The Rev. Peter Luckey, Plymouth Congregational Church senior pastor: In the year 1859 here in Lawrence, this question must have laid on the Rev. Richard Cordley’s heart like a great weight. Rev. Cordley, Plymouth Church’s abolitionist preacher, spoke out against slavery often from the pulpit. But would he practice what he preached? A Plymouth member asked Cordley to take a runaway slave into his home. In his heart, the preacher knew this is what God would want.

But his head said, “I will be breaking the law.”

If Cordley were caught breaking the fugitive slave law, he could be sentenced to prison. Cordley took his chances and welcomed Lizzie, the runaway slave into his home.

I have often wondered what I would have done.

One hundred and thirty-five years later, I now occupy Cordley’s pulpit. I have not yet been faced between the choice of being true to my convictions and being sent to jail. And yet, every Sunday that I get up in that pulpit I feel the tension between the message of the gospel and the reality of my world.

I recognize that I have a dual allegiance: I am both a Christian pastor and a citizen of the United States.

As a citizen, I have a duty to abide by the laws of our land. If in situations where I believe they are not in accordance with God’s purposes, my first recourse should always be the tools of the ballot box, and persuasion. These are the avenues given to us in a democracy.

But there are numerous times throughout our history where Christian leaders have chosen to disobey the law in acts of civil disobedience. Notably, I think of Martin Luther King, Jr., who willingly defied Police Chief Bull Connor’s orders to end his 1963 protest in Birmingham, Ala. He did not resist arrest and spent the night in the Birmingham City jail.

Actions like King’s and Cordley’s require great courage, clarity of thought, and a sure faith.

There is no one–size-fits-all answer to the question of how a Christian, or a person of any faith, should act when the laws of the land are at odds with their conscience. But I do have a conviction about where, in any given situation, to find those answers: They come through prayer, the searching of Scripture and most of all, in and through the community of believers who trust God will reveal the right path.