Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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For a long time, until I learned the truth about Christianity, I marveled that years ago, when the Supreme Court made a ruling in which it ordered people to stop praying in public places and events, almost everyone stopped. Isn't that a strange thing, when you think about it?
However, Jesus solved the mystery for me when he helped me understand that Christianity is a religion like Islam or Buddhism, in that it is a part of human culture; it originated with man; it is led by man's wisdom; and it is controlled by man. That being so, when the justices on the US Supreme Court commanded men in this country to stop praying in public places, Christians dutifully stopped. By ceasing from prayer according to the Court's decree, Christians were merely acknowledging the fact that the Supreme Court of the US possesses authority over their religion.
The holy Ghost, on the other hand, is not subject to the rule of man. The children of God who are free in Christ Jesus pray only when the holy Ghost says to pray, and they stop praying only when the Spirit is finished. Human will, including human law, has no authority whatsoever over the holy Ghost, and never will. The will of man means nothing to the mind of the Spirit. Throughout my nearly twenty years of teaching in the Public School system, I always prayed in class and with the class when I was led to do so by the Spirit. This was done not in rebellion against anything; it was done only according to the will of God. There were, in fact, very many classes in which I did not pray because I felt no leading to do so. In 1978, when I began teaching, I felt that if I was fired for praying when the Spirit said to pray, then the school was unworthy of my presence, and unworthy of the presence of anyone led by the Spirit of God. I would have been content, not bitter or sarcastic, if asked to leave, as long as I knew I was pleasing God. After all, it would have been the school's loss, not mine. I simply would have taken it as a signal from God that I no longer belonged there.
There was never a problem for me with praying in that college situation, but there were problems for some others. In news reports, I would occasionally hear of someone being reprimanded or fired for praying in class or for talking about Jesus. Those news reports would anger some people, but not I. Why should we be angered when we see the world govern what belongs to it? If man's courts want to dictate to members of man's religions what men can and cannot do, what business is that of God's people? None at all. Stay out of man's business. Remember King Josiah.
If, as sometimes happens, man's courts attempt to intrude into the holy places of God and dictate to the Spirit what it can and cannot lead God's people to do, then we are not required by Jesus to submit to that commandment of men. We are to obey "every ordinance of man", as Peter told us. But that same apostle, when commanded by the Jewish high court to cease from preaching the gospel, humbly responded, "We ought to obey God rather than men."
So, the standard by which we are to live is to obey every law of the society in which we live (regardless of how foolish those laws may appear), up to the point at which those laws contradict the clear will of God. We are always to submit to "the higher power", as Paul said. That is all the thinking that we have to do concerning this issue. It is not a mind thing; it is a spirit thing.
There are laws in effect now in this country that seem very unwise, but that is none of the saints' business. As long as those laws do not contradict the will of God for the saints, they are to be obeyed. And at all times, even when governors of a nation or state trespass into the holy places of Christ, they are to be prayed for and respected, though not obeyed. They need the saints' prayers, compassion, and faith. After all, remember that you yourself could have been cursed by God to be in a position of authority in which you carry a gun, or hold the office of mayor, or senator, or congressman, or even (God forbid!) President, instead of being called into the precious kingdom of Christ. Be thankful and stay out of man's business, and ignore them when they meddle with ours.
Be like Jesus, who submitted to man's legal authority to kill him but refused man's claim of authority over what he should preach or when he should heal the sick.