For those who were cut off from the outside world this past month, the culture war erupted in a fury following the jailing of Kim Davis, a Kentucky clerk who refused to give marriage licenses on the grounds that granting them to gay couples violated her personal faith. Predictably, the LGBT community heaped contempt on her.

However, people of faith seem divided on her actions. Some, like Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, claim that she did the right thing and that she is proof that Christians are being persecuted. Others claim that she should have done her job or resigned.

So was Kim Davis in the right?

To answer this question we must approach the issue from two angles: the authority of government and the duty of the Christian in the face of unjust orders.

In Romans 13:1, Paul says that there is no authority except God. It is for this reason that we are to be “subject to the governing authorities,” as God put them there to praise men who do right and punish men who do wrong (Rom. 13:1-3).

The only time God permits civil disobedience to a governmental order is if there is a direct command to individuals that is contrary to what God has plainly and contextually decreed (Acts 5:29).

Read the article “A Millennial’s Take on Godly Civil Disobedience” on juicyecumenism.com.