A.W. Tozer said the following (from page 71, “The Best of A.W. Tozer”): When should we unite and when should we divide? Some settle this problem by the rule of thumb: All union is good and all division is bad. But, obviously this effortless way of dealing with the matter ignores the lessons of history. If good men were all for union and bad men for division, that would simplify things for us. Or if it could be shown that God always unites and the devil always divides it would be easy to find our way around in a confusing world. But that is not how things are.

To divide what should be divided and unite what should be united is the part of wisdom. Union of dissimilar elements is never good…nor is the arbitrary division of elements that are alike.

…The first divider was God who at the creation divided the light from the darkness…Light and darkness are incompatible; to try to have both in the same place at once is to try the impossible and end by having neither the one nor the other, but dimness rather, and obscurity.

…For the church…what shall we unite with and from what shall we separate? The question of coexistence does not enter here, but the question of union and fellowship does. The wheat grows in the same field with the tares, but shall the two cross-pollinate? The sheep graze near the goats, but shall they seek to interbreed? The unjust and the just enjoy the same rain and sunshine, but shall they forget their deep moral differences and intermarry?

To these questions the popular answer is yes. Union for union’s sake, and men shall brothers be for all that. Unity is so devoutly to be desired that no price tag is too high to pay for it and nothing is important enough to keep us apart. Truth is slain to provide a feast to celebrate the marriage of heaven and hell, and all to support a concept of unity which has no basis in the Word of God.

…Unity is no treasure to be purchased at the price of compromise. Loyalty to God, faithfulness to truth and the preservation of a good conscience are jewels more precious than gold…For these jewels, men have suffered the loss of property, imprisonment and even death; for them,…these followers of Christ have paid the last full measure of devotion….Surely such as these are wiser philosophers than the religious camp followers of meaningless unity who have not the courage to stand against current vogues and who bleat for brotherhood only because it happens to be for the time popular.

“Divide and conquer” is the cynical slogan of Machiavellian political leaders, but Satan knows also how to unite and conquer. To bring a nation to its knees the aspiring dictator must unite it. By repeated appeals to national pride or to the need to avenge some past or present wrong, the demagogue succeeds in uniting the populace behind him. It is easy after that to take control of the military and to beat the legislature into submission. Thus follows almost perfect unity indeed, but it is the unity of the stockyards and the concentration camp. We have seen this happen several times in this century and the world will see it at least once more when the nations of the earth are united under Antichrist.

When confused sheep start over a cliff the individual sheep can save himself only by separating from the flock. Perfect unity at such a time can only mean total destruction for all. The wise sheep to save his own hide disaffiliates. Power lies in the union of things similar and the division of things dissimilar. Maybe what we need in religious circles today is not more union but some wise and courageous division. Everyone desire peace but it could be that revival will follow the sword.

Tozer articulately reminds us that unity for unity’s sake is not a worthy goal. Yet there are many other reminders as well. Among these are secular and church history and above all, the Bible. Unity achieved by ignorant trust, unquestioning loyalty or blind submission to authority has historically met with slavery and destruction.

Secular history: Henry VIII, George III, Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Saddam Hussein are a partial, infamous list of historical figures that demanded unquestioning loyalty. Henry VIII murdered his own wife while the leaders of his court and church looked the other way. They trusted their leader and were loyal to him. Puritans, persecuted for not following Henry VIII’s Church of England tenets, fled to America. George III required American colonists to pay taxes without being represented in his court. They enjoyed the “privilege” of being part of the British family, but had no say in its conduct. America, its Declaration of Independence and Constitution were all born out of a uprising against religious and political persecution from the ultimate authority figures of that day.

CHURCH HISTORY: Matthew 23:27 and 33. Here Jesus tells the religious authorities of His day that they are “whited sepulchers” and a “generation of vipers.” Both of these were spoken to the Scribes and Pharisees as Jesus spoke “to the multitudes” (verse 1). Hundreds of innocent people were burned at the stake for questioning the authority and practices of the Catholic Church during the Spanish Inquisition. The Protestant Reformation was started by Martin Luther. Luther wanted to reform the non-scriptural practices of the Catholic Church: penances, works-oriented salvation, praying to Mary instead of our Mediator (read about his 99 theses). The very word used to describe our branch of Christendom, Protestant, means “one who protests.” The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth because they refused to bow to the intimidation from authorities in the Church of England. Finally, one common thread that all cults have is that the members do not question the leader. This unquestioning loyalty led to the infamous Jonestown cult’s suicide massacre and the suicidal, cult cremation at Waco, Texas.

THE BIBLE: Jeremiah 5 says “Cursed be the man that trusts in man.” Acts 5 says that we “ought to obey God rather than man.” For the Assemblies of God to get rid of its last bible college of national significance is wrong. Who will stand up against it? Or will we look the other way? What if Peter and the apostles “looked the other way” and quit preaching the Gospel to us Gentiles? To cloak the misdeeds of church authority figures in Christian-sounding terms of being loyal, trusting or being submissive to authority is just like the wife who knows her husband is molesting her children but she looks the other way because the Bible says he is the head of the household.

Acts 5:17-42. Verses 27-29: “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying “Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Verses 38-42: “and now I (Gamaliel, a doctor of the law) say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: BUT if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commended that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they CEASED NOT to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

Jeremiah 17:5 and 7: “Thus saith the LORD: Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD….Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river…”

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