Zach’s Theological Musings

  For the last few weeks, on and off, I have hung a banner from my car in the parking lot of my workplace with this image (click for better resolution):

together with a magnetic car door sign which simply reads, “Men are the Problem, menaretheproblem.info.” To make a long story short, some people complained, the property management got upset and threatened my company that they were in violation of their tenancy agreement unless they made me stop. On Monday October 27, 2008, I was fired.

  Now, it seems that whenever I do something that is considered slightly controversial amongst Christians, like hang a banner displaying the plain reality of abortion from my car or pass our Bibles to Muslims (don’t ask me to explain how the question of whether or not to pass out Bibles can be a controversy in the church !!!???!!!, or how it can even be a question at all !!!???!!!) that there are certain recurring questions and remarks to be addressed. So here is my first edition of an activism FAQ. There is a particular focus on this recent incident with the banner at work, but many of the principles also have wider applicability. Many of these are questions or remarks I’ve heard first hand, some I have heard second hand, and some are questions that I’ve asked myself.1) “Hmm, well Zach. I do appreciate the fact that your heart is open to do something about this issue [whatever it is], but are you sure this is the best way?”  Nope! I’m not sure it is the best way. But I’m pretty sure that it is a good way! Or at the very least an acceptable way! There is a saying out there that, “The good is the greatest enemy of the best,” that is, we never reach the best because we settle for the good. But I’ve found that mixing that adage up is much more relevant to my life, and perhaps yours. My modified saying is, “The best is the greatest enemy of the good.” That is, as long as I keep searching for the best way to do something, I never find it, because every path has its list of disadvantages. Pursuing the best, I end up doing nothing. Better to do the good thing, than to do nothing while on the endless quest to find the best! See also this post.2) “Um, wow. That’s an, um, interesting thing that you did. I’m not sure how to respond.”

  Here is what I think is some Biblical advice for the person in such a situation. You’ve got two choices. If you’ve gathered enough information to adequately understand the situation, and you think that what I’ve done is sinful, then by all means you must rebuke me (Matthew 18:15ff). If not, if what I’ve done appears to be within acceptable parameters for a disciple of Christ, then I think that Biblically you are called to encourage me (1 Thes 5:11) as we continue to spur one another on towards love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). Certainly, such encouragement can take the form of constructive suggestion, “Hey, did you think about trying this… ?” But of all of the “one another” statements in the New Testament, I don’t see any that say, “Heap discouragement on one another.” Either rebuke the sin, or encourage the fainthearted (1 Thes 5:14). And yes, I do get fainthearted; I probably loathe conflict more than most people, and yet the Lord keeps putting in me a compelling drive to step out in ways that inevitably bring conflict. It’s hard.  And this isn’t just about me. Let’s all try to stop discouraging each other. One person loves to share Christ in the context of relationships and another loves going door to door. Praise the Lord for both of them, don’t attack each other! One person wants more prayer meetings and another one wants more Bible study. They are both right! Any desire within the church to turn off the tube and devote oneself to holy endeavors of eternal value should be cultivated rather than squelched. To anyone I have discouraged in their simple quest to love and please the Lord, I’m sorry; I’m seeking to turn away from that and be an encourager of all things good.

3) “What’s all this focus on abortion? Have you abandoned your passion for missions?”

  I still think the greatest need, and what I would like to do more than anything, is the public preaching of the gospel in so-called closed countries. Please pray that God would fill me with His Spirit to empower me for that ministry. I tried standing up on street corners and speaking out a few times in China. Words of conviction and power just don’t seem to come to my lips when I try public speaking. I must say that I just don’t feel the Holy Spirit is in it. Now, when I give a talk on an issue that I’ve written five papers about and spent ten years thinking about, I can by God’s grace give a good empassioned talk. I hope and pray that through writing the Lord will solidify things in my heart and mind which I can then speak about more effectively.

  But I digress. Abortion? Ya, it is quite important too. In fact, I can’t begin to tell you the numerous ways I see the issues as utterly interrelated. Well yes, I can at least begin to do it. See this post and this one. Consider also the non-compartmentalization of God. It seems to me in the Old Testament that if a Hebrew cheated with unbalanced weights and measures in the marketplace (see Deut 25:13-16), then as an “abomination” in the eyes of the Lord, he would have no reason to expect victory out on the battlefield (compare Joshua 7). If I harden my heart to a wicked and unjust atrocity of such magnificent proportions in my own country (and elsewhere) as abortion, how can I go make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey all that Jesus has commanded us? Again, the Great Commission isn’t to rake in millions of prayer cards signed by professed converts who don’t really even know Him, it is to make disciples.

4) “Have you thought about your family and especially your kids?”

  Ya, I’ve thought a lot about my family. I’ve thought about my family through the perspective of the German kids who were raised by parents who didn’t really support the Holocaust, but who thought that standing up against the actions of the Nazi regime would be too costly. I’ve thought about my family through the perspective of those kids, now grown, whom I’ve heard say, “I can’t believe my parents stood by and let that happen.”

