|
The purpose of this website is not to get into ecclesiastical weeds of "church discipline." I don't wish to debate the intricacies of "excommunication." This is very simple. It begins with the three-step process laid down by Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17
15 if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
16 But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. [Deut. 17:6; 19:15; John 8:17; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19; Heb. 10:28]
17 And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.
First privately, second with one or two additional witnesses, and third, the entire "church" (however you define it, not relevant to this argument), engages in an attempt to get a sinner to repent of his sin. To stop committing that sin (if it's a practice) or to restore justice (if it was a single sin).
Modern translations do a better job with the last phrase. If the sinner does not repent after being encouraged by you, by you and one or two additional witnesses, or by the church, then the church should publicly declare that the sinner does not fit the definition of a Christian. A Christian does not sin, that is, does not keep sinning, or does not restore justice if an injustice has already been done. The church says to the watching world, "This person is not a Christian, because he will not renounce his sin. Jesus then gives two examples of people who must be excommunicated from our churches because by definition, they cannot be Christians: the "heathen" and the "publican."
Modern translations are pretty unanimous in their translation; the "publican" is a "tax collector."
The tax collector is an agent of a pagan or heathen empire who invaded Israel, violated Israel's national sovereignty, slaughtered thousands of Jews, set up an undemocratic military dictatorship, and began enslaving and stealing from Israelites, and killing them if they resisted.
No nation has a right to do what "Italy" (the Romans Empire) did to Israel.
And it wasn't some abstract "empire" that did it, it was human beings wearing the costume of a Roman soldier, violating basic commands of God: "Thou shalt not steal" and "Thou shalt not kill."
Nobody has a right to do these things, even if they get people to "vote" for them, and they get a badge and a uniform.
Matthew 5:46
For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
The Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating with tax collectors and prostitutes. But Jesus said He came to call tax collectors and sinners to repentance (Luke 5:30,32). He "wined and dined" them. But they were called to repentance. This includes making restitution, as Zacchaeus did (Luke 19:8). John the Baptist told soldiers to do the same thing (Luke 3:14, in both verses, συκοφαντέω, sykophanteō, extortion, defrauding). The soldiers backed up the tax collectors.
You might be thinking, "What are you some kind of anarchist?"
Yes. "Some kind." The kind Jesus commanded His followers to be.
In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, Jesus discovers His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the Kingdom of God.
They didn't understand that Jesus' Kingdom was quite unlike the kingdoms of the world.
But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. {43} Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. {44} And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. {45} "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
The word translated "rulers" comes from the Greek word from which we derive our English word "anarchist."
The word "anarchist" actually comes from two Greek words meaning "not" + "archist."
Jesus clearly says His followers are not to be "archists." They are to be "servants."
Those who follow the commands of Christ are "an-archists." Not "archists."
"Lords," "rulers" and "great ones" are "archists."
So what is an "archist?" What exactly is the "archist" that the "an-archist" is not?
An "archist" is someone
who believes he has a right to
impose his will on others by force.
For "archists," "imposing" by "force" usually takes the form of
This is what "archists" do.
Christ's disciples (and Jews generally in Jesus' day) believed that the predicted Messiah would be a great Warrior who would liberate the Jews from the Romans by massive force, greater than the force used by the Romans to invade, conquer, and subjugate the Jews.
But they didn't understand the Christ or the real nature of His Kingdom.
Jesus told His disciples to love their enemies, not kill them in a violent revolution.
But here's the first point to get under your belt
An "archist" is someone who believes he has a right to
impose his will on others by force.
And Jesus says His followers are not to be "archists." We are not to extend the Kingdom reign of the Christ by the sword.
Matthew 26:52
Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
An ICE agent is an "archist," and the Bible says it is a sin to be an "archist."
Most Christians don't know this.
Most Christians think it's a sin to be an "anarchist."
Everybody knows ( or thinks he knows) what an "anarchist" is: someone who creates chaos and disorder by doing whatever seems right in his own eyes. We've all been taught that "anarchists" are evil. In the Bible, "archists" are the bad guys.
Archists should be excommunicated.
The ICE Agent believes he has a right to impose his own will (or that of his superiors) on other people by force or threats of violence. He has the right to initiate force against peaceful people, whether they be immigrants or those who protest what ICE agents do.
The Bible says we can use persuasion to change other people's minds, and the Bible says when it comes to changing people's minds, the Word of God is more powerful than a two-edge sword.
If you don't agree that being a thief (tax collector) is a sin deserving of excommunication, let's look at the specific sins that ICE Agents commit. There are many.
