When It’s Time to Throw the Stool

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:10-13, ESV)

This year, I gifted Sam a rather unusual gift. It was a framed illustration I drew of a three-legged stool. Without context, it’s a little bit of a head-scratcher, so let me clue you in.

Recently, we heard a story from medieval church history. In 1625, King Charles I ascended to the British throne. Being of the Anglican church and a staunch believer that he had a divine right to rule the church as king, he was not a popular figure in Northern Scotland where the people were largely reformed protestant. Together with his archbishop, the king introduced a book of prayer throughout the kingdom that was much more in line with the Church of England. 

Most people saw this as an imposition of the government overreaching their power to control the church and override the sovereignty of the Gospel.. By the time this book of prayer made its way to Edinburgh, tensions were already running high. So in 1637, Jenny Geddes headed to church and listened as the Dean read from this book of prayer. Jenny was in no way distinctive. She worked in the marketplace. She was poor and ordinary. But as the Dean read the prayers from this book, and the Gospel she knew was challenged, she stood up, picked up the stool she was sitting in, and hurled it at the dean. 

Her act of righteous indignation was the spark that started riots in Edinburgh that led to an uprising that challenged King Charles’ ability to impose his religion on the Church in Scotland. 

Today, this story still rings true, reminding us that it is our individual responsibility as Christians to stand against any government, society, or body  that looks to usurp the sovereignty of the Lord and His Word.

Without going into too many details, Sam and I went through something similar this year; a moment where we had a choice to not make waves and go along with the majority or stand up against man-made agenda trying to override the clear word of God. To us, our choice was clear: we threw the stool and we paid a  price for it. But I know we would do it again. Because for us, it is more important to live and breathe our conviction to honor God and the way He’s asked us to live than it is to be financially well-off or socially stable. For us, it is more important that our daughter sees us walking in example by faith and standing up for the precepts He gives us in the Bible. It is far more important to honor God than to honor our comfortability or the empire man believes they are building.

And that’s not to say, “Look at me and my family! We are such good Christians because we chose the road less traveled! We chose Jesus over all else!” Because there were moments that I struggled deeply with the choice to throw our stool. What I am saying is that I think this coming year is going to be a big season in throwing stools and standing up for Christ where the world would like to see Him submissive to the workings of man.

On a global level, we face a war that is less about boundary lines and political power and more about heart-wrenching loss of life and what is God’s will. For Christians, we need to remember: the Gospel must be our standard and our guide above all else. No matter what other ideals we have and believe are non-negotiables; Christ must be supreme in our hearts. While we do pray for God’s will to be done in Israel and that civilian lives would be spared, we must also remember: Israel lives in blatant rejection of Christ. Christ came to reconcile Jew and Gentile under His work on the cross. After that, there is no distinction outside of following Jesus. He is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. No one can come to the Father outside of Him. There is no room for picking and choosing and there is no allowance for the Old Testament law that was nullified by the cross.

So while our hearts should certainly go out to Israel, we should also remember that God’s judgment is left for Him to deal with alone. We need to make sure that Christ is above all else in our hearts and that we don the whole armor of God in defending His Word. We need to make sure we know our Bibles deeply and we confront within our hearts any scripture that offends our nature. Flimsy faith will not cut it anymore. The Church will not survive where the Christians that fill its pews are silent and afraid to stand up when Jesus is being minimized in order to honor politics, society, or the local community.

On an individual level, we need to make sure that we are firm in what we believe. We need to make sure we are in community with other Christians who are doing the same. And we need to make sure that the integrity of the churches we serve in and the homes we keep is healthy and pure. When your job, school, community, brother, sister, significant other– whoever– demand something of us that does not line up with the Gospel or desiring God, we need to be quick to stand up and demand godliness.

If we don’t train ourselves in this now– if we don’t prepare our hearts through scripture and prayer to stand up and throw our proverbial stools– how will we be able to withstand evil schemes of the devil when they come to our town? And it is certain that they will in this year and the years to follow.

Our battle in the coming days is not over territory halfway across the world. It’s not simply waged in a ballot box or on the TV. It is a war that is as old as the fall, fought beyond where we can control, but we still have to be vigilant and firm in our faith to fight it. We have to be brave enough to confront evil and complacency when it presents itself. 

Throwing your stool won’t be easy, but God will always honor it. It takes integrity to do so and a faith that is unprepared and untempered won’t withstand those moments of testing.