A Few Words on Kim Davis

I don't have much to add to the thousands of other voices that have been sounded in this issue. My particular favorites at this point have been the following:

Some Sober and Needful Thoughts on the Defiance of Clerks in Kentucky
by Matt Trewhella

Kim Davis and the call to all Christian officials
by Joel McDurmon

In Which I Paint With Some Bright Yellows
by Douglas Wilson

All I wish to do is to call attention to the false dichotomy being imposed in the chant: "Do your job or resign." For one thing, Kim Davis, by neglecting to issue marriage licenses to homosexual couples, is doing her job. The State of Kentucky Constitution reads thus:

Section 233A. Valid or recognized marriage - Legal status of unmarried individuals.
Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Kentucky. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized.
-Text as ratified on: November 2, 2004. 

Some will say that Obergefell overturned that. The problem of course is that Obergefell doesn't have any constitutional right to overturn that. That's correct, just because 5 individuals want to force their own political agenda onto all 50 states doesn't mean their opinion becomes constitutional or even the law of the land.

Of course, we've been trained to think that way - any of us who have gone to public schools at least (hmm..I wonder why?). However, there remains this thing called the 10th Amendment; and it's very important regarding how much jurisdiction the federal government, and even the supreme court, has. That's a lesson for another time. Suffice it to say, Kim is upholding the Kentucky constitution as it stands, just as her govenor and all other state magistrates should be doing.

However, even if we were to accept that Obergefell had the authority to change the law of the land for all 50 states, I would say that according to God's Word she is still doing her job.

God does not call us to follow any and every law of the land. Rather than chant with the rest of the unbelievers, "We have no king but Caesar," (Jn. 19:15), we are called to declare Jesus as our Lord and King (Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3; Rev. 1:5, 19:16), and called to follow Him rather than man (Acts 5:29).

What about Romans 13?

Well, what about it? What is "Caesar's" job? To enforce his own idea of justice, or "justice" as defined by 5 to 9 unelected officials? Of course not. The Scripture says that the civil servant is a minister of God, and is to enforce what God has declared to be justice (Rom. 13:4; cf. Deut. 16:18, 19, 32:4).

So if God's idea of justice clashes with the law of the land (again making the horrendous assumption that Obergefell has that kind of authority), what is the role of the civil servant? Shouldn't Kim just resign then?

What do we see in Scripture as our example when it comes to this?

Did Daniel resign as a public official when the decree went out to pray to no one but Darius? No! He opened his windows and publicly prayed to the Lord God. (Dan. 6:1-28).

Did the servants of King Saul resign as guardsmen when he ordered them to strike down the priests? No! They openly defied him, refusing to unlawfully put to death the priests of God, forcing Saul to find an Edomite to carry out his wicked plan (1 Sam. 22:6-19).

When it comes to civil servants, God is not looking for people to resign when the wickedness about them comes knocking at the door. It's precisely because civil servants give into the depravity of their surrounding culture and "frame injustice by statute" (Ps. 94:20) that God's curse comes onto a nation.

As Matt Trewhella observed:

Notice what the Lord says in Ezekiel 22:27-30:
“Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”

Kim Davis (and others) are attempting to stand in the gap. Their fealty to the Lord does not allow them to join the higher authorities in their rebellion against God...

Notice what the very next verse says when the evil was allowed to continue – Ezekiel 22:31:
“Therefore I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads,” says the Lord GOD.”

It's precisely at a time such as this that civil servants should not resign, but should stand in the gap between the citizenry and the wicked government and its wicked laws.

As Doug Wilson said, by not resigning, "Kim Davis is not just keeping herself from sinning, she is preventing Rowan County from sinning. That is part of her job."

Indeed, that is part of her job - at least according to God's calling. And so no, she should not resign, precisely because she truly is doing her job, just as God has called her.

May God grant the fortitude to all in similar positions to stand in the gap and do their jobs as well!