  As a father I have a responsibility to protect my kids. And some dangers are greater than others. I might let my son fall out of his chair and get a small bump if he insists on ignoring my instruction to sit down on his bum. But I won’t let him “learn the hard way” with a chainsaw. The greatest danger facing all of humanity is eternal hellfire for rejecting God and the salvation offered through His Son Jesus Christ. Unrepentant cowardice is one way that we demonstrate that we have never come to know Jesus or had our name written in His book of life (Rev 21:8), because those who do come to Him receive a Spirit not of timidity but of power (2 Tim 1:7). My greatest responsibility then, to the two little boys who imitate just about anything I do and say is to model for them godliness and faith, rather than fear of man and unbelief.

  When my friend Rick and I were facing the threat of a 2-5 year jail sentence for proselytization in Malaysia, our main interrogator Sergeant Ibrahim repeatedly said to Rick things like, “You are a bad father. You did this and got yourself in trouble while you have a little daughter at home.” In speaking this way, Sergeant Ibrahim was the very mouthpiece of Satan for discouragement to Rick. Little Esther (and now Sarah as well) are very blessed to have a father who loves Jesus as much as Rick does. The best love and care and protection he can give them is to show them how to live for Jesus. Second to my own dad who loves me dearly and was instrumental in leading me to Christ following his own conversion, second to him Rick is (at least tied for) the father I respect the most.

5) “But what about providing stability for your wife?”

  Let me tell you about a woman I know, let’s call her Lisa. Lisa is a preacher’s wife. Lisa’s husband has preached solid Biblical truth from the pulpit for many years. He has emphasized that our thinking must be shaped by the Bible. He has repeatedly said he wants his church to “not merely be a church with Bibles, but rather a Biblical church.” Then one day someone comes along and says, “Hey, here are 1000 free copies of the gospel of Luke in the language of the local Muslim people of this area. Let’s distribute them to people in this church to give to their Muslim friends.”

  Seems like a no-brainer, right? But for a church in this area to be known as actively evangelizing Muslims would bring some consequences. People could lose jobs, the government could take away the expensive church property, and Lisa and her husband who are actually citizens of a different country could be deported. In the end, Lisa’s husband goes along with the decision of his elder board not only to refrain from distributing these Bibles but actually to prohibit the distribution of Bibles in the Muslim language on church grounds. Lisa’s husband has flipped from wanting to shepherd a congregation that seeks “not merely be a church with Bibles, but rather a Biblical church,” into leading a church that outlaws Bibles because the consequences of having them around are deemed too costly. Lisa and her husband get to keep their house and keep their jobs, simply by throwing away everything that her husband has claimed to stand for for decades.

  I feel sad for Lisa. I don’t want to do that to my wife. I want to provide her the stability of knowing that through loss of job, loss of freedom, loss of house, loss of money, loss of property, and loss of life, not only will I never leave her nor forsake her, but I will also always strive to uncompromisingly keep our family on the one solid and stable rock that can endure any tsunami (Matthew 7:24-27).

6) “What crazy thing are you going to do next?”

  I’ve found that the Lord doesn’t open my eyes to step 2 until I’ve taken step 1. So I try to be faithful in the little things, and hope that He will entrust me with greater things. See also the answer to question 1 above. Whatever it is, may it not be “crazy” except in the sense of being “crazy for Jesus, His kingdom, and His righteousness.”

7) “If you end up in jail in some country for doing whatever it is, how do you want people to pray for you?”

  Pray through Philippians 1.

8) “How would you encourage others to act in light of the overwhelming atrocity of ongoing slaughter in this country?”

  If you have an idea of your own, that fits the way God has made you and is within Biblical parameters, then by all means I want to encourage you to do that which is on your heart.

  Ultimately I think the only hope and only answer to the abortion problem is prayer (Luke 18:1-8). But note, the cited parable doesn’t speak of the Lord being moved by a half-hearted word of prayer. Rather it says that He will not delay to bring about justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night. I believe that a movement of empassioned prayer will only happen in tandem with a movement of empassioned living. If the Spirit prompts us with ideas of, “Hey I could hang a banner from my car,” or whatever, and if we quench Him, then we will be quenching the Spirit of prayer. See again this post.

  If you really feel you “should do something” about this issue, and really don’t know what, I’d be glad to talk you through it. I do have some ideas myself, but even better if in talking I could help draw out some ideas that suit how God has made you.

9) “What drives your concern about abortion? Are you concerned more about the babies, or the mothers, or your own reputation, or what?”

