Randall Gerard writes back...

Name:
Location: Out West

An old-fashioned guy grappling with new-fangled ways.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

What a theocracy looks like...

...according to the Prophet Micah.

"And it will come about in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it. And many nations will come and say, "Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord and to the House of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths." For from Zion will go forth the Law, even the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between many peoples and render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they train for war. And each of them will sit under his vine and fig tree, with no one to make them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. Though all the peoples walk in the names of his god, as for us, we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. "In that day", declares the Lord, "I will assemble the lame and gather the outcasts, even those whom I have afflicted. I will make the lame a remnant and the outcasts a strong nation." And the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on and forever."
Micah 4:1-7
- A theocracy is established by teaching the Lord's ways, it is not salvation by legislation.
- God is above the nations, but the nations are not abolished or done away with. There is no 'one world government', except in the spiritual sense.
- A world permeated with the Law of God is a world at peace, a world preoccupied with plowing and planting.
- Private property is established as the basis of peace and security for each household.
- False Gods and false religions, though present, are gradually and peacefully put away.
- The government of God is concerned with the afflicted, the poor, the weak, the lame; and He establishes and strengthens them. Christian, do you desire authority and respect in this world? Then go and serve the orphan and the widow, for this is true and righteous religion, according to the Apostle James.

Christians, Theocracy & Tyranny, oh my...

A friend of mine, who blogs here: http://luker.org/ is following a cordial discussion between a prominent pastor and the author of the small booklet 'A letter to a Christian Nation'. The writer is yet another agnostic hand-wringer worried about theocracy. This phenomenon always gets me thinking about the biblical maxim 'the wicked flee while no one is pursuing'. From my perspective, the last thing most christians want is a theocracy. That's because most christians today are so woefully ignorant, so brainwashed and assimilated by secular pluralism, they are practical atheists. They may as well equate Allah and Jehovah, just like the President does. But at least the muslims have a backbone; the spaghetti spines of modern christians are legendary. We'll vote for any dunce who entertains a moment of silence and fights for Israel and oil.
Is anyone else tired of secular preachers warning us to keep our morality to ourselves, even as they enthrone their own godless version of the public good in the public schools, in every public office, every courtroom, every football game in Texas, every statehouse and assembly right down to city councils and county commissioners? They've left us our churches and our homes, but only the ones not run by women and queers.
Relax, hand-wringer. We're a long ways from theocracy. Besides, what you really fear is not christians-in-charge, but the holy Trinity, who is busy weighing secular nonsense on His scale, and is finding it deficient. You also fear churchmen in funny hats, robed like women, whispering in the ears of Presidents and Prime Ministers. You fear inquisitions, book burnings and heretic hunts. But that's not a theocracy, it's an ecclesiocracy, or rule by an elite bunch of clergy-persons. Theocracy is what the founders of Plymouth Plantation wanted; it is self-government under God.
Real theocracy is what I want as well; but gradually, from one redeemed soul at a time, not by decree from the top down. I want the freedom to teach and follow my religion in my home and church without interference from an unbelieving state. I want the freedom to tell others about Jesus, and help disciple others who voluntarily embrace the Gospel. I want the freedom to agitate publically for christian morality. I want freedom of speech, just like you. Look, I have unbelieving family and friends and I love them no less for all of that. But the invitation of the gospel is just that. An invitation. Only God can change a heart; but He does so through the prayers and testimony of those who are already His.
And this is the crux of the matter, isn't it? That God has chosen christians to proclaim repentance and faith in Him wherever they go, and you just don't want to hear it. You are like a vampire who fears the rising of the sun. Well, too bad. May you have your own personal encounter with a wooden stake very soon.