On Apple vs. the Government

The government wants information from Apple and Apple refuses to provide that information. It would seem that most of us would naturally gravitate towards supporting Apple. After all, who wants "big brother" cracking into our precious devices? The very thought conjures up the Hunger Games society of President Snow.

Yet Apple is seemingly losing the court of public opinion on this matter. And if you break it down, it is not hard to determine why. We all desire two very core things in the society we live in. The first is basic safety and protection. Who knows how many were involved in this act of terrorism. The uncertainty of it and the fact that it came out of nowhere feeds our insecurities of basic safety. The second core societal issue is the need for justice. Justice has already been served for the main perpetrators - they were killed. But there are others out there and we demand a sense of justice. So in the end, we are willing to give up a potential right to privacy to advance these two basic needs.

The bible advances that same concept. A Christian is a "doulos" or slave. But he is not a slave because he has been compelled to be. He is a slave because he completely trusts the master and the master has shown himself worth to be trusted. The master holds the key to security and justice and God has shown in Christ perfect love and perfect justice. Therefore we rest in the arms of the master as a slave. God knows us so perfectly that this willing act is not for God but for us. The government as a human institution is not perfect like God and there certainly can be some distrust. But at the end of the day, the government advances our own interests of security and justice and that is a stronger basic need than privacy. How much more can we trust in God for these same basic human needs?