Its
laws will never be just or rightly motivated. It doesn't seek to redeem. It can't
change men's hearts. It seeks power and security as a means for that power to
grow. Its goals and means are totally different and they are incompatible with
Christian ethics. It will always be corrupt. Would we expect any different? Politics
is simply the struggle for power and control...the quest to capture the state.
But somehow having something to restrain is better than nothing at all.
If
our societies really were Christian and redeemed we would have people loving
their neighbours, placing others first and rejecting power either through
direct violence or the acquisition of capital. People wouldn't be profiting on
the suffering of others or taking advantage of the gullible. We wouldn't need
more laws, we would require far less. When Christians attempt to impose the
Covenant through the state it always results in a counterfeit covenant,
violence and ultimately a reaction. The end result is far worse. Look at New
England, Holland, or even Britain. Christianity wedded to culture and power is
finally exposed as the counterfeit cancer that it always was. These are lands
where the false Gospel has contaminated the very soil and the Truth is almost
universally rejected.
Though
it seems implausible if not impossible to those alive now, but the day is
coming that the American Bible Belt will become like these places and grow very
hostile to any form of Christianity. The seeds have already been sown. If you
try and preach the True Gospel (not the American one) in these lands you'll be
categorically rejected. And the pendulum of pagan backlash has already started
to swing. There's a strong counter-culture in the South and its growing.
If
this world is all there is, who can blame those who seek after 'that kingdom'
with all their being? But for us, we who are redeemed...we know better and we
would never waste our time trying to somehow redeem an institution that (in the
end) is really the antithesis of Christ's Kingdom. Violence cannot build the
Kingdom of God unless it is Christ Himself bearing the Righteous Sword of Judgment.
And that isn't building up....that's purging and removing the curse.
That's
not our task and we are quite incapable of doing it.
The
people of the Old Covenant did this or at least were symbolic of the principle.
They were a picture, a historical lesson, a living parable of what was to come.
In them they depicted the coming Christ, the Seed of Eve who was both Redeemer
and Judge.
But
now He has come and all has been accomplished. But even as all was finished,
everything was paused... our longsuffering Lord delayed the Judgment, just as
he did for Adam and Eve on the day of the Fall.
There's
time, but it's short.
Why
would we waste our time trying to redeem the Babel's and Babylon's, the
Assyria's and Rome's of this world? They will all burn.
Only
those who cannot see the Kingdom of God would waste their efforts in such
futility. We must cry out to them, help them see the folly of their project and
how it has blinded their minds and deceived their hearts. Many of these poor
souls actually believe they are serving Christ by wielding the sword of state
violence. They actually think they can tend the garden, make disciples by
threat and death.
Today
we are surrounded by Christians who like Perchik have politicized everything.
Everything from history, the news, even the weather is subject to political
manipulation. Everything is a political question because the prize is the
world. There is no facet that they don't seek to dominate.
Some
do this thinking they serve Christ but they have fatally misunderstood the
nature of His Kingdom. It's not built through coercion and threat by worldly
powers. It is proclaimed through the foolishness of preaching. It is not the
strong overcoming everyone else. It is the weak 'winning', not by overcoming
the strong in terms of power. It is the weak winning by defying the violence of
the strong.
We
win by losing. The world cannot understand the wisdom of God. It is foolishness
to them. And many professing Christians have rejected God's wisdom and with the
world denounce it as defeatism and folly.
The
world cannot understand that we despise even our lives for the riches and more
importantly the Truth that Christ brings to this world.
All
that they have to offer, the kingdoms of this world and all power are nothing
to us. We (like our master) despise it.
The
'Church' today and throughout most of history has (unlike Christ) said...yes,
we want it. We must have it. And we do it to the glory of God.
Others
have treaded that path. There was a man named Saul who was king of Israel...
We
stand for the truth and the goodness of the Kingdom. And so in our twisted and
degenerate culture we must certainly be unambiguous about morality and our
thinking in the realm of ethics must be absolutely clear.
We
need to know what is right, good and true and we need to speak about these
things both boldly and with wisdom.
But
there's a tremendous difference between standing for what's right, and acting
accordingly, versus doing the same but with a goal of acquiring power. The
actions may seem similar but the motivations are very different.
Are
we demonstrating the love of Christ and standing for the truth or are we going
through motions with an ultimate goal of defeating our enemies?
Sure
in one sense when a soul is persuaded by the truth that is a defeat for our
adversaries. But, are we seeking 'political' power? Are we seeking victories so
that we can get laws changed, capture political office and use the power of law
(which is the threat of violence) to force others to behave as we would wish?
Someone
will say, 'It's for their good.' Where are we told in the New Testament to use
this method to convert others and make them disciples? How can we make
disciples if we're throwing people into prison and executing them? How can we
make disciples if our Gospel comes not just with the threat of Eternal
Judgment, which only a Spirit-born person will understand...but also with the
threat of political violence? If we target people and punish them due to
deviations from our Redemptive and Covenantal moral code, not only are we
expecting the impossible from them, we're destroying the people we're trying to
reach with Good News.
They
will not appreciate their police, judges and prison guards sharing the good
news with them at the point of a gun.
Regardless
none of these outward manipulations can do a thing to the heart which is all
that matters in the end.
Everything
for us must be viewed through the lens of Scripture. We're Christians at all
times and in all places. And that means in this world there are simply many
things that we're not going to chase after. There are many things we're not
overly interested in. We watch and warn. We proclaim and witness but we don't
join in the world's projects, we don't share their visions or goals.
There
are many things that we just leave to the Lost. Let them build their cities and
their social systems. Let them conjure up their silly flawed ideas and attempts
to fix a sin-cursed world. We don't come offering economic or political
solutions. There are none. They all rest on a flawed notion of man and the
world. No matter the system, depraved men will find a way to subvert it and use
it to harm others.
Why?
All social systems rest (in the end) in some form of power and coercion. They
must in order to be maintained. If you reject this then your ideas don't matter
anyway, because it won't take five minutes and someone will use violence to
overthrow your system and establish their own model in its place...one that
favours them. That's life in a fallen world.
We're
selfish creatures. In our flesh, we seek our own. We lust for power and take
pride in it. Power comes in many forms. We can exercise power over others in
terms of the law but also in terms of relationships.
Continue Reading Part 3
Continue Reading Part 3