Introduction: Message Encryption
This week I received multiple messages from brothers and sisters in Christ who are deeply concerned about the state of the country (and the world) and what may be in store for Christians in the coming weeks, months, and years.
It is no coincidence that the messages increasingly came through encrypted messenger apps as the week progressed. The messages shared common themes of concern and fear as not one of us knows exactly what is going to happen or what it means for us.
What we do know presently is troubling.
Troubling events and Known Realities
For instance, the most prominent tech companies in the world are censoring content that does not align with a radically "progressive" agenda. Parler was not just banned from app stores, Amazon denied them web hosting. For those not familiar with how website hosting works, this is equivalent to having the electric company shut off your power, because they don’t like what you are reading by lamp light.
The censorship doesn’t stop there. The President of the United States has been blocked from posting on any major social media feed. I don’t think the gravity of this reality hasn’t really hit any of us yet. If they can prohibit “the leader of the free world” from making public comments on all of the prominent communication exchanges, you and I can be assured that no one’s right to free speech is safe. You may have missed that in the shadow of the POTUS ban a wide array of Christian and conservative public and private figures faced similar sweeping bans without warning.
Keep in mind that most of the tech giants implementing bans are publicly traded companies that enjoy all of the associated benefits, many of whom receive government subsidies. This means that by way of our tax dollars you and I helped pay for the censorship we now face.
It’s worth noting that Apple doesn't block apps that distribute violent pornography. Twitter hasn't banned the accounts of users who called for children from conservative families to be murdered. Amazon hasn't denied web hosting to websites that allow child abusers to share images. (I won't help them by sharing their links, but these are all verifiable facts.)
The present censorship has a singular target: conservatives. And, correctly or not, the censors of the tech and political world directly associate conservatism with Christianity.
Have you noticed that the general tenor of media reports about the rioting at the capital was to associate rioters with Christian nationalism? The same was true of comments from leftists in discussions. I speak from personal experience. For the left, there is no distinction between conspiracy theorists and truth seekers, neo-nazis and respecters of authority, biblical family values and sexist oppression, personal property and theft, pro-life and anti-woman, etc. For the leftists, Christianity is the singular thread tying it all together and the root that they must remove to bring about their progressivist utopia.
It is for this reason that the left will place the blame on Christians for the riots, despite the fact that the endeavor was pagan through and through. Did you happen to see that “Buffalo Guy,” the most prominent figure among the rioters was a shaman. Yes, he is an actual pagan. The milieu of rioters identified in recent days reflects a smattering of radical leftists and far right rabble rousers. Yet, Christians will bear the brunt of the public blame.
I don't doubt that there were those among them that claim to be Christians, maybe some who are believers who were foolishly (sinfully) swept up with the fury of the mobs. I certainly understand the temptation, given the larger than normal pills of deception we've been order to swallow of late. Doug Wilson did a great job addressing this topic on a recent episode of his podcast entitled, “The God’s of Civil Unrest and Jesus Mobs.” I recommend the episode. Wilson is right on.
There is nothing in God's Word that advocates the destruction of property, the foolish display of disorder, nor the idolatry of the state for that matter. Search the Scriptures. You'll find no instance in which a mob is praised for it's judicial action, no instance of a belligerent rabble praised for its righteousness. Notably, neither will you find any instance in which the believing are praised for obeying wicked rulers as they order disobedience to the King of Kings. More on this later.
Despite all this, the public blame for the present disorder will be placed on Christians. It’s the oft recycled old trick of the pagans. Consider Acts 17:5-6. A mob forms and then proceeds to blame the Christians for "causing trouble all over the world." The people of Ephesus riot in Acts 19, again blaming the Christians for causing the disruption. Like the recent capital riots, there was confusion as an array of groups rioted for different reasons, but they were all happy to unify in opposition to the Christians.
Fast forward a few years and you’ll see Nero blame Christians for the burning of Rome, a fire he either started or allowed to continue for his own purposes. Fast forward again, and you'll find that the pagans blamed the Christians for the Visigoth's sacking of Rome in 410. Look across the globe right now and you will find it to be the same as Christians are labeled “disturbers of the peace.”
Do you see the theme? Pagan idolaters riot.
Then, pagan idolaters blame Christians for the disruption.
