Mtr Kelli Joyce

“Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority.’”

Dear Friends in Christ,

The law that binds the Christian is the law of love. Love, as many of you have heard me say in the past, is “to vulnerably extend oneself in order to provide for and protect the beloved.” This is our mandate, and it is absolute and overriding. It applies not only to our family and loved ones, not only to people who look like us and think like us, not only to people who are good or deserving, but to everyone.

There are other laws that would seek to claim authority over us and our lives. The law of reasonability. The law of safety. The law of success. And, yes, even the law of the land. These different laws don’t always contradict each other. Prohibitions on murder, or on reckless driving, or on the sale of dangerous products - these rules uphold the law of the land, the law of safety, and the law of love.

The question becomes, which law will we defer to when there *is* a conflict? The vulnerability that love requires can quickly contradict the law of safety and reasonability. Love’s self-giving solely for the sake of the other does little to ensure that the law of success is met. And when our neighbors are caught in the gears of a profoundly unjust structure we call a “justice system,” the demands of the law of love may not align with the demands of the law of the land.

When Peter and the other apostles were arrested - on charges, mind you, of which they were entirely guilty - their answer was clear. “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” We love because God first loved us. We are called to love God first, before every other power and authority, and we are called to love every one of our neighbors as ourselves.

Which laws will you follow?

Mtr Kelli