On numerous occasions in conversation and from the pulpit I have heard Christians appealing to the example of Doug Wilson and his followers in Moscow, Idaho. Inspired by their resistance to 'Covid Tyranny' in the fall of 2020, this group is being held up as an example of courage and Christian conduct.
Little do these Wilson fans realize, what they deem
inspiration is in fact a source of shame, and rather than call attention to an
example of heroism and Christian fortitude, they in fact trumpet their own lack of
discernment.
Far from working with their hands and quietly minding their
own business as the Scriptures enjoin, the Moscow-Wilson group was engaged in
political action. Their deeds and conduct were not an expression of the gospel
and its call to cross-bearing, nor were they being persecuted.
I was reminded of this recently when hearing a pastor pray
for kings and all who are in authority – and he then proceeded to ignore the
rest of the verse and the parts about leading a quiet and peaceable life in all
godliness and honesty. Rather, he launched into a prayer that was little more
than a Theonomic screed, a wish-list for cultural and political transformation.
Not only did he ignore Paul's direct words which informed the nature of the
prayer, he certainly ignored the many dire warnings (found later in 1 Timothy)
dealing with those who seek power, seek to manipulate the social order, and are
in the process deceived by the snares of mammon and the foolishness of thinking
godliness is gain. Clearly this pastor I refer to is cut from the same cloth as
the Wilson faction.
In Wilson's case, they were simply breaking the law. This was
not a presentation of the gospel but an act of politically motivated defiance.
If the state tells you to stay in your house for public safety or otherwise, or
even to wear a mask (which has significant historical precedent) then doing so
is not a sin – rights are not on the table in the New Testament. And Paul
living under Nero was not worried about whether or not imperial edicts
constituted tyranny. We're called to obedience, not to challenge the powers
that be which are ordained by God – something that is believed by today's
Evangelicals only when it is convenient and pleasing to them.
Now the Church is commanded to assemble, but the basis for
doing so is not a social or civil right. It's something we do, something we are
and we do it even if the consequence is persecution. We don't ask permission
and do not care whether or not the state sanctions what we do. With Covid, as
with other examples in history, some wisdom is required and there are other
considerations regarding testimony vis-à-vis the world, love of neighbour, and
so forth.
The New Testament model and that of the faithful throughout
Church history was to meet in homes or even in caves and in the woods. When the
Church intertwines itself with society and becomes an institution registered
with the state, and as a corporation pulls building permits and takes out loans
and insurance policies – then it (like it or not) has granted a certain degree
of authority to the state. It's no surprise then that the state is granted a
say (on paper, in mind, and in practice) on what constitutes a 'legitimate'
church or a legitimate church officer eligible to teach or claim exemptions.
Also a Church at peace with the social order loses its
pilgrim status and its antithesis. It becomes established, invested, secure and
wealthy and the concerns of such individuals (and thus churches) begin to
expand. Values change and become confused. Middle Class life and expectation
(antithetical to the New Testament) become sanctified and virtuous. The quest
for money and its protection and the standing and access it grants leads
Christians to become involved in questions of law, tax, regulation, markets and
so forth – which then eventually expands to questions of trans-national trade
and geopolitics and ultimately nationalism and war. It's a slippery slope
indeed and by the time it's done the Church has utterly lost its way and is no
longer recognizable as the Church of the New Testament.
Error is piled upon error and it clouds judgment as the
Church is pulled into the political contest and forms alliances with the
various factions in play. The New Testament is left behind and the
aforementioned considerations regarding testimony to the world and the call to
love neighbour are abandoned.
And these were not even on the table for the Wilson faction
as they sought to politicise their worship – which is appropriate I suppose as
their understanding of the Kingdom is completely earthbound and quantified in
terms of cultural capital. As such Kingdom pursuits are reduced (practically)
to political angling and chasing Caesar's coin. Dogs will be dogs after all.
They were breaking the law as an act of political defiance
and were putting people at risk for infection. And indeed due to Wilson and his
wider circle of influence as well as the likes of other corrupt leaders like John
MacArthur, people did in fact die. These Christ haters, these wolves in sheep's
clothing have blood on their hands.