Exodus 20:7
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
How do ICE Agents take the Lord's Name in vain?
By using His Name in a solemn oath and then violating that oath.
ICE Agents swear that they will abide by the Constitution, "so help me, God." But then they violate the Constitution.
It may be helpful to review the way the Constitution should be interpreted. Here are some principles:
One of the most basic principles of the Constitution is that it is a document of "enumerated powers."
That means the government can't do anything at all unless "We the People" grant it the authority to do something, and that power is expressly "enumerated" in the Constitution. Every Law Professor and Supreme Court Justice knows this and admits it, either grudgingly or enthusiastically.
The principle is stated in the Bill of Rights:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Amendment X
Another principle of Constitutional interpretation is to view the document in terms of our nation's "organic law." The "organic law" does not mean Agricultural Law, it means the most fundamental laws of our government; the soil in which all other laws are to be planted and grow. The Declaration of Independence is part of that "organic law."
As the Supreme Court once said,
The latter [Constitution] is but the body and the letter of which the former [Declaration of Independence] is the thought and the spirit, and it is always safe to read the letter of the Constitution in the spirit of the Declaration of Independence.
Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway Company v. Ellis, 165 U. S. 150, 160 (1897).
One of the indictments of the British government over the colonies set out in the Declaration of Independence is this:
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
America's Founding Fathers knew that human beings were "The Ultimate Resource."
They knew that Britain's restrictions on immigration only hurt the United States. Immigration restrictions are both economically and morally unjustified:
Therefore, the Framers of the Constitution gave no authority to the newly-created federal government to do that which the Declaration of Independence denounced Britain for doing.
So immigration restrictions are not only economically and morally unjustified, they are also plainly unconstitutional.
Of course, nobody in Washington D.C. takes the oath of office seriously, but America's Founders recognized that an appeal to God in an oath is an act of religious worship:
1. The Core Text: Man-Stealing as a Capital Crime
The anchor passage is Exodus 21:16:
“Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”
This law is echoed in Deuteronomy 24:7 and later applied morally (not ceremonially) in 1 Timothy 1:10, where ἀνδραποδισταῖς (“man-stealers / slave-traders”) are listed among those whose behavior contradicts sound doctrine.
Key observation:
The crime is forcible seizure and control of a human being—not merely commerce.
2. Does Deportation Qualify as “Man-Stealing”?
A church making this case would argue:
A. Kidnapping ≠ Slavery Only
The Hebrew ganav nephesh means stealing a person, not merely enslaving them.
Core elements:
Lack of consent
Physical seizure or restraint
Removal from community/family
Transfer to another authority or location
Deportation meets all four criteria.
B. “Legal Authority” Is Not a Moral Defense in Scripture
Biblically, legality does not equal righteousness:
Pharaoh’s edicts (Exod. 1)
Nebuchadnezzar’s decrees (Dan. 3)
Sanhedrin’s rulings (Acts 5)
The prophets repeatedly condemn officials who “act by statute” yet violate God’s law (Isa. 10:1–2).
So the argument would be:
A Christian cannot outsource moral responsibility to the State when the action itself violates God’s law.
3. New-Testament Reinforcement: Allegiance over Compliance
Relevant NT principles:
Acts 5:29 – “We must obey God rather than men.”
Luke 10 – The Good Samaritan is praised for intervening, not deferring to authorities.
Matthew 25:40 – Treatment of the vulnerable is treatment of Christ.
Hebrews 13:3 – “Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them.”
If deportation:
tears families apart,
returns people to violence or destitution,
is carried out without individualized justice,
then participation may be framed as active cooperation in oppression, not neutral employment.
4. Grounds for Church Discipline (in Principle)
A church could argue excommunication if all of the following are established:
The action is intrinsically sinful (man-stealing, oppression of the stranger)
The member knowingly and willfully participates
The member is admonished and refuses repentance
The member justifies the practice theologically
This would parallel:
Soldiers disciplined for unjust violence
Magistrates disciplined for corruption
Christians disciplined for slave-catching in earlier eras (which did happen in some abolitionist churches)
- Deportation very often results in de facto theft of lawfully owned property, even when no statute explicitly says “we are confiscating it.” Biblically, that distinction does not save the agents involved.
1. What Actually Happens to the Property (Practically, Not Theoretically)
Assume your case precisely:
Unmarried immigrant
No family or trusted proxy in the U.S.
