Obedience to Man or Obedience to God?

“We must obey God rather than men.”

If punishment is around the corner, it is easier to obey. If there is a law, it is easier to command obedience. But what if there is neither punishment nor law to compel people to align their actions to what is morally and legally right? Rather, if faced with a situation where our conviction is challenged by the opinions of men or factual situations, how would we react?

There are three friends whose beliefs were challenged by the leader of the land, the king. Living in an era where there is a leader who can command whether they can live or die, their convictions were challenged when the king ordered all men to prostrate before his statue before his palace at the sound of a trumpet. Being officers of the court, there came a time when the trumpet sounded when the three friends were standing before the statue.

However, they chose to stand on what they believe in. Notwithstanding the fact that the announced penalty for disobedience was being burned inside a fiery furnace, they were ready to die for what they believe in. Enraged, the king, who saw the blunt disobedience of the three friends, ordered that the fiery furnace be heated seven times than its normal temperature. The friends were thrown there but they did not die. Instead, the king saw four people walking inside the fiery furnace and the fourth man looks like the “son of God.” He hurriedly called the friends to come out and explain what happened. In the end, they were promoted to high offices. Their disobedience to the king’s edict in order to obey the rules of their God catapulted them to positions of power.

Obedience to rules and regulations may result to either demotion or promotion. Generally, obedient workers do not experience punishments. Sometimes, they are promoted. Under a good type of leadership, this can help in the betterment of the operation of the office. But what if workers are placed under a bad type of leadership? Could their obedience lead to the betterment of the service they render or the oppression of the weak?

Often, disobedience to an order for the sake of standing for someone’s conviction can put someone to an uncomfortable situation; thus, only a few have the courage to obey their conviction and stand for what is right. Most just follow whatever is ordered without questioning or even looking at the morality or legality of the act. This is because it is easier to obey and avoid being put into hot water rather than stand for what is morally and legally right. But when will a system be fixed when everyone is just a Tom, Dick and Harry who have no bones to stand for what is right? Taking this in a wider scale, what will happen to a nation when all its people are crippled by fear to speak truth to power? (JBB, CRFV)