  There is concern for the babies. If you haven’t already, definitely watch The Silent Scream in which an ultrasound recorded the actual images inside the womb as an abortion was happening. This movie is in some ways even more moving than the graphic movies of baby hands and feet being removed from the uterus after he has already been dismembered, because in the Silent Scream you actually see the terrified baby in the supposed safe, warm haven of his mother’s womb, sensing that he is in trouble as the baby vacuum starts poking around. You can almost hear him screaming, “Help me, help me, I’m in trouble, momma, dadda, can you help me? I’m scared!” But of course momma and dadda don’t come to help because they are the ones who paid to have him torn to pieces. So even though the baby is in some ways blessed to be spared from having to live a long life in this evil fallen world (Isa 57:1-2), you still have to have compassion for such a defenseless one to face such a traumatic experience.

  There is pastoral concern for the mothers, too. Hopefully they will find repentance, restoration, forgiveness, and spiritual and even physical healing. Even still, the saddness of such a terrible choice will be hard to break free from in this life.

  And I have a particular concern for the party that is all too neglected in discussions about abortion — the fathers. It is one of the most pathetic and disgusting things imaginable to see true manhood disappearing in a landscape of immature boys who care more about “getting laid” (and football) than things like honor, valor, and responsibility. Seeing selfish boys of any age turn in to real men is always a refreshing and inspiring experience.

  But more so than any of these I’d say my concern is for Christians. If I hang such a banner from my car, I’m more hoping to move the hearts of pro-lifers than pro-choicers. What? Yep. Really, what I want more than anything else is to remove any barriers to a passionate relationship between Christ and His church. And the ongoing hardening of our hearts is just such a major barrier. See again this post.

10) “Why did you sign the end of your prayer letter with `Zach, on behalf of my wonderfully supportive wife, and our two martyr-for-Jesus-in-training sons’?”

  Well, I’m Zach, my wife really has been wonderfully supportive during this and the one or two other “controversial” deeds of activism I have engaged in since we’ve been married, and oh, the bit about our sons being in training for martyrdom for Jesus? I can’t say I have a well formulated curriculum at this point, but basically that is just another way of saying I want them to be Christians. Because I’m sure you realize that Bonhoeffer was Biblically spot on when he said, “When Christ calls a man, he calls him to come and die.” Martyrs-for-Jesus-in-training are the only kind of Christians I see in the Bible.

11) “Perhaps you are being rebellious against authority [the government, or the employer as the case may be].”

  That certainly is a valid issue. The extent to which God expects us to submit to human authority structures even when those people are sinful, wicked, unbelieving, Christian persecuting pagans, is astounding. David knew that Saul had departed from the way of the Lord, but refused to lift a finger to harm the king whom he called “the Lord’s Anointed.” David even killed the messenger who came to tell him of Saul’s demise. All this despite the fact that Saul had spent years on a rabid mission to destroy David (1 and 2 Samuel). Slaves are taught to obey masters who mercilessly beat them (1 Peter 2), and wives are taught to submit to unbelieving husbands “in the same way” (1 Peter 3). Christians of all stripes are commanded to submit to the very governments that persecute them (1 Peter 1, Romans 13). Remarkable.

  Ultimately the reason, I believe, is that human authority is a shadow of the One True Authority over all heaven and earth. Just as Saul, having been anointed as king, was a shadow of the Anointed One (i.e. the Messiah = Christ). As much as a king, or a husband, or a master, or a parent might fail to live a life of godliness, they still hold the “office” which is a shadow of the true King, Husband, Master, and Father of all.

  But at the same time, we are clearly taught to obey God rather than men (Acts 4) and to fear God rather than men (Matthew 10:17-28). We are also called to have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather to expose them (Eph 5:11). When Esther dared to approach King Xerxes she said, “If [I and my people] had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king [emphasis added]” (Esther 7:4b). Causing annoyance to the king, or the president, or the master, or the boss, or the husband, or the parent, or the church elder whose authority you are under is no small thing at all. And yet, when people are in fact being given over to slaughter, destruction, and annihilation (Esther 7:4a) it is not only commensurate but in fact incumbent upon the people of God to somehow intervene (Prov 24:11-12).

  When it comes to these sorts of things, there is nothing that I struggle with more than seeking to know how to respect and be submissive towards authority while at the same time realizing that to completely satisfy the authority would require exalting their wishes and desires about God’s priorities. I agonize for days and weeks and months over such things. I would be delighted to receive a clear and unmistakable prophetic word from the Lord saying, “Do this, don’t do that.” But until that comes, I’m accountable to make the best decisions I can in light of His revealed word with dependence on His Spirit through prayer.

  Do I come out with exactly the right balance on these issues? Probably not. Before this most recent banner at work experience there was something else I had tried, and after a conversation with my boss one time I had to go back to him and apologize for not speaking respectfully. He said he didn’t think I was disrespectful but I knew that by the standard I’d seen in Scripture I was. Of course, I later went on to do some things he didn’t like. But I sought harder to be respectful in the process. So I make mistakes, repent, persevere, keep learning, and move ahead.