Lawfully owns real property (home/land) and personal property
Is forcibly removed with little or no notice
A. Real Property
What typically happens:
Mortgage still due → foreclosure
Property taxes unpaid → tax seizure
HOA dues unpaid → lien → forced sale
Utilities cut → property condemned or vandalized
The State does not need to “confiscate” anything.
The removal itself makes loss inevitable.B. Personal Property
Vehicles impounded → storage fees exceed value → auction
Household goods abandoned → seized by landlords or junked
Bank accounts frozen due to documentation issues
Tools of trade lost entirely
Again: no explicit seizure order is required.
Biblically, this is still theft.
2. Biblical Definition of Theft Is Broader Than Statutory Confiscation
Scripture does not define theft narrowly as “illegal taking.”
Key principles:
Exodus 20:15 – “You shall not steal.”
Proverbs 22:22 – “Do not rob the poor because he is poor.”
Micah 2:2 – “They covet fields and seize them… houses, and take them away.”
Isaiah 10:1–2 – Condemnation of those who use legal mechanisms to dispossess.
Crucial point:
If you knowingly perform an action that predictably strips someone of their property, you are morally responsible for that loss—even if the law calls it “collateral consequence.”Biblical law tracks outcomes, not paperwork.
3. Is This Theft or “Incidental Harm”?
Biblically, this is constructive theft.
Why?
The immigrant lawfully acquired the property
The State forcibly removes the owner
The State knows in advance the property will be lost
The State benefits (tax revenue, auctions, enforcement metrics)
No restitution is provided
That matches the prophetic indictment pattern exactly.
This is why Scripture condemns:
Land seizures
Forced exile
Administrative dispossession
—not only overt robbery.
4. Moral Responsibility of the Participating Agent
Now the disciplinary question.
A. Is the ICE Agent a Passive Cog?
Biblically: no.
Ezekiel 33, Luke 12, and Romans 14 all teach personal moral agency.
The agent:
Knows removal will cause loss
Applies physical force or administrative authority
Cannot plausibly claim ignorance
This is material cooperation, not remote association.
5. Is Excommunication Biblically Defensible for Theft?
Yes—if certain conditions are met.
Paul explicitly disciplines believers for:
Fraud
Greed
Exploitation
Justifying injustice (1 Cor. 5; 6)
If a church member:
Participates directly in deportation
Knows it causes dispossession
Defends the practice as righteous
Refuses correction
Then discipline is not only permitted—it is required to avoid complicity.
“Do not even eat with such a one.” (1 Cor. 5:11)
Bottom Line (Plain and Direct)
Deportation predictably causes theft of lawfully owned property
Biblical law counts that as theft
Agents who knowingly participate bear moral responsibility
A church can discipline for this—carefully, slowly, and justly
Excommunication is not radical here; it is consistent with prophetic ethics
ICE Agents participate in a system of unconstitutional and immoral actions. These actions involve several levels of sin, and are just plain ugly.
"Xenophobia" is a dislike of people from other countries.
Xenophobia is an irrational, deep-rooted fear of or antipathy towards foreigners. It comes from the Greek words ξένος (xenos), meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear."
Xenophobia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- "Xenophobia" is a sin. The Bible commands "hospitality" [φιλόξένος], literally, "the love of strangers" or "friend of strangers" [φιλος + ξένος].
- There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
1 John 4:18- "Love of foreigners" = Hospitality
- 1 Timothy 3:2 - [In Context|Read Chapter|Original Greek]
- A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
- Titus 1:8 - [In Context|Read Chapter|Original Greek]
- But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
- 1 Peter 4:9 - [In Context|Read Chapter|Original Greek]
- Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
- Romans 12:13 - [In Context|Read Chapter|Original Greek]
- Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.
- Hebrews 13:2 - [In Context|Read Chapter|Original Greek]
- Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
- Matthew 25:35 - [In Context|Read Chapter|Original Greek]
- For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger [ξένος (xenos)], and ye took me in:
see "works of mercy"
- 3 John 1:5 - [In Context|Read Chapter|Original Greek]
- Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers;
- 1Timothy 5:10 - [In Context|Read Chapter|Original Greek]
- Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.
The People of Israel were treated like "illegal aliens" in Egypt, so God expects Christians to treat aliens with grace. See more here.
Recent Blog Posts on Immigration:
see also:
- "Works of mercy"
- Voluntary missionary agencies for immigrants
- Hospitality
- Reclaiming the Culture Through Christian Hospitality - The American Vision
America not only prevents immigrants from coming here, but goes abroad destroying the lives of tens of millions of innocent, non-combatant non-white civilians. Once a Christian nation characterized by hospitality, the United States is now an atheistic empire, the enemy of God and humanity.
next: Immigration as a Tool of Christian Reconstruction
|
Some people think that becoming a tax collector is "a shrewd career move." They say, "I need to feed my family."
