23 July 2023
Insofar as what I do can be called ministry, my primary mission is supporting religious nonconformists. It's not really about refusing to conform, but hearing the beat of a different drum. This is the call of conviction, telling you that you don't belong to the mainstream. It's the voice of God.
One of the fundamental teachings of Radix Fidem is that this world is supposed to be chaotic and messy. To be mortal is to be in prison, under a curse. God has revealed the very best possible way to live in this prison; it's called the Covenant. The promises of the Covenant are extravagant in some ways, but distinctly limited in others. We have been warned not to expect a change in the fundamental nature of this world as the fallen realm of existence.
In general, we are warned to focus on our testimony. Not that we could perform so well, but that we could desire the right things. Holiness is in the desire, the commitment, not in the success. We are warned not to expect our fleshly natures to play along. It's a real chore, and we are guaranteed to fail mostly.
Right away, we are reminded of just how badly some of us have been burned by mainstream religious institutions that don't seem to get that message. It's not about performance, but the longing for a release from this life, the burden of dragging around a combative fleshly nature that tries to torpedo everything God wants for us. The call within our souls warns us that the mainstream often hinders what little hope we have for peace with God.
It boils down to this: The world is a training ground for Eternity. The deck is stacked against us. We aren't supposed to succeed in concrete terms, but to learn to care about pleasing the Lord. All He cares about is our desire to please Him. That's what "salvation" means.
Because this is a training situation, He will test us by giving us conflicting guidance. He makes demands that cannot possibly be harmonized across all His covenant people. It's supposed to be impossible; that's part of the training experience. It's not about success, but how you fail.
The real question: Can you maintain a driving commitment to things you cannot possibly do? Because your commitment is the whole point.
We are sternly commanded to live in peace with each other as covenant people. Obviously, that requires covenant people to be flexible with each other. It means making lots of room for variations. A religious institution that seeks uniformity is an abomination to God. Even when you reduce all the conflicts to a minimum by having a very homogeneous group, there still ought to be some discord.
And on top of that, we ought to at least try to be at peace with outsiders. Of course, that isn't at all the same kind of thing. Have you noticed that the single greatest element of your dealing with outsiders is how you deal with each other? That's essentially what "love your neighbor" means. That word "neighbor" in Hebrew culture, and in the mouth of Jesus, is defined as your covenant family, not "strangers" from outside of the Covenant. It's complicated. You must uphold a high moral standard for the world to see, but still be very giving with your brothers and sisters within the boundaries, and at the same time show compassion for those outside who don't have a clue.
But the thing most mainstreamers miss is that, in the balance of things, you must be fiercely tribal about your covenant family. You'll die for them, but you'll also kill to protect them. That is, by definition, obedience to God's command to be at peace with the outside world. If you pay attention to the whole chapter of Romans 13, you'll get that. The only real question is knowing when to kill and when to die.
The Bible is loaded with warnings to bear up under persecution for your covenant faith. It also says you can fight back when the trouble is not about your faith. When the sorrows of human conflict are simply politics, you need to stand up for your covenant family. No, not stand up for yourself, but your covenant family. If you end up standing alone in the Covenant, it's still about the Covenant, not you.
As long as you imagine the conflicts are about your faith, you have a duty to face it without fighting back. If you realize that it's just pure social and political conflict, then you are free to decide whether it's appropriate to resist. It does not matter how you arrive at your social and political positions. What matters is your best understanding of why those outsiders are using force against you. It's not a question of what they say about it, but whether they are really attacking your faith or just your human choices.
By now, you realize this is where almost everyone in American mainstream religion gets it backward. They insist that they are being persecuted for their faith, but then they want to fight. That's wrong. If it's about your faith, then you must face the lions in the Colosseum. If you are going to fight, then it better be nothing more than human political wrangling.
And there's no sin at all in defending your political and social positions with violence. Just stop playing the morality card and bogging down in propaganda warfare. Defend what you have simply because you have it. Don't talk about it; start shooing when they start grabbing it. Otherwise, walk away because it's not worth fighting for.
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