Is it Okay for Christians to Protest?
The Bible verse about submitting to authority.
Last Saturday, a woman I’ve never met who has never been to our church left a voicemail instructing me what I need to tell all of you: Christians should not engage in protests because the Bible says we are to submit to the authority of our leaders, because God put them in charge. Unsolicited advice. My favorite!
Always aiming to please, here you go. Yes, there are verses that sound like that. Romans 13:1-6 says to submit and not resist authority. Pay your taxes. Give authorities the respect and honor that is due to them.
Right now, that passage is being weaponized all over the place. It’s used to quiet dissent, shame resistance, and baptize whatever those in power happen to be doing.
And for faithful people, it creates real confusion. If we’re Christians… are we allowed to push back? Are protests faithful—or faithless?
That question matters. But before your anxiety goes up too much. Don’t worry. This sermon isn’t about the merits of any of the protests or policies of this administration, but to give you some perspective when you hear claims people are making about the Christian faith and the Bible. I come up with my sermon topics 6-12 months in advance.
Because if Romans 13 means what some say it means, then Moses should have stayed quiet. The prophets should have only spoken about spirituality. Jesus should have avoided Jerusalem. And the church should never have existed at all.
So this morning, we’re going to put that verse back where it belongs. And we’re going to ask a deeper question—not “Is protest allowed?” but “What does faithfulness look like when authority causes harm?”
Put it in context.
First, the passage is ripped from its context. Paul also says in Romans that God is a higher authority than human authority. Stability and order are good, but not if violence and injustice are their foundation.
Paul expected Jesus to return imminently and put the world right. So he argued that generally, folks shouldn’t rock the boat trying to change systems—Jesus will take care of it. He didn’t yet understand that Jesus comes back every day in the form of poor and marginalized people, and we are supposed to create systems that take care of them.
People citing this verse never mention that Paul himself constantly disobeyed civil authority. He was beaten, jailed, and ultimately executed for it.
- Jesus was crucified for not submitting to rulers.
- The disciples deliberately disobeyed orders to keep silent about the resurrection.
- Then there’s the midwives who refused to kill Hebrew babies,
- Moses demanding “Let my people go!”
- Daniel was praying despite a royal decree, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the state-mandated idol.
Using Romans 13 echoes the propaganda of Nazis, slave owners, and scores of two-bit dictators who claimed, “The Bible says submit. We are the authority. Therefore, whatever we do, God approves. Otherwise, God wouldn’t have put us in charge. So do not protest, do not resist—comply, or incur God’s holy wrath that we will execute.”
And let me be clear: these biblical principles transcend political parties and administrations. Whether leaders wear red or blue, call themselves conservative or progressive, our moral and patriotic obligation is to speak truth to power, and seek a more just and fair system remains constant.
Instead of focusing on weaponized verses taken out of context, it’s better to look at the whole sweep of the Biblical witness, where we find God’s favor for the oppressed, marginalized, immigrants, and poor.
Taking it to the streets in the Bible
The Bible gives countless examples of people rising up to demand justice. In the Old Testament:
- Large groups often marched to Jerusalem to protest.
- They protested at city gates and in the temple.
- They refused taxes and did work stoppages.
- Every Old Testament prophet lashed out at rulers and demanded justice for the vulnerable.
Then there’s Jesus, who shut down the Temple’s economy by turning over the money changers’ tables and orchestrated his Palm Sunday entrance on a humble donkey as a counterdemonstration to Rome’s exploitive military power.
Our moral obligation to resist evil.
So don’t tell me the Bible says it’s unchristian to protest. To the contrary. We have an obligation to work for a more just and peaceful world. Most of us vowed at baptism or confirmation to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves.
Being Christian isn’t about passivity. It’s about working for a better world.
Our reading from Amos is clear: God isn’t interested in worship that doesn’t translate into striving for justice. In fact, Amos says God despises such religion. You can sing all the pretty songs you want, but if that’s all it is, you’re missing the point of the whole thing!
When people are getting screwed over, when nations violate human rights and dignity, we are called to protest.
Remember. We are Protestants. You can’t spell Protestant without protest—it’s right there in the name.
Beyond marches: the long work of faithful resistance.
There are lots of ways to register your protest. We think of demonstrations and marches. They are effective. Bodies in the street tell the truth when words are ignored.
But not all of us are cut out for that or moved to join those, and that’s okay.
Resistance looks like refusing to normalize cruelty—in conversations, in jokes, in the language we allow at our dinner tables. It looks like truth-telling when lies are easier and silence feels safer.
Resistance looks like hospitality—opening our lives, our homes, and our church to people the world would rather erase. Every welcome is a rebuke to systems built on fear.
Resistance looks like economic choices: how we spend, where we give, who we support. Spending is spiritual.
Resistance looks like staying human—not letting anger harden into hatred, not letting fear turn neighbors into enemies. The powers of this world are very good at making us resemble what we oppose. Faith refuses that bargain.
Resistance looks like community—showing up, praying together, singing together, grieving together, remembering we are not alone. The church exists not to escape the world but to be re-formed for it.
And yes, sometimes resistance looks like marching. Sometimes letters, phone calls, court accompaniment, mutual aid, organizing, voting, or quiet acts of protection no one will ever applaud.
Faithful resistance is not one thing.
It is a way of life.
We are not called to be passive.
We are not called to submit to injustice.
We are called to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves—with our bodies, our voices, our resources, our relationships, and our hope.
We press on until we see justice roll down like waters. And righteousness like an everlasting stream.
We press
Steadily.
Relentlessly.
Faithfully.
Trusting that we shall overcome someday. Amen.