A religion is a world-and-life view. It's comprehensive. There are two different religions in conflict here. Consider these verses from James:
James 1
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 4:4
Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
There was a time in my life when my religion was "useless." I'm an old geezer who was born in the year of Sputnik, the Russian satellite that ignited "the Space Race" which was part of "The Cold War." During my lifetime, "my" government (the United States) has killed, crippled, or made homeless tens of millions of innocent, non-combatant, non-white civilians around the world. I maintain that this is evidence of a false, impure religion.
Christians in the once-Christian United States have undergone 13 (K-12) or 17 (college) years (or more) of brainwashing in prisoner of war camps known as "public schools." The now-secular U.S. government is at war with Christianity. Christians have been taken captive and taught to repudiate their allegiance to Jesus Christ and to place their trust in the State to be the Savior of the World. The most basic tenets of Christianity -- "Thou shalt not kill," and "Love your enemy" are now forgotten.
Today's churches ignore basic Christian morality in favor of entertainment and "self-esteem."
Imagine that you witness a member of your church enter a notorious strip club or "adult business." Next time you see him you gently but firmly exhort him not to go there again, but he says he needs to "get out of the house every now and then." Then two or three other church members see him returning to that same strip club, and they talk to him about it, and learn that he purchased a two-year pass to the club. After being confronted by church leadership, the man refuses to stop returning or destroy his two-year pass to the Triple-XXX club and is excommunicated, by which act the church tells the world that this man refuses to repent of his violation of the 7th commandment ("Thou shalt not commit adultery" combined with Jesus' warning about lust) and therefore cannot be considered a Christian until he stops.
Now imagine another church member gets a job with the Mafia as a contract killer. As in the example above, church members follow the procedure in Matthew 18, but he refuses to repent of his violation of the 6th commandment ("Thou shalt not kill") and is excommunicated.
Now imagine both men repent, repudiate their sinful actions, and promise never to commit such acts again. They are re-admitted to fellowship in their church.
Now imagine two men in a different church are drafted by the U.S. government to "serve" in the U.S. armed forces. One man (we'll call him John Doe) accepts an assignment as a sniper, or maybe an assignment dropping bombs in selected countries in the Middle East.
|
The other man refuses to "serve." He loses his right to work and faces 5 years in prison and an $85,000 fine.
Which man is urged by his church to repent?
Which man is cheered by his church?
In 1892 the Supreme Court of the United States unambiguously declared that America was "a Christian nation." That decision was thrown out on its ear a few decades later as the 20th century saw the United States become a "secular" nation.
The 1892 case, Holy Trinity Church vs. United States, involved a church which hired a pastor from Great Britain, but was told by an officious immigration bureaucrat that the hiring violated a federal law which, the Court pointed out, was actually designed to prohibit importation of boatloads of Chinese to work on U.S. railroads.
The 20th century case involved a Canadian who wanted to teach at the Yale Divinity School, clearly parallel to the Holy Trinity case. But the Canadian was a Christian who followed the example of the Apostles, who said "We must obey God rather than man." The Canadian respondent, Douglas Clyde Macintosh, refused to promise to bear arms on behalf of the U.S. government if he thought the war was unjust. The Supreme Court ruled that Macintosh could not become a naturalized American citizen because his allegiance to God transcended the allegiance he was willing to give to the U.S. government. The Court said he must render "unqualified
allegiance" to the government.
"Unqualified" means you cannot say, "Sure, I'll obey government laws . . . unless they require me to disobey God."
Any government that puts its own laws ahead of God's Law and refuses to be a government "under God" is a government that thinks it is God.
ICE Agents therefore are "soldiers"
Should churches honor "soldiers" fighting an "invasion?"
How did Jesus command us to respond to "invaders?"
He commands us to love the invaders, and if the invaders enslave us for one mile, go with them two (Matthew 5:39-41).
Armed revolution against "invaders" is anti-Christian.
"Everybody knows" that Jesus commanded His followers to be "pacifists," so someone who is willing to kill and steal and neglect his wife and family is by definition not a follower of Christ. That person needs to repent.
Jesus, the "Prince of Peace," commands us to be "pacifists." He commands us toThe Disease is Described Here:
www.Would Jesus Celebrate Veterans Day.com
The rest of this page is excerpted from that website.
On Memorial Day, Americans honor those Americans who were killed in uniform.