Blame, Persecution, and a Pinch of Incense
America is pagan nation, and the state is it’s god. Listen to the politicians responses to the riots. Senator Dick Durbin referred to the capital as a “temple” and a “sacred space.” This is not new. The Lincoln Memorial is called a “temple” in it’s own etching. In fact it refers to him being enshrined in the hearts of the people.
The acolytes of statism see the state as their hope and savior. They look to it to solve everything from poverty to education to personhood. And, they will accept nothing short of universal devotion. The state wishes to be your provider of healthcare, education, housing, and protection. All it asks in return is your devotion.
Many are surprised to learn that Christianity is legal in Communist China…as long as you attend a state church. Many are further surprised to hear that Christianity was legal under First Century Roman rule. Pagans are happy to welcome neutered gods into their pantheon as long as devotees divert devotion to the state.
Christians under Roman rule were asked to bow before an idol and throw a pinch of incense on a fire that burned to caesar, in the process declaring “Kaiser Kurios” (“Caesar is Lord”). The faithful refused. The Christians in the arena, facing death could have been spared had they simply said those two words. The faithful refused and sealed their testimonies with blood, proclaiming “Jesus Kristus Kurios” (“Jesus Christ is Lord”).
“The God of the modern evangelical rarely astonishes anybody. He manages to stay pretty much with the constitution. Never break our by-laws. He’s a very well-behaved God and very denominational and very much like one of us...we ask Him to help us when we’re in trouble and look to Him to watch over us when we’re asleep. The God of the modern evangelical isn’t a God I could have much respect for.”
The modern statist lip service takes a different form, but it is no less tyrannical. Instead of “Kaiser Kurios” the state requires we allegiance through multifaceted lip service:
Instead of “God created them male and female,” the state requires preferred pronouns antithetical to reality. “They/their” is a “Kaiser Kurios” of the modern left.
Instead of God’s standards of justice, we are required to adopt the tyranny of critical theory in all its forms or face de-platforming, humiliation, and the like.
Instead of remembering Christ’s atoning death through bread and wine communion (Matt. 26:28,1 Cor. 11:26), instead of obeying Christ’s command to gather (Hebrews 10:23-25), instead of edifying one another in song (Eph. 5:19), instead of obeying the myriad of commands essential to the life of the Church, we are required to call the gathering of the saints “non-essential” or face defamation, fines, imprisonment, etc.
(The list will grow by the congressional session and by the executive order. The impending “Equality Act” alone will decimate public organizations holding to Christian world views. )
““Our Saviour shed His blood to purchase the church, and therefore deeming the church ‘unessential’ is tantamount to deeming the blood of Christ unessential, which is a public act of blasphemy.”
Side Note: I’ve grown weary of the “stay home stay safe” crowd. If God’s command for you to gather with the saints is not essential to you, if you are too afraid of illness, death, offense, or the state to stand with us now, then don’t pretend that you will stand with us on the gallows when we seal our testimonies with our dying breaths.
Additional Side Note: A board of elders in Canada faced fines and imprisonment recently. Their letter of response is as bold a declaration as I have heard since Luther’s “Here I stand.” Read it here.
The temptation to burn that pinch of incense, to tilt the head to the idol, to give that lip service to “Caesar” is only going to increase in the coming weeks, months, and years. All they want is a little blasphemy. All they want is for you to say the words to submit to their idols of child sacrifice, state intervention, critical theory, gender denial, and the like.
You can avoid fines by forsaking the assembly just like Andy Stanley has done. You can keep you job by using preferred pronouns. You can keep your medical care by going along with HHS mandates promoting child murder. You can keep your business by piping a “Adam and Steve” on a wedding cake. In this modern statism you can deny the Lordship of Jesus Christ and save your skin with less than a pinch of incense. It’s easier than ever to call Caesar your Lord.
I have some encouraging words, I will share in Part 2 of this series. For now, I’m calling you to faithful obedience to Christ in defiance to tyrants.
The temptation to give lip service to governing authorities seeking to place themselves on the throne of our hearts increases daily.
Don’t give in.
Declare “Jesus Kristus Kurios.”
Defy tyrants by obeying God.
Open your windows and pray.
Meet with the saints to sing study the Word, take communion, and sing hymns.
Refuse to bow when the music plays.
Obey God rather than men.
Jesus will meet us in the furnace.