  So yes, perhaps I have been rebellious against authority in this or that situation, and to the extent that it is so may the Lord bring correction. But before jumping to such conclusions or lightly throwing around such accusations, please realize that there are agonizingly difficult issues in the balance here.

12) “Why do this at the workplace? It’s not like you work for a company that makes baby vacuums or anything like that. If you are going to protest, why not do it outside of Planned Parenthood?”

  First of all, it is not either/or. Protesting outside of an abortion clinic is certainly commendable and I have done so in the past.

  But I was specifically compelled to take action at the workplace primarily because, after my home, that is where I was spending the most of my time each week. I believe that with proximity (be it geographical, relational, etc.) comes responsibility. Let’s talk about evangelism for a minute. It is good and commendable if you wish to share a brief word about Christ to the cashier at the checkout counter or the person riding in the elevator with you. I almost never do that, unless they happen to say something that gives me opportunity to simply speak my thoughts about the Lord. But as for somebody you spend gobs of time with, isn’t it all the more reasonable that they should know what you believe? [And yes I have spoken about Christ with people in the workplace, especially how He is foreshadowed in the Old Testament (a subject I’m particulary interested in), more than I have spoken with workmates about abortion.] So the more time you spend with people, the more it tears you up inside if you haven’t talked with them about the matters you know to be most important.

  Also, bringing the issue of abortion into the “average everyday workplace” is precisely my intended target. One of the big reasons atrocities such as the slaughter of American lives on the order of a 9/11 tragedy every single are allowed to continue, is because we who know the truth allow society to define the categories and parameters in which the “issue” is addressed. We allow society to stick it with the label “political and/or religious issue” and then we go along with the reasoning that the workplace is not the appropriate context for dialogue on religious and political issue. Ladies and gentlemen, this is more than a religious or political issue. Although I certainly support Colorado’s “Personhood Amendment” 48, I find it offensive that alongside being asked whether I want to reduce tax subsidies to energy companies, I am also asked to register my “personal opinion” on whether a small defenseless person should be acknowledged as a person or whether we should be allowed to chop him up into pieces and suck the pieces out with a vacuum. This is more than a “ballot issue.”

  When there is a national tragedy, even “business workplaces” show enough respect to lower the flag to half mast. Flags should be lowered for respect, rememberance, and shame over the fallen every single day in this country, and short of that happening, I believe that making my own show (in the workplace parking lot) of respect for the dead is entirely appropriate, and if anything it is probably far too little.

13) “OK, but if you want to speak out in the workplace, why a banner on your car?”

  Why not?

  Actually, I did try a few other things before I had the banner idea. I did talk about the issue with the coworkers I knew best [of course, not charging such time to my record of working hours]. The boss said that if the issue came up, it was OK to discuss, but if I tried going from person to person or office to office with such an agenda that I would be canned. I passed out fliers in front of the workplace for about 10 minutes before property management came down on me. I talked with the boss about having an informal, off hours, voluntary forum in which to invite fellow coworkers, and he was actually OK with the idea, but the rest of the management team nixed the idea. The lines kept getting pushed back further and further. Eventually I came up with the idea of a banner on my car, figuring that what I did with my own car in the parking lot outside of the workplace was my own business. And again, to his credit, the boss was personally agreeable, but property management wasn’t.

  I could have stuck with a bumper sticker on my car, and probably wouldn’t have had any trouble. It also would have had virtually no impact. Unfortunately, on such matters, there seems to be a high correlation between people not getting upset and people not paying the least bit of attention to what you are doing.

14) “Are you going to sue your company for violating your rights to free speech?”

  No. Certainly there is a place for “claiming one’s Roman citizenship” not merely for the sake of defending one’s self from receiving a flogging but also: 1) to bring attention (light) to a matter that the forces of the world would want to sweep under the rug and hide and forget about, and 2) to set a precedent. I can see the legitimacy of at least considering the possibility that the case with my current employer is such a case that should fought in court with a godly demeanor. However, my conclusion is that this is not such a case. My main two reasons are:
  i) My bosses are Christian. Along the lines of 1 Cor 6, I think it would bring shame on the name of Christ to bring this issue before the pagan courts and news media. I can hear them now, “Look, the Christians can’t even agree amongst themselves about this issue, so why should we listen to anything they say?”
  ii) Even if I did have a right under American law to not be discriminated against in this way, it is not a right I want to claim or press for. Personally, I believe my employer should be able to fire me if they don’t like the effect my views have on the workplace environment. Morally, I think my employer is wrong. But I don’t think that “doing the right thing” is something that should be legislated in this type of case.

  If the boss wanted to stand up to property management in court and say, “Hey, you can’t threaten us that we are in violation of tenancy agreement for refusing to fire Zach over this,” then I think I would support the company in doing so. But they don’t want to. They would rather get rid of me and the legal counseling fees I was costing them. So if that is the way the company wants to go, I don’t want to fight from that angle in court.