On Veterans Day, Americans honor those Americas who were not killed, but were willing to be killed. Or willing to kill.
In other words, Americans honor those Americans who chose to fight in a war.
I say "chose" even though many were drafted (conscripted), as in the Vietnam conflict. But they had the power to refuse, even though they may have lost their status or even gone to jail. Jesus underwent worse forms of torture. Even those who are drafted have a choice, and can choose to "do violence to no man" (Luke 3:14), no matter what the penalties.
|
Cassius Clay converted to Islam and as Muhammad Ali said he would not fight in a "Christian war." Until the United States Supreme Court unanimously overturned the decision, Ali lost his right to work and faced 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. ($84,069.60 in 2021 dollars)
The Vietnam War was not a "Christian war." No war in the history of the United States can justly be called a "Christian War."
The war on immigrants is also unChristian.
When people ask, "What would Jesus do?," they should really be asking, "What does Jesus command me to do?"
So . . .
. . . would Jesus "honor" those who took up a sword?
51 And suddenly, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand and drew his sword, struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.
52 But Jesus said to him, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?
Matthew 26:51-53
I find it supremely ironic that many veterans and those who are "Rah! Rah!" about the military, and call me names like "pacifist wimp!" and "flower child!" are afraid -- yes, terrorized -- by the prospect of sitting down and intelligently, unemotionally engaging in a rigorous intellectual and Biblical debate of the issues. They don't want to deal in the area of facts, statistics, history, and logic to confront questions like:
Life, liberty, and property. War destroys all three. Every time. No exceptions.
Sympathy but not Honor
I myself on many occasions have succumbed to temptation. I have taken the easy way out rather than courageously take the hard, narrow road of faithful obedience.
When the "the government" tells us that it is good and right to kill and steal and take vengeance, it's easy to obey the government, and do what it tells us to do. It's especially easy if the government threatens violence against us if we don't.
So I can sympathize with those who were told that joining the armed forces was a shrewd career move, a great adventure, a way to avoid college debt, or the best way to "be all you can be."
If the government tells you that war is honorable, isn't it dishonorable to question the government? Isn't it unpatriotic to suspect that the government's war is unjust?
I sympathize with those who never asked these questions but believed the claims of the government's military recruiters, and genuinely and sincerely wanted to help their country. I used to believe that war was good and veterans should be honored.
But good citizenship demands that we question the lies of our government and its recruiters.
America, my country, is an ideal:
• A people who enjoy "Liberty Under God."
• A "City upon a Hill," not a Roman-style empire
• A country once identified by the U.S. Supreme Court as "a Christian nation."
• A place where an immigrant can get off the boat with nothing in his pocket and work and save and eventually live securely under his own "Vine & Fig Tree"
The Federal Government of the United States is an atheistic regime at war with the “Vine & Fig Tree” ideal of "Liberty Under God."
The United States is at war with America.
Armies do not benefit the American ideal of "Liberty Under God." Armies serve the federal government. They do not even defend our borders. They impose the policies of Washington D.C. on people of other nations.
The government in Washington D.C. does not deserve your service. You should not die, you should not allow your neighbor to die, nor should you kill for, the Bush-Obama regime.
The Federal Government of the United States is anti-American.
It is anti-Christ.
I would like you to consider two general claims:
1. No war in U.S. history can be justified according to the teachings of Christ. This includes the moral, economic, and political teachings of Christ, which every scholar should respect.
2. To understand why Christians should not honor the decision to become an ICE agent requires an understanding of
For a defense of the proposition that no U.S. war has been morally, economically, or politically justified, just keep reading down below.
To gain an understanding of
Go here: www.PeacemakerCoaching.org
and sign up for our online home-study program.
The purpose of this program is to help you become a "peacemaker" and enjoy the blessings Christ promises to peacemakers. This program helps you resist the promises of the military recruiters, politicians, and those who are dependent upon government redistribution of wealth. This program will give you a Christian worldview.
So here's where we are.
It seems obvious to me, but at this point, you may be saying to yourself, "I'm not changing my mind. Sure, some of this is interesting, but nobody's perfect." This is not about achieving some saintly, ethereal level of super-spirituality. This is rock-bottom bedrock minimum level Christianity: "Thou shalt not kill." "Love your enemy." When someone does something you don't like, you don't kill him -- at least if you're a follower of the executed Christ.
