Courting Disaster

Dear Judge Hardaway:

My but it's a heavy load being a judge. Sure people have to stand up when you enter the room, but then you have to do that justice thing, figure out what the right thing to do is, and this in an age when right and wrong are a matter of personal preference. I know a little about the law, having spent six fun filled weeks at the University of San Francisco Law School before discovery proved it would have been a crime for me to continue. But in those six weeks I learned the first lesson of trial law, determining jurisdiction. I don't go to the Federal Appeals Court to hear my dispute with my neighbor over the property line. Nor do I seek redress for my troubles with you by petitioning a court in Tanzania.

I learned quite a bit about jurisdiction too when I became a judge. I was seeking to become a presbyter in the court of the Tennessee/Alabama presbytery of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church while living in Virginia. Some thought I was in the wrong building. But since the church I wanted to plant would be in Tennessee, after much wrangling I was sworn in.

Now my court and your court find themselves at odds. Here's what happened. An elder in a local church came to my court asking that it remove a pastor from his pulpit. So far so good in terms of jurisdiction. The court, however, ruled against the plaintiff, and went so far as to charge the plaintiff with willful failure to seek reconciliation with the pastor.

But it gets worse. Our constitution has in it a very specific section dealing with jurisdiction. Our King tells us in no uncertain terms that we may not seek redress in your courts when we have a dispute within our kingdom. The truth is that while we both have courts now, there is coming a day when we will be judging you. As such, we are forbidden to seek justice in your courts.

That's where you come in. The plaintiff then made a critical jurisdiction mistake. He came to you, and asked you to keep the court of his church from bringing charges against him and to make the court I belong to fire the pastor. So far you have granted the first request, and are undecided on the second. We've got a jurisdiction problem.

The court I belong to has as its constitution a rather lengthy document. This document needs to be lengthy because it covers all areas of life, and is, unlike any other such document, completely without error. We call it the Scripture. The court you belong to also has a constitution. You have a state constitution, and a federal constitution. The latter says that all the rights guaranteed in the latter cannot be taken by the states. One of those rights is the freedom of religion. You see where I'm going with this.

Our document says that those who refuse to repent of their sin, after a long and laborious process, must be brought before our bar. We don't issue fines, nor require incarceration or community service. The guilty are judged to be outside our Kingdom, and disbarred from our table. Not only may we do this with those in gross unrepentant sin, but we must. And you show up, without regard to jurisdiction, and require that this court not do what it must.

But it gets worse. Our constitution has in it a very specific section dealing with jurisdiction. Our king tells us in no uncertain terms that we may not seek redress in your courts when we have a dispute within our kingdom. The truth is that while we both have courts now, there is coming a day when we will be judging you. As such, we are forbidden to seek justice in your courts.

Now I ask you, do you think it wise for a court which will one day be judged by another court to judge the court that will judge it? Do you think it wise, when even your own rules forbid you from doing so? Do you think it wise when our court has the capacity to hand out everlasting life sentences with no possibility of parole? Your sword is no match for our keys.

And if eternal torment doesn't bother you, what will you do with your own Constitution? How can you justify breaking your own rules in enjoining us not to follow ours? Men have impeached for lesser crimes (granted that was a long time ago). If you want to turn the tables on us, and be prophetic at us, to warn us that our courts are acing unjustly, go right ahead. You may actually be right. Our courts rarely act without error, though we have that infallible constitution. Yell all you want, but leave your gavel at home. You have brought to bear the full force of law. You have, in effect, declared war against the kingdom of God.

Perhaps you have done so in ignorance. If so, let me enlighten you. You not only cannot win, but losing will be unpleasant. Here is what our law says will happen to those who do such a thing: Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, "Let us cast Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens shall laugh ... The Lord has said to Me, "You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel." Now therefore be wise, 0 Kings; Be instructed, you judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way..

Surrender, not only on the jurisdiction of the courts, but in the jurisdiction of your courts. Our King is a jealous King, and He will not be mocked.

In the King's Service,

R.C. Sproul Jr.