15) “Are you seeking to get persecuted?”

  Are you crazy? No way! If you think I enjoy conflict then you definitely don’t know me. Or is it that you think that I love to get praised by fellow Christians for being zealous? Well yes, I do, and I repent of that. But I need to make you aware of a very sad reality that my experience has been whenever you seek to serve the Lord in a way that may bring about some suffering that could have been avoided had you compromised and watered down your stance, then in choosing the path of righteousness that involves a bit of suffering you will face more discouragement from professed Christians than encouragement. Other professed Christians get afraid that you are going to “make trouble” for them too. Perhaps that is why some portions of this post may come across as defensive or even bitter. I’m sorry for that. I don’t want to give any room to bitterness.

  I don’t seek persecution. But I don’t make the avoidance of it a high priority either. Here is the key: neither seeking persecution nor seeking to avoid persecution should be our decision criteria. The decision criteria is, “How can I please the Lord? What decision is in line with godliness and holiness as revealed in Scripture?”

  You can tell what a listener values by what they focus in on. Supposedly (I haven’t found verification of this story) one time Tony Campolo, speaking to a church audience, said, “Four million (or some such number) people died from starvation last year and nobody gives a shit about it. And the proof of that is that you are more worked up that the guy in the pulpit just said a naughty word than you are about the four million dead from starvation.”

  Suppose I say, “Tom preached the gospel to 100 Muslims and they beat him and threw him in jail (or killed him or whatever).” One person will say, “What? Tom did something that got himself beaten!? How foolish!” Another will say, “Wow, 100 Muslims got to hear the gospel at once! Praise the Lord!” Be careful how you listen, because in doing so you reveal what you consider to be of great account and what you consider to be of small account.

  To those who say that I’m seeking persecution, I say you are missing the point. You are focusing in on the wrong part of the story.

16) “You are not even being `persecuted’, you are just facing the consequences of a bad decision. Christians should be willing to suffer for Jesus, but not for doing something stupid.”

  I don’t think that I ever said I was being persecuted. The word comes up when we discuss such issues, but I don’t think I would choose to use it to describe this situation. I would say though that I believe this incident falls under the category of suffering for righteousness sake. If you think that displaying my banner [or say, passing out Bibles to Muslims] is “stupid”, well I guess you are entitled to your opinion. But I think it is a pretty sad opinion to have. Could you explain to me why you would call such things “stupid”?

  The Biblical call to be ready to suffer in this world alongside Jesus is more than merely passive. Yes, if someone of their own initiative comes to you and points a gun to your head and tells you to renounce Christ then you should stand firm in the faith. But love demands more than that. Let’s say that you were a white Southerner a few decades ago when hate-filled white folk were lynching blacks in America. Let’s further say that no one comes around demanding to know where you stand on the “lynching debate” with threats to harm you if they discover you are a “nigger-lover.” The only way you will suffer is if you take the initiative upon yourself to step out and do something. At the same time, the only way you can LOVE the black community is if you take the initiative upon yourself to step out and do something.

  Note that we didn’t go up to heaven to bring Jesus down and crucify Him. He came. We didn’t even want Him to come, but He came. LOVE often demands that we put ourself in the line of fire to rescue others. The fact that such a concept would be so foreign to contemporary evangelical Christianity is a testimony to how far we have wandered from the core of the true Biblical gospel itself.

  In my first post on this topic, I described why some of the theological claims made in the Declaration of Independence are sharply at odds with the theological truth God has revealed in the Bible. Here we will continue to trace back to the roots of America’s poisonous obsession with ENTITLEMENT and RIGHTS.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation….

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

  America’s founding document begins with a declaration that “Nature’s God” has ENTITLED mankind to live under one form of government as opposed to another. Indeed, it is “their RIGHT, it is their DUTY, to THROW OFF such Government [emphasis added].” Really? This statement certainly resonates with much of contemporary American foreign policy, it certainly resonates with the general anti-authority sentiments that burn strong in American culture, it certainly resonates with man’s tendency to attempt to throw off the yoke of The Almightly under claims that His absolute sovereignty is despotic, … but does it resonate with the Bible? No.

Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil. Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. - Romans 13:1-7

  The “governing authorities” that Paul was talking about here were the type that cut Christians down with the sword (Romans 8:35), fed them to lions, and burned them at the stake. For fun. My impression, though I acknowledge that my historical vision could be distorted, is that the governing authorities to whom Paul commanded subjection would make King George of England look like Mr. Rogers. In any case, I can say with certainty that the Declaration of Independence leaves no room for the kind of humble submission under authority, even bad authority, that the Son of God Himself demonstrated and thereby called us to:

Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

“He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 

When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. - I Peter 2:18-25
  I don’t mean to paint too negative a picture of the American Declaration of Independence. Its theology is not any worse than the typical words of man. But it is not any better either. Indeed, it is simply that: the typical words of man — “I deserve something better than this, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to ensure that I get it.”