"But Jesus was not a pacifist," we're told in pulpits every Memorial Day. This claim is always based on Jesus overturning the tables in the temple. But what are Christians commanded to do in the face of "tables" of war making? Shouldn't we overturn them? In fact, Christians have done so. Over the centuries, Christians have applied the teachings of Christ to international conflict, and through the use of such ideas as "just war theory," the world became incomparably more humane than it was in the ancient world, where "an eye for an eye" operated on a national scale. The number of wars recorded in the Old Testament is staggering. When ancient Assyria conquered a city, for example, it left a mound of human skulls at the gates as a lesson to other nations that would not heed Assyria's demands. Up until 1776, Christianity was eliminating this terror, vengeance, and mass-slaughter from civilized society. In fact, civilized society is another word for Christian society.
But during the 20th century, Christians have become more "pacifist" in the worst sense of that misunderstood word, by retreating from the world, yearning for "the Rapture," and passively allowing atheists to secularize this once-Christian nation. Some say this retreat began in 1925 with the Scope's Trial, in which evolution seemed to gain the upper hand over creationism. But the retreat began even before that.
As a result of Christian retreat, formerly Christian nations around the world became secularized, and their military and political leaders -- Christians in name only -- plunged the world into mass death on an unprecedented scale.
Since I became a pacifist years ago, I've talked (debated) with many people. Not very successfully, I confess. I've concluded that there are only two ways to convince most conservative "Bible-believing" Christians to become pacifists.
First, they must be convinced that peace is possible. Right now, the vast majority of Christians believe that peace is impossible because war is predestined. We are moving inexorably toward Armageddon, according to millions of copies of best-selling Christian fiction. We are in the "last days" of earth history, the last days before a billion people are destroyed in the Battle of Armageddon, and the entire planet is annihilated after the Christians are "Raptured."
If war and destruction is predestined, why resist the inevitable? And by "resist" I don't mean "be a pacifist war resister," I mean resist destruction by enlisting in the military and fighting the destroyers, by taking up arms against the "enemy." Why fight a war to end war if war is inevitable? Why not follow Jesus, and die like He did, without killing anyone on the way out? If we can't create peace on earth, why not go out following Jesus instead of going out killing others?
"Christians" who believe the world is getting worse and war is inevitable still feel the need to participate in those wars, rather than speak out for peace.
I believe something completely different. I believe the prophecy of Micah 4, and I created an organization in 1979 to promote this belief. The organization is called "Vine & Fig Tree," ( http://VFTonline.org ) and here is Micah's vision:
|
I believe the fulfillment of this prophecy was made possible at Christ's First Coming, and we are not to wait for a Second Coming before peace is possible. We should begin hammering our swords into plowshares today.
The Apostle Peter says a thousand years is as a day to the Lord (2 Peter 3:8) so we've just started the third "day" of Christian history, and already tremendous progress has been made. Christian theologians before 1776 tempered the residual harshness of ancient practices like war, even as Christians have continued (though never perfectly) to follow Christ and proclaim His pacifist teachings. If the Apostles were to travel through time into our age, they would see the tremendous effects of Christianity: our freedoms, our health and welfare, and the fact that billions of people in our day are relatively free from war. What we need to do is grow up, mature, be courageous, and eliminate the remaining wars. A hundred million committed Christians in the United States is all that is required to accomplish this.
Coming to believe this requires a major transformation in thinking which can only be accomplished in one way, I've concluded. In order for your average conservative Bible-believing Christian to oppose war and work for peace, he or she must read through the entire Bible in one year, asking a set of specific questions along the way:
Keep a journal, and when you've finished reading the entire Bible from cover-to-cover, go back and re-assess your "yes" answers.
The Declaration of Independence speaks of "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Romans 1 says mankind shows the work of the law written on his heart. All human beings know that God exists, and that we are not to kill and not to steal.
If killing is wrong, and if taking other people's money by force is wrong, then how do we justify government vengeance and taxation to fund it?
We can't. Nowhere in Scripture does God override the commands not to steal ("tax") and kill ("bold new foreign policy").
If you would like to survey the Bible in about two hours, you can see what this year-long Bible study will reveal. I have summarized this view in a format made famous by Martin Luther: 95 Theses.
OK, maybe it will take more than two hours to look up all the verses cited. So let me state two propositions:
Proposition #1 above teaches that laissez-faire capitalism is Biblical, and socialism is not. Some have called this "anarcho-capitalism," and Christians go ga-ga over the word "anarchism." This is because they have fallen prey to the biggest socialist lie in human history. In the Bible, "anarchists" are not bad. "Archists" are bad. Christ commanded His followers not to be "archists" (Mark 10:42-45). Use whatever word you want to describe people who follow Christ, and who do not attempt to dominate others using violence or compulsion. They are not archists.
