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The cry of popular
Christianity today is to take the reins of government
and turn the United States into a God-fearing nation.
But is such a political feat—were it even possible—the
responsibility of flawed humans? Isn't Jesus Christ
returning to fix the Earth and its inhabitants, rather
than congratulate it on a job well done? If you've
wondered why you've generally felt worse rather than
better after watching world and national news, here's
your answer. At what point are we supposed to resist
government—or is there even such a point? Zender's
Beyond Politics will at first rock your political boat,
but then anchor you to the most peaceful shore
imaginable.
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According to the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy, chapter
three, in the last days perilous periods will be present
and nothing is going to stop them, not even Republicans.
Anyone supposing that in the last days humanity will
perfect itself is thinking his or her own pleasant
thoughts and is out of tune with the mind of God. Our
Lord Jesus Christ is not returning to Earth to
congratulate us on a job well done. He is coming to
sweep away the perilous periods and establish something
that we have never seen before: righteous government.
And so—
“Cease
striving and know that I am God…I will be exalted in the
earth” (Psalm 46:10).
“God’s
indignation is being revealed from heaven on all the
irreverence and injustice of humans” (Romans 1:18).
God has promised to take care
of the irreverent and unjust, but He will do it in His
time, not in ours. Jesus chided Peter for taking up the
sword in Gethsemane, saying, “Are you supposing that I
am not able to entreat My Father, and at present He will
station by My side more than twelve legions of
messengers? How, then, may the scriptures be fulfilled,
seeing that thus it must occur?” (Matthew 26:53-54).
It’s the same situation today. Few understand today that
God is able, at any time, to reveal His indignation on
irreverence and injustice. I have to remind myself of
this all the time. The fact that He has not yet moved to
impress upon Earth’s inhabitants His power means only
one thing: it’s not yet time for it. When the hour does
arrive, God will turn the sun black, make the stars
fall, roll up the heavens, move islands, burn up
thirty-three percent of the earth, and turn a third of
the sea into blood (Revelation 6:12-14, 8:7-8).
I guess that will be
impressive enough.
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Concerning national defense, I am not so pie-in-the-sky
that I think we should write national policy based on
trust. I wish that we could, but the eon in which we
live is naughty, not nice. It’s a wicked eon (Galatians
1:4), and thus it is naïve for us to think that we can
sit down and negotiate with sinister entities. Neville
Chamberlain tried that with Hitler, and it did not end
so well. We ended up ditching Chamberlain and bombing
the crap out of Hitler. In a wicked eon, we need a
strong military. I am proud of our soldiers, and
thankful for them.
I’m
speaking of national policy now, and not the policy of
individuals. I am not personally going to chase down
evil dictators; I’m afraid I would catch them. But I
think it’s good for our armed forces to do so; they want
to catch them, and should. We must protect our homeland.
If an
evil dictator entered my literal house and threatened my
family, I would stab him repeatedly with a screwdriver.
(I don’t own a gun. I’m all for gun-owning, I just don’t
like loud noises.) An evil dictator striding through my
kitchen is a microcosm of an army entering our fair
land. It is a natural instinct to protect loved ones as
long as it’s not too noisy. And yet an individual
believer may choose the path of non-resistance, which is
the most excellent path. I’ll be talking about that
later—about whether or not we should be subject to evil
governments.
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