  The real tyrant in this world is not King George, Emperor Nero, Saddam Hussein, or George Bush. The real tyrant is the sin that takes every human captive and turns each one of us into rapists, pillagers, and murderers. Of the Dark Lord of this fallen world it can truly be said, “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” And the way he has done it is through the power of sin in my heart and yours.

  The gospel of the Kingdom is not a gospel of democracy. On the contrary, a kingdom is ruled by a king with absolute sway, a king who does as he pleases. And the Lord God is no wishy-washy King in that regard. He makes His authority known:

But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.
- Ps 115:3

“You shall have no other gods before Me… You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” - Ex 20:3-6

The gospel of the Kingdom in Jesus Christ is not at all about freedom from authority. Rather, it is about an exchange of authority. From living under the dominion of sin to living eterally under the absolute authority of a good and loving King.

  When we are brought, by grace, into the Kingdom of God we are no longer desperate to see one corrupt form of human government replaced by another corrupt form of human government. Yes, we do long for, pray for, seek, and work for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. But we know that it doesn’t come by guns or bombs. God’s Kingdom comes through the weakness of a bleeding man hanging on a cross, and through the foolishness of lambs preaching a message of forgiveness to fierce, hungry wolves.

  I am ENTITLED to death. My only RIGHT is to reap the fruit of my selfish, sinful thoughts and actions. Oh Lord, have mercy; don’t give me my rights. Thank You for wicked dictatorships and wicked democracies that keep me looking for hope and peace and security and justice and righteousness in the only place that these things will ever be established — in You.

  From the American Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

  “All men are created equal“: I’m not sure of the intentions of the founding fathers, but certainly this phrase can be understood in a Biblically supported way. For example,

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned… Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. Romans 5:12-18

For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Romans 11:32

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24

  All men are equally born as sinners in their father Adam. And all men are in need of the grace, truth, and life that only comes, for all men, through Jesus Christ. So far so good. But it seems that what the founding fathers were getting at was something quite different.

  “[T]hey are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights“: Hmm, unalienable Rights? UNALIENABLE RIGHTS! And anyone who should try to alienate me from these God-given rights is going to be confronted by the musket and the sword!? Now at this point we are starting to sound very American, and very unBiblical.

  Now, I am willing to acknowledge that it is self-evident that from the founding of this country, Americans haved loved their RIGHTS more than anything else. But is it really self-evident that the Creator has bestowed upon mankind certain unalienable Rights (note the capital “R” in the original)? No, at least to my self it is not at all evident. And indeed I don’t recall reading about these unalienable Rights anywhere in God’s recorded Word to mankind.

  “[T]hat among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness“: No. Allow me to be direct for a moment: No! I’m sorry, but no. You and I do not have God-given, unalienable Rights to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. According to Genesis 1-4 and all that follows, sons of Adam can only claim a “Right” to death, slavery, futility, and misery.

  A God-given Right to life? Funny thing, it seems self-evident to me that God has granted death authority to crush every man who ever lived.

  An unalienable Right to Liberty? Nope! Every one of us is born a slave to sin, with no Right in ourselves to freedom. Moreover, many people will be born into literal, physical slavery, and even if the system be displeasing to God, He has made no promise that the slaves will be set free in this life (I Cor 7:21).

  And the pursuit of Happiness? Well, given the sinful bent under which all men were created equal, any “Right” to pursue happiness on your own terms is amounts to nothing more than a “Right” to partake of the fruit of futility and misery.

  Does that make it OK to kill, to enslave, and to thwart another’s pursuit of happiness? No, because we don’t have those rights either! You don’t have the right to life, but I don’t have the right to kill you either. You don’t have the right to liberty, but I don’t have the right to steal your body as property either. You don’t have the right to pursue happiness however you wish, but I don’t have the right to quench your happiness however I wish either.

  My dear American brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray that you would join with me in the joyous discovery that by birth you have no God-given rights at all! None whatsoever. No rights! Not the Constitution, not the Bill of Rights, nothing! No rights! None! Except for death and slavery of course.

  I say that this is a joyous discovery. Apart from Christ it would not be joyous. It would still be TRUE that you and I have no God-given rights. But there wouldn’t be much cause for celebration in that. But in Christ we have become recipients of grace and mercy. Not rights. God didn’t owe us the cross. We had no right to the gospel. We didn’t even have any rightful claim to partake of God’s covenantal blessings to Abraham, especially as Gentiles. But we received these things any way. Not as a right. But as an unwarranted, unmerited, undeserved gift.

  Not by birth, and not by right, but In Christ God has made us many great and glorious promises. In a very unAmerican way, God has promised us not a republic, but a Kingdom. HIS kingdom, where He reigns as the good, loving, gracious, just, righteous, benevolent king over those who have submitted to His eternal dominion (no term limits) over all areas of their lives.