Proposition #2 above teaches us that Christ's Kingdom grows like a mustard seed into a huge tree. It also teaches us that the Kingdom is not handed to us on a silver platter. Micah says we must move our legs and get on the road to the House of the Lord. We have to beat our own swords into plowshares. None of this is done for us while we watch TV.
Combined with pacifism, these themes completely re-orient a person's understanding of the Bible. But only these themes allow a person to be a dedicated follower of Christ. Otherwise, too much of what Christ says seems misguided, irrelevant, appropriate only for a future dispensation, or directed only to "saints" and "super-spiritual" people, not ordinary Americans.
If you want help reading and studying the Bible, and becoming a true follower of "The Prince of Peace," go here and get a coach:
My goal is to get one hundred million Americans to read or re-read the Bible and specifically ask themselves if "anarchism," preterism, and pacifism are true or not. Then, after this one-year study convinces them that they are true, commit to at least one hour a month working for peace. This will include contacting politicians, generals, and CEOs of the military-industrial complex, along with ordinary voters and workers, and urging them to repent of war-voting and war-making. One hundred million Christian Americans will constitute the most formidable political power on earth. They will be a voting block that will change the way the world's greatest super-power does business.
The sad fact is, that the United States has done more to promote war than any other nation. The encouraging fact is that the United States has the power to become a "City upon a hill," and Christianize the world -- without the sword.
Unrepentant soldiers should be excommunicated from our churches
Here are the points I want to make. I would like to organize them a little better.
People should be excommunicated if they refuse to repent of sin.
Killing people is a sin.
The Muslim boxer Muhammad Ali was a better Christian than most Christians, because he refused to kill innocent people in Vietnam.
James 1:27 -- pure religion is protecting widows and orphans, not creating widows and orphans by killing husbands and fathers.
Christians should spend more time reading their bible and less time consuming CIA press releases on FoxNews or CNN
Public school students are like POW's being brainwashed in an enemy war camp
A church should excommunicate unrepentant soldiers as quickly as they should excommunicate unrepentant adulterers.
War is obviously contrary to the teachings of the Bible. You have to get a Ph.D. to believe otherwise.
America was once a Christian nation, but today Christians born in foreign countries cannot become naturalized U.S. citizens if they don't support the military-industrial-congressional complex.
America should have a national holiday to honor peacemakers. It already has four to honor war makers.
We can be sympathetic to those who did not resist militarist pressure to deny Christ, but we cannot honor their choice. We should honor peacemakers instead.
"thank you for your service" Who did they serve? Not the people they killed. Not U.S. taxpayers. They served politicians and millionaire CEO's of defense contractors.
Christians have enough electoral power to end nearly all wars on planet earth today.
How Veterans Day got started: End of WWI. Not one Christian in a million could get a passing grade on a 6th-grade class book report on why the U.S. entered WWI.
No war in U.S. history can be justified according to the teachings of Christ.
We are at war -- make no mistake about that.
|
3 We do live in the world, but we do not fight in the same way the world fights. 4 We fight with weapons that are different from those the world uses. Our weapons have power from God that can destroy the enemy’s fortresses. We destroy people’s arguments 5 and every proud thing that raises itself against the knowledge of God. We capture every thought and make it surrender and obey Christ. |
We are to leave vengeance and force to God (Romans 12:14ff). That means we are not to be "archists." No human being has the moral right to use "the sword" to spread Christianity. Or to spread anything else, for that matter.
Jesus is the only legitimate "Archist." Jesus is the only legitimate Christ. The only legitimate King.
Jesus is the Christ.
In 2026, almost nobody believes that statement to be true.Most people might think that the juxtaposition of "Jesus" and "Christ" is obvious. But when you dig deeper, it appears that this is the most controversial proposition on planet earth.
And -- most surprisingly -- the vast, overwhelming majority of professing, church-going (or non-churching) Christians do not believe that Jesus is the Christ today.
This website defends the proposition that Jesus is the Messiah right now, and has fulfilled or is fulfilling all the "messianic prophecies" -- even those prophecies most Christians reserve for "the millennium."
Jesus is the Christ.
