The Resistance – Repentance – Part 1B

Continued from yesterday…

Acknowledge Corporate Sin

In our churches, we need leaders who will help us see the big corporate sins of our age. We’ve often softened our congregations up on the easy topics that leave us feeling justified. It’s easy to rail against greed – especially when we think it is something that only rich people have. And rich people are people who earn at least $25,000 more than me. It’s easy to turn our applications into calls for more people to give up time in their ‘secular’ callings to spend more time helping out in the church institution. These soft and convenient applications have become staple.

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The Resistance – Repentance Part 1A

In a recent short article, we suggested that in New Zealand, and probably much of the Western world, find ourselves on the ‘edge’ of something. And when I say “something”, I do not mean pink cupcakes with chocolate sprinkles. More the kind of something that Gandalf refers to when sitting with Pippin on the walls of Minas Tirith and says, “It’s the deep breath before the plunge.” The war is about to heat up. It’s been slowly simmering, but the rate of temperature increase is starting to look exponential, and war looks imminent. Let’s hope for better things, but prepare for this eventuality.

What ought we to do in these times? As I continued to consider the ten suggestions for the Christian Resistance which I proposed previously, I realized that many ideas intertwined and overlapped. As you will see, there will be some repetition in our series “The Resistance”, but that is good, because repetition brings ideas to the forefront of our minds, and there are some things that we Christians have allowed to drift to the back of our minds that ought to be front and centre.

So today and tomorrow we look at the first ‘ought’  for the Christian Resistance. We must acknowledge our individual and corporate sin as the reason we find ourselves in this current situation and repent by making changes where Christ in his Word calls for change.

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Education is not simply a means of data transfer. It is not reducible to state-certified techniques. Education, when it succeeds, is the result of a child wanting to be like someone else. If you take away the drive train, can you really be surprised that the car won’t go? Fathers are essential to any successful school system, and no system of education can successfully compensate for the abdication of fathers.

Douglas Wilson in Father Hunger

Education and Fathers

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What’s Happening in Australia

COVID has shown how fragile our rights are as citizens. We’ve been locked in our houses. We’ve been told where we can go and for what reason. We’re forced to wear dirty rags that hinder our breathing if we want to enter shops or public buildings. Some of us have been told we’ll lose our jobs unless we get vaccinated and to hell with ‘my body my choice.’ And if you have the temerity to protest these totalitarian developments, you get to see the not so kind face of this new totalitarianism. Thankfully there are some media organisations who are showing truthfully what is happening.

Wilberforce and Modern Christians

When Christopher Luxon gave his maiden speech, I was astounded by how many Christians were excited by what he had to say. I was disappointed. Yes, he pointed out the difference his faith has made to his life. He pointed out that it was helpful having something bigger than oneself.

Yet he then went to show how ill-thought-out his theology of politics was – a shameful thing in a Christian seeking to lead in civil government, but unsurprising given the weak state of the church in New Zealand. In his maiden speech, Luxon praised and highlighted the work of Christians like William Wilberforce who worked tirelessly for the abolition of the slave trade. Yet in a contradictory fashion, he continued by explaining his faith was personal to him and that he didn’t think religion should dictate to the state, and that politicians shouldn’t use their political platform to force beliefs on others.

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Theology of Government and COVID – Part 2

Welcome to part two of this series looking at a Biblical theology of government and certain applications to our current cultural moment. For links to the other installments, see the list below.

  1. Principle #1 – Civil Governments have a Legitimate Authority
  2. Principle #2 – Civil Governments have a Limited Authority
  3. Principle #3 – Theocracy is Inescapable
  4. Principles Applied

In today’s episode, we are looking at the second principle regarding the limited authority of civil governments.

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