  With all due respect, I’m sorry Thomas Jefferson, but I hear your words as the mere opinions of mankind. For in the course of human events Nature’s God, The Self-Evident One, has presented us with what we might call The Declaration of Dependence: “Apart from Me [Jesus] you can do nothing” (John 15:5). So before King Jesus I renounce any real or imagined rights, and direct my happiness to the only pursuit that satisfies: glorifying God by enjoying Him forever.

  Jesus said,

“I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt 16:18).

City gates in the ancient world, it has been observed, were a defense mechanism. Jesus here was not talking about a church on the defense, but a church on the offense, storming the gates of Hades. Lacking therefore the ability to stand up to the Church of Jesus Christ on the move, Satan sure does have a lot of ways to get us to voluntarily sit down.

  In certain places, his method might be to put on a big scary face and threaten people that he has authority to take away their possessions, property, and even life itself. And many times God does in fact grant Satan the authority to do those things. Look at Job. Look at the teaching and the life of Jesus and His disciples. But often times it is through the worst persecution that Spirit-filled followers of Christ become the most powerful threats to the gates of Satan’s kingdom, through their prayers and their testimony. So Satan has other techniques up his sleeve. One such technique is the effective use of what I call the “And Now This” phenomenon.

  The “And Now This” phenomenon became clear in my mind several years ago while reading a book by Neil Postman. The following book summary is taken from Wikipedia:

Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985), is a book by Neil Postman in which he argues that media of communication inherently influence the conversations carried out over them. Postman posits that television is the primary means of communication for our culture and it has the property of converting a culture’s conversations with itself into entertainment, so much so that public discourse on important issues has disappeared. Since the treatment of serious issues as entertainment inherently prevents them from being treated as serious issues and indeed since serious issues have been treated as entertainment for so many decades now, the public is no longer aware of these issues in their original sense, but only as entertainment.

  One part of the book stuck out to me in particular. Here’s a summary in my own words. We all know that English has conjunctions. A conjunction such as “and” might link two similar nouns or clauses. A conjunction such as “but” or “yet” might link two contrasting nouns or clauses. A conjunction such as “or” might link two distinct but related options. In any case there is a relationship, some type of link, between what comes before and what comes after. But television (especially the evening news) has introduced an entirely new grammatical structure in the English language in phrases such as, “And now this,” or “We’re back.” We might call this part of speech a disjunction. It says, “What has come before has no relationship whatsoever with what comes after.”

  Consider the following hypothetical example, “Three thousand Tutsi minorities were reported slaughtered today in Rwanda in what is being called the worst genocide of the decade. [Show a video clip.] And now this word from our sponsors… You won’t believe what happens when you get behind the wheel of the new Toyota Corolla. The comfort and spaciousness of a luxury sedan at a price that anyone can afford. So what are you waiting for? … We’re back and it’s time for Tom to fill us in on the latest results from college basketball. Tom…”

  Oh how quickly and easily our minds and hearts can move from significant, weighty, serious, eternal matters to silly fluff. From a strategic viewpoint, I think that for the kingdom of darkness to crank up persecution against Christians in America would be a bad move. That might actually make some of us stop and get serious about storming Hades’ gates. Much more effective is to allow us brief moments to sing, “Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also,” and then to subtly whisper in our ear, “Oh ya, speaking of goods and kindred, I really need that awesome new mountain bike, and don’t forget about the barbeque over at Ted’s place. Oh ya, and that also reminds me…,” and in literally less than a second, any threat to Satan’s kingdom has become impotent.

  In 1963 MLK Jr. declared his dream of racial justice and harmony. From the Bible we know that racism, like every other sin, will only be fully and completely eradicated in heaven. There the great diversity of people from every nation, tribe and tongue will bring great glory to God as the One and Only Lord of all peoples. Nevertheless MLK had a good dream, and it is perfectly Biblical to dream dreams like his. Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven [emphasis added].” On the one hand we don’t let our hope rest in this ugly, fallen world, because we set our eyes solely on the treasure of heaven. But on the other hand we do pray and work and dream for more of heaven to come to earth.

  MLK Jr. had a good dream. And I have a dream too. A good one. My dream is a beautiful picture that plays clearly in my mind every day, and I certainly didn’t make it up. It was inspired by real life history.

[T]hey began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Acts 2:45

For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need. Acts 4:34-35

I have a dream of upper class, middle class, and even lower class American Christians voluntarily choosing a lower standard of living, joyfully sacrificing and doing without things that our culture deems as “necessary” for the sake of pouring our wealth into eternal-valued investments like feeding the poor and spreading the gospel to unreached nations. (Oh yes, feeding starving bellies does have eternal value, despite the claims of some people to the contrary. Perhaps we can look more into that topic another time; for now I’ll just mention Matthew 25.)