The two most controversial words in that statement are the words "IS" and "THE."
|
Most church-going Christians believe that Jesus will become the Messiah at a future Christmas, a future advent, a future "Second Coming." But the word "IS" -- present tense -- is the wrong word to use about Jesus being the Messiah. To say that Jesus "is" the Messiah is to say that He already became the Messiah and began ruling in the past. The word "preterit" is from the Latin word for "past," and the idea that Jesus began ruling as Messiah in the past is called "the heresy of preterism." |
|
The word "Christ" also has many meanings. The basic meaning is "anointed," as in "king" (Matthew 21:5 ), e.g., "King of Israel" (John 1:49). Jesus is also called a "Ruler" (Micah 5:2), a "Potentate" (1 Timothy 6:15 ), a "Governor" (Matthew
2:6 ), a "Captain" (Hebrews 2:10 ), a "Prince" (Isaiah 9:6 ), and many other words (some of which we aren't familiar with in our day, like "Horn" [Luke 1:69 ]) which are political in nature.
Many political terms can be inferred:
Our point is that Jesus is the -- THE -- the ONLY -- legitimate king, prince, ruler, president, prime minister, governor, legislator, judge, and potentate. If we simply practice what we preach -- by obeying His commandments -- we will have a peaceful, orderly, and prosperous society. All other earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates are illegitimate usurpers, impostors, wanna-be's, and anti-Christs. |
I know what you're thinking. "What are you, some kind of ANARCHIST?" That suspicion is the kind of thing we were all taught in schools run by earthly kings, princes, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, governors, legislators, judges, and potentates. We are never taught what Jesus taught.
Jesus said the kings of the gentiles love to impose their will on other people by political and military force, but Christ's followers are not to do these things (Mark 10:42-45). Mark uses the Greek word from which we get our English word "anarchist." He says the kings of the Gentiles love to be "archists." But Christians are NOT to be "archists." So some folks will say all this talk about Jesus being THE Ruler -- the only legitimate Ruler -- will lead to "anarchy." Obeying Jesus as the Christ will certainly lead to the elimination of bloodthirsty empires and their Caesars, Pharaohs, and Führers. But it will certainly not lead to chaos and lawlessness (which is what most people have been trained to think of when they hear the word "anarchism" or contemplate the absence of "archists" in the swordless Kingdom of Christ).
Taken together, the two words "IS" and "THE" are branded as the heresy of "anarcho-preterism."
This website maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the real meaning of Christmas."
This website maintains that "anarcho-preterism" is "the Gospel."
Exodus 20
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
What are "gods?"
Answer: "archists"
In the Bible, "gods" are politicians, emperors, and military conquerors (or images of those Pharaohs, Caesars, and Führers, or the demons behind the political puppets). In the New American Standard Bible, the word "gods" in Exodus 20:3 is translated "judges" in Exodus 22:8-9 (and Exodus 21:6 in the KJV), "rulers" in Psalm 82:1 (compare Psalm 138:1), and "mighty prince" in Genesis 23:6. After the gods (Pharaohs, Caesars, and Führers) successfully invade and subjugate a people, they brainwash the enslaved masses into believing that their masters are actually their "benefactors" (Luke 22:25).
Luke 22:24-27 is Luke's account of the conversation in Mark 10:42-45.
24 Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves.”
The English word "benefactors" is the Greek, εὐεργέτης, euergétēs. The prefix eu is "good." The word ἔργον is "deed," "work" or "mission." Together they create a political title, which Thayer's Lexicon describes as
Soter is the Greek word for "savior." As we will see below, a "savior" in the Bible is primarily a political figure.
- Nehemiah 9:27
- Therefore You gave them into the hand of their enemies, who made them suffer. And in the time of their suffering they cried out to You and You heard them from heaven, and according to Your great mercies You gave them saviors who saved them from the hand of their adversaries (cp. Luke 1:71,74).
These "adversaries" were the false "gods" of the nations.
In the Bible, "salvation" usually means "freedom from archists." God's Word promises that if we obey His Law, He will not send archists against us. If we disobey, He promises to send evil, that is, "governments." Salvation is seen in Exodus 20:2
I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
"Anarchism" is seen in verse 3:
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
The God of the Bible is the only Governor we need.
- Isaiah 33:22
- For the LORD is our Judge,
The LORD is our Lawgiver,
The LORD is our King;
He will save us
You can see in that verse the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive branches of the messianic U.S. Government, a government which claims to bring salvation, but has driven out the true God from public schools, and is a false god that is bringing God's curse upon this people. All empires are false gods and false saviors, and consistent Christians are eventually persecuted as political threats -- "anarchists."
"Anarchism" -- no earthly archist/saviors -- is the Gospel -- the "Good News" of "Salvation" by the True Archist.
"strangers" on this website - KevinCraig.us - Google Search
