22 November 2023
We don't need any human agency's permission to share the gospel; we have a mandate from God.
I can tell you that Substack is checking my posts (but this host isn't). That is, whether internally or through submission to some external filter, Substack has been delaying the release of my posts so that someone can inspect them first. It's not censorship, per se, but it could turn into that. Keep that in mind, folks.
The gospel is not just a matter of doctrinal beliefs. It is a choice to submit your entire existence to the authority of Jesus Christ. You become His feudal vassal; your existence in itself is now a part of His domain. In return, He grants you a certain limited domain to rule on His behalf. That includes your body and mind. You have an obligation to defend those things, along with some amount of physical property that He provides. The latter is not as critical, of course, but we still need to be aware of it as an issue.
We are thus obliged to constantly assess whether some human government decision afflicts Christ's authority over our lives. I don't decide that for you; it's between you and your conscience. Your conscience is the interface to your convictions. Your convictions are eternal, but your brain can't handle that directly, so there's an interface. Your conscience will learn and improve, but that means it is getting better at reading your convictions.
Given what we have seen in recent times, that means nearly any government decision is subject to review. The stakes are rising. We still need to consider the broad expectation that we should avoid provoking government needlessly. On the other hand, our government will not hesitate to lie about everything. And some of those lies are specifically intended to provoke a reaction. Thus, we should be aware that there is a tremendous amount of purely psychological warfare, manipulation of a truly demonic nature.
Let me remind you: The issue here is not an attack on Covenant faith. They aren't even aware of the Covenant. Yes, there are a few government agents keeping track of such things as words, but they don't take us seriously. Rather, they just toss us all into the same box with any other religious noise. As I said before, the issue here is politics, not an attack on faith itself. This is not "persecution" in the purest sense of the word. This is simply oppression of everyone, Covenant or not.
If it were an aggressive attack on faith itself, we would have fewer options for responding. We would then be obliged to embrace that as part of the message itself. We are called to suffer and die for His name. However, this is just a mundane threat against all humanity, with or without faith. We are obliged to resist in various ways, and some will be called upon to resist quite vividly. But there is no broad plan directed from some headquarters; I am no commander. The nature of our resistance is determined by the calling and mission of each, because the whole purpose is not to win any fights, but to glorify the Lord and His message.
Our primary defense is that message. The message includes the packaging. The packaging is the wealth of differences between our culture and that of the ancient Hebrews. It's not the language itself; that would be a burdensome chore that would distract from our highly varied callings. Rather, we should understand how that Hebrew language was different, how the language itself contributed to the packaging of the gospel in terms of how we should think.
In rejecting the western culture, we gain a series of defenses that those outside the Covenant do not have. For example, we don't debate on the particulars of something our government demands. We do not meet them on their choice of battlefield. We check our convictions and stand firm on any given issue. For me, that included the choice to reject the COVID vaxx. Despite the philosophical assumptions behind the government's demands, my body is not a federal asset. It belongs to Christ, and my convictions said the vaxx was a threat to His authority in me, so there was no debate about the particulars. The principle was His lordship over my body, and how the vaxx threatened to deprive Him of my service. I would have been willing to employ violence to avoid the vaxx.
Don't be deceived: That kind of question will arise again. For me, it wasn't an issue this last time; all I faced was some very limited social pressure and a lot of nasty propaganda lies from government and its allies in media and online. My local government refused to enforce the vaxx. The masking and social distance didn't interfere with the gospel, so I played along. But there will be a next time, and it will include new attempts at herding us into something blatantly harmful to our witness. You will have to decide for yourself the details of your resistance.
However, I don't expect another fake plague. My personal bet is that there will be a major false flag event to justify declaring martial law. Elections will be canceled, and there will likely be a firearms confiscation order. Several states will nullify that, and God only knows what happens after that.
Don't get lost in the silly business of rights and laws. The issue is the gospel and Christ's lordship. It's about covenant boundaries and your convictions.
This document is public domain; spread the message.