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Or perhaps a less-confusing way to state it,
"Christians cannot join those archists." Do you know who the
"archists" are?
1. Jesus Forbids His Followers to be "Archists."
The classic passage in which Jesus forbids us
to be "archists"
is Mark 10:42-45
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 word
"anarchist." Jesus clearly says His followers are not
to be "archists."
In fact, God hates archists.
2. God Hates Archism
Who Are "Archists?"
You're bound to find the word "archist"
from time to time in Vine & Fig Tree
web pages. But it's not a word you're likely to find in any dictionary. It
was a word that was created to make a point.
People sometimes criticize Vine & Fig
Tree for being "anarchist." What they fail to
realize is that Jesus commanded His followers to be
"anarchists." He did this when He told them not to
be "archists" ("anarchist" = "a" [not] +
"archist" [opposite of "servant"]) but since no one
knows what an "archist" is, they don't understand why true
Christians are "an-archists."
Here are some more verses which use the word "archist."
Do YOU want to be an archist?
Ephesians 2:2 in which you
once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of
disobedience,
1 Corinthians 2:6-8 However, we speak
wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor
of the rulers of this age, who
are coming to nothing. {7} But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,
the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, {8}
which none of the rulers of this
age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of
glory.
| Romans
13:1-3 Let every soul be subject unto the higher exousiai
[pl.]. For there is no exousia
but of God: the exousiai
that be are ordained of God. {2} Whosoever therefore resisteth the exousia,
resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive
to themselves damnation. {3} For archists
are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not
be afraid of the exousia?
do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: |
Ephesians
6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against exousiai,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.
Colossians 2:15
And having spoiled archists
and exousiai,
He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in Him. |
Acts 4:26 The kings of the
earth stood up, and the archists
were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ.
John 12:31 Now is the
judgment of this world: now shall the archist
of this world be cast out.
What Do "Archists" Do?
Archists attempt to convince us that when things don't go the way we
would like them to go, we can resort to violence
to change matters. Even if nothing will be changed by violence, that's OK,
because making them suffer who made us suffer is called
"justice." Archists thus believe in institutionalized vengeance.
Archists believe in force and
conquest rather than mere persuasion. When preaching fails to gain a
convert, the archist resorts to violence or intimidation (threats of
force).
The Bible clearly links violence
and rulership. The Bible says Israel rejected God when they opted for
archism (1 Samuel 8). Much of the
Old Testament Scriptures describe this archist rebellion, denounce the
violence and death it caused, and record the prophets' message of judgment
from an anti-archist God. Whole books in the Bible chronicle the violence
of the kings. God hates this violence-archism nexus, and when His patience
is crossed, He will destroy all those involved in this "patriotism."
| Genesis 6 Now it came to pass,
that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were
beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they
chose. {4} There were giants on the earth in those days, and also
afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men
and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty
men who were of old, men of renown. {5} Then the
LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually. {11} The earth also was corrupt before God, and the
earth was filled with violence.
{12} So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for
all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. {13} And God said
to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the
earth is filled with violence
through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. |
Above all previous centuries, the 20th century was characterized by:
- Secular Humanism: Rebellion
Against Christ the True Archist
- Leviathan: Huge,
centralized governments
- Violence: More murders
than any previous century. "Legal" murders.
But most Christians don't care about violence. Most Christians don't
care about archism. They only care about "personal peace and
affluence." They're just waiting around for the rapture, and if they
can skim a little pork off the top of the archist barrel before they go,
all the better. Their archist apathy makes God puke (Revelation 3:16).
Death by Government: The Chilling Statistics
of Archist Democide in the 20th Century
Since Christ is the Prince of Peace, it follows that Christians are Pacifists
(from the Latin word for "peace"). And since the State is
institutionalized violence, it follows that Christians are going to be
accused by the State of being "anarchists."
| The most important reason for not being an Archist
is not merely to point a finger at the bad things archists do,
like killing, stealing, kidnapping, and committing other acts of
violence. The most important reason for avoiding archism is the
effect archism has on us. We hear the
philosophers and theologians praise Jesus as a "great
teacher," and everyone gives lip-service to the Sermon on the
Mount. But when a pagan dictator threatens to raise our gas
prices, Jesus takes a backseat to realpolitik. And
everyone learns a subtle lesson: loving your enemies and forgiving
one another is all well and good for our "private
lives," but for public matters --
the "really important stuff" in "the real
world" -- "national security"
takes precedence over "the Great Teacher." Thus when
someone wrongs us, we don't think twice before saying "I'll
sue his pants off!" (See 1
Corinthians 6.)
From a Christian perspective, two things characterize pure
religion. They can be summed up in the words of the Apostle James:
Pure religion
and undefiled before God and the Father is this,
To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and
to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 1:27
Christian Non-archism is the "one pure religion." If
you want to be the kind of person who spontaneously and from the
heart has the compassion of Jesus, and visits the weak and
afflicted, you must keep yourself unspotted from archism.
Your success at treating the most despised members of society
with love and compassion is a divine indicator of your allegiance
to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you treat the
"marginalized" and your "enemies" with
contempt, those acts will be imputed to your account as though you
had personally treated Christ that way (Matthew
25:31ff.).
For this reason, it is absolutely vital that you remain
"unspotted" by the agenda,
mythology, and weltänschauüng of the world of archism. The
world-and-life view of archist culture is summed up in these
phrases:
- "Survival of the fittest,"
- "Looking out for number one,"
- "I'm not going to let him get away with that!"
- "You can't tell me what to do!"
- "Take this job and shove it!"
- "I'll sue his pants off."
It is an impure religion of the worship of self, and the denial
of Christ. It is the refusal to love even your enemy, and to
follow Jesus to the Cross. It is the religion of Secular Humanism.
As a product of government media and schools, this religion has
left your spirit spotted and impure. You must get these ideas
out of your head if you are to find yourself at Christ's right
hand (Matthew 25:34). You must become
"unspotted." You must become "a Christian
anarchist." |
The Christian Anarchist
Homepage picks up where this page leaves off. Continue
reading here.
Interrogatory in Federal
Court by Christian Anarchist
For
Further Study
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