Was this for worship – wisdom applied to worship taking steps
to mitigate the spread of the disease which has thus far killed at least 1.2
million Americans? No, this was a stunt and a shameful one at that – the same
kind of stunt that angers Right-wing people when it is performed by activists
on the Left over issues of race and social justice.
Wasn't that what the Wilson faction was calling for – social
justice? Do not their factions engage in their own versions of 'cancel
culture'? These people are schizophrenic in practice as many have fallen into a
chimerical ideology – one that hopes to meld libertarianism with authoritarian
Theonomy. The two are antithetical. In practice, they turn to whatever ideology
happens to be convenient for their cause. Their real ideology is that of
consequentialism or the end justifies the means. Winning (as they sadly define
it) is all that matters and their treatment of whatever the topic – history,
economics, politics, culture, theology, or ethics demonstrates this.
Contrary to their presentation and perceptions, their arrest
was not persecution but punishment. They were not suffering for the name of
Christ but for political ideologies and the mammon-driven pursuit of power.
It's that simple.
They're just like Paul and Silas in Philippi, right?
Apparently Paul and Silas upon release from jail (wherein
their Roman rights were violated), immediately filed a lawsuit, pressed charges,
and called on the state to punish their oppressors and cashed in – right?
On the contrary – and this point is almost universally missed
– Paul did not exercise his rights. He
abdicated them. He shamed those who abused their power and then walked
away. What a glorious testimony to the ethics and imperatives of Christ. Isn't
that what Wilson pursues and advocates for?
No, the Wilson Faction is not interested in the message of
the New Testament. Their Judaizing proclivities were meant to generate press
and manufacture a legend. They've been fairly successful but this is to their
shame and (one might add) to the cost of the taxpayer. Surely they're are
concerned about the state 'stealing' tax revenue and spending it on frivolous
things, right? Well, it concerns them sometimes – when it's convenient. And (it
would seem) it was very convenient to take Covid subsidies and collect large
sums by means of lawsuit. What a shameful episode this was for the Church.
These people are held up, they should be despised as they have brought shame on
the name of Christ.
Once again contrary to the Christian Right and its false
libertarian ethos – Paul was not concerned about how the state used tax money
in the least. Beasts will be bestial. What do you expect? Rome waged wicked
wars, built pagan temples, and monuments to sodomites. It doesn't matter
because we are pilgrims here. Testify against these things not with political
action (which is empty and leads to nothing) but with the gospel.
In the meantime pay your taxes and carry on because contrary
to the ivory tower lunacy that is libertarianism, even a bad state is better
than no state. Because there is no such thing. The vacuum will be filled by
mafia, corporations, warlords, or something else. We are not living on the
eighteenth century frontier and even that has been romanticized, mythologized,
and grossly misunderstood.
And God knows we do not wish to live under a false theocracy,
a false sacral order that in blending false church with state will in the end
persecute the faithful. Wilson lionizes this counterfeit Zion and celebrates a
fantasy version of it in his read of the Middle Ages, which demonstrates not
only is he ignorant of Scripture he has completely misread history as well. The
very picture of Beast-Whore Babylonian apostasy we are repeatedly being warned
against in the New Testament is in fact the ideal he seeks.
In reality, the whole farcical Moscow episode is a disgrace
to the name of Christ and continues to be so. It represents not New Testament
obedience applied, but rather New Testament obedience set aside, side stepped,
and repudiated.
Once again, there were many conversations surrounding Covid
that needed to happen. They never did. Confusion reigns as so many Christians
have conflated American ideology and legal philosophies with Christian doctrine
and ethics. It has left them in a mire. Others, driven by a more confident (and
yet equally erroneous) ideology acted without hesitation, not on the basis of
New Testament application but from a self-serving read of the political
traditions and ideologies they treasure and the ethical systems which result
which they use to supersede the New Testament. Everything was lost in a fog of
politics, fear, and anger and it just got worse and worse as time went on. The
shepherds failed, many were revealed as mere hirelings, and others like Wilson
were revealed to have other priorities and allegiances above and outside Zion.