08 June 2024
I have one mission: to find my spiritual family. From the human position, I have no idea who most of them are. My heart knows they are out there, and I long to fellowship with them. I want them to come in from the cold. I'm a shepherd seeking the lost sheep; I'm calling out with the voice of the Good Shepherd. He is using me to sound His song.
In order to get their attention, it is necessary to participate in the social order in which they are living. It's not enough to simply speak the same language. These days, that means showing up where they are likely to pass. Of course, that means the virtual social order, so long as that exists.
This is a mandate from God. If I shrink back simply because of the risks of government oppression, then I cannot reach those lost sheep. Hiding from the hand of human evil will not promote the gospel message; the sheep are in those hands right now. They cannot know that their Shepherd is calling them if His voice does not sound in their hearing. He has appointed me to be His echo, and I have to go where they are.
Hiding from the government online is not the right way to do this. If I don't expose myself to the same hazards the lost sheep are facing, then I cannot get near them.
In the long run, no human government can harm me. They can steal physical property and even take my human life, but they cannot even do those things without my Father's permission. As long as He needs me in the field, He will hinder their hands. The message will not be silenced as long as the Father wants it heard.
My use of mainstream technology does expose me to censorship. Online, the mainstream technology is the government agent that could threaten me. It will be the means by which the political government oppresses and silences me, to the degree the Lord allows it. Whatever threat there is online comes through Big Technology. The political government uses them, too, as does the bulk of the lost sheep.
Those of you who seek to warn me about the threats can stop now. I'm aware of them. They are not sufficient reason to fall silent. They are simply the background against which I project the gospel message. I have no real interest in protecting my human existence. I am expendable; my life was forfeited a long time ago. All the money, time and other resources I've invested into the technology I use are easily replaced by my Father's hand. And if He chooses not to, only then will I become silent. But I will not hide.
The biblical warning about debt slavery is not a matter of sin and holiness. Like everything else in this world of flesh, it's a question of knowing what you have chosen to sacrifice on the altar of Covenant service. Paul didn't avoid sharing the gospel message with slaves, knowing they would be under restