“Sphere sovereignty” is one characteristic of Kuyper’s theology that is emphasized by his heirs. Sphere sovereignty, the teaching that God has delegated authority to certain spheres with limitations, is the outworking and further clarification of the Reformation’s recovery of biblical principles concerning proper authority. The spheres emphasized are usually three: family, church, and government. But there is another (among others) that needs to be remembered: the individual. We, in America, have been plagued with an individualism that has distorted this sphere and, therefore, the other spheres needed to be emphasized. But the tides are turning in Western Culture, and we need to remind ourselves just what good thing was being perverted.
Individualism is a perversion of individual sphere sovereignty, the doctrine that the individual has God-given authority over himself before God and will be held personally accountable to God in the judgment. Taken to the extreme, men begin to do what is right in their own eyes thinking that they are accountable to no other mediate authorities in the world. No one can tell them what to do. This is a distortion of biblical truth, but it is a biblical truth that is being distorted.
When standing before the Diet of Worms in 1521, a few months after having been excommunicated, Martin Luther proclaimed that his conscience was bound by the Word of God, and to violate conscience is neither right nor safe. This individual responsibility and authority of conscience became a foundational principle in the Reformation, being enshrined in chapter 20 of the Westminster Confession of Faith and, eventually, made its way to the shores of America, becoming presuppositional to our Constitution. The Divines at Westminster confessed that “God alone is Lord of the conscience,” and that men are not bound to the implicit faith and blind obedience to the commandments of men that violate Scripture or that raise matters of indifference to the level of Scripture. Liberty of conscience is the freedom to live before God bound only to the boundaries God has placed on you. These boundaries include due obedience to lawful authorities in the family, church, and government, but all obedience is discerning obedience. Only God is owed implicit faith and absolute obedience. All other authorities, whether parents, pastors, or presidents, must be held in check by other authorities, including the individual conscience.
The individual’s conscience is not absolute any more than any of these other authorities are absolute. The individual conscience is held in check by the other authorities in his life. To make the individual conscience absolute is to idolize the individual; hence, individualism.
Between all the spheres of authority there is a necessary tension. This tension doesn’t need to be contentious. It can be friendly. But it is always holding the authorities accountable to our Ultimate Authority.
We need this tension to mature. This tension is an iron-sharpening-iron (Pr 27.17), keeping us thinking, evaluating everything in light of God’s Word, challenging us to conform our minds and ways of living to his standard. Where tyranny exists–“Shut up and obey!”–there can be no maturity, and, therefore, we are not allowed to grow up as God has called us to do and love God with all of our minds.
Your God-given authority as an individual is a responsibility before God. God doesn’t give responsibility where he does not also give authority. So, you have some authority as an individual, and he will hold you accountable for what you did with your authority. Paul says in Romans 14.12, “So then, each one of us will give an account of himself to God.” He says this in a context of dealing with “disputed matters,” matters of personal preference that some have elevated to matters of sin and righteousness in the life of the church. In these matters, neither side of the debate is to judge the other as being in or out of fellowship with God and, thus, with one another (Rom 14.3-4, 13a). Each person is to follow his own conscience in these disputed matters. If you believe it is a sin to eat this, don’t train your conscience to sin against God. Don’t eat it. (Because it is a “disputed matter,” mind your own business, and leave everyone else alone about it!)
Your conscience can’t be enslaved or bound as to what is sin and righteousness by non-Scriptural commandments. When other authorities in your life over-step their boundaries to require of you something that you believe is wrong or even unhelpful, you have the authority to say, “No,” and not be condemned before God. You have no control over the consequences that the earthly authorities will inflict, but they don’t determine your standing before God in these extra-Scriptural matters.
This brings us to the present situation with mandates pressing us from every side. There are, of course, questions about the legality of these mandates. We are governed by the principle that the law is king (Lex Rex). So, there are mechanisms in place to make laws. Mayors, governors, and presidents can’t make law by fiat (Rex Lex). Until that is changed (may it never be!), these declarations are not binding. (Yes, that means that you are not in violation of Romans 13 and can have a clean conscience before God.)
If, however, mandates to be vaccinated, for example, become law, you still have the authority before God to refuse the vaccine without disobeying God. If you are convinced before God that it is outside the boundaries of government to force medical procedures on you, then you must act in faith and refuse to take the vaccine. Whether or not you take the vaccine should be a personal choice, like what you eat for supper, what car you buy, or whether or not you are going to take ibuprofen for your headache. Get the information that you need to make an informed decision and do what you want. God gave you your body as a stewardship. You are responsible for what foods you eat, and medicine is nothing but a concentrated food. Let not the one who eats judge him who doesn’t, and let not the one who doesn’t judge the man who does. Do what you want and mind your own business.
With that said, your conscience is not lord so that all other spheres must necessarily bow before you. With personal responsibility comes the acceptance of the consequences of your decision. You must own your decision. If businesses decide not to let you in or hire you, you may use all lawful means to oppose those restrictions, but, in the end, it might be a consequence you have to accept. If you think it is a sin to take the vaccine, then you can’t sin before God. If you think it is just not helpful for you but not a sin, then you can weigh the costs against the benefits and decide.
Our liberty of conscience is a gift from God, a gift that he has allowed us to exercise in America in a way that other parts of the world have never experienced. Because we have not been good stewards of it, he may be taking it away. We don’t know that for sure. What we do know is that we should repent of where we have abused our liberty of conscience, return to being faithful stewards of it, and fight by all lawful means to keep it as a part of our culture.