  Vague dreams are usually weak, and weak dreams are usually vague. MLK Jr.’s dream was powerful enough in his soul to fill him with specific images of former slaves and slave owners sitting together on the “red hills of Georgia”. He heard freedom ringing from “the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire”, “the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania”, “the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado”, and “the curvaceous slopes of California”, not to mention Lookout Mountain of Tennessee, and “every hill and molehill of Mississippi”.

  My dream, while not punctuated by such colorful adjectives, is equally clear, crisp, and specific. I have a dream of suburbian home owners downsizing to one or two bedroom homes, renting the basement in someone else’s home, moving into trailer parks or inexpensive inner city areas, and all of this in order to divert former mortgage payments towards humanitarian causes. The interest paid on a standard thirty year mortgage is approximately the same as the value of the house itself. Depending on where you live, that can be $100,000 to a quarter-million to a half-million dollars for a “middle class” home! Wow, how many missionaries could be supported and how many children crying from hunger could be fed with a quarter-million dollars over the next thirty years! What a wonderful dream!

  I have a dream of overflowing and abundant joy in Christ causing His disciples to say, “Hey, I don’t need that new technological gadget to play with, or that fancy piece of fabric to stick on my body, or that extra CD to add to my bulging collection. But hey, wouldn’t it be great to send money to rescue children forced into prostitution in Thailand, or to help families whose homes were destroyed in Darfur, or to support my local homeless shelter and crisis pregnancy clinic, or to help the wife of a martyred native evangelist in India, or to supply Zambian pastors with Bibles,… .” Wow, now that’s more like the kind of “shopping” I could get excited about. Isn’t it a great dream?

  I have a dream of Christian congregations voluntarily giving up their piece of real estate and channeling that massive monthly budget entirely into Word and people ministries. Where would the church meet? Good question. I don’t know that answer to that in all circumstances, but I do know that the body of Christ is full of very creative and resourceful members! I also know that Jesus spoke to 5,000 people (the size of a small/moderate megachurch) on a mountain/hillside without electronic amplifiers. How does that work? I don’t know, but I have a dream of congregations working and thinking hard to figure it out.

  I’m not saying that it is a sin to have a church building, I’m not saying that it is sin to live in a middle class suburbian house, and I’m not saying that it is sin to buy things at the mall. But those things certainly aren’t required for godly living. At best they are optional. So what I’m saying is that I have a dream. A dream about choices being made, not grudgingly or under compulsion, but from purposeful and cheerful hearts.

  See, the thing is, Jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive. And everything that Jesus says is true, because He is the Truth. I hope, dear affluent reader, that you won’t read about my dream and hear me pointing a finger of condemnation at you. All of us, including those who would call themselves poor, are certainly guilty of greed and gluttony to at least some extent, and that does demand repentance. But that is not what I’m going after right now. Law and conviction of sin have their place, but they alone have to power to fuel a transformed life. Christ, His cross, and His Spirit whom we receive when we trust in His gospel are the power for godly living.

  Look at the context of the two passages from Acts that I quoted above. Both of them follow immediately after words of gospel proclamation (in the form of preaching and prayer, respectively). Oh how futile and hopeless is my dream if it doesn’t flow from an overwhelming sense of awe and delight in Christ.

  The King of Kings has pardoned my guilt and granted me the gift of eternal fellowship with Him. We will dance on the streets that are golden. We will cast our crowns along the glassy sea. We will eat the healing leaves of the tree of life that grows along both sides of the river. Why would I want a video game or a Gucci armband? I’ve got all I need for eternity, and by God’s grace I even have three hearty, solid meals a day on top of it; let the money go to somebody who actually needs it!

  In my dream the recipients of the money aren’t the greatest beneficiaries, because Jesus is right when He says that it is more blessed to give than to receive. My dream is about much more than money itself. I have a dream of renewed spiritual vitality, long since choked out by the thorny “American dream” of success and prosperity (Matt 13:22). I have a dream of sleepy American evangelicalism being set free from the bondage of maintaining property and possessions, and even, by God’s grace, I have a dream of experiencing the kind of Christianity that I have read about in Holy Scripture:

And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved. Acts 2:46-47

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own; but all things were common property to them. And with great power the apostles were giving witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales, and lay them at the apostles’ feet; and they would be distributed to each, as any had need. Acts 4:32-35

  The church in Acts was not perfect. Oh no, no, no, no. Not by a long shot. But I dare say, there was a passion there unlike anything most of us have ever seen today. What happened? Well, I can’t claim to have a complete, authoritative answer. But I do see a principle in Scripture that wealth suffocates spiritual zeal (e.g. Matt 13:22, Mk 10:21-23, Rev 3:15-17). I have a dream of a church that casts off the burden of earthly possessions, and catches the fresh gust of wind that disciples were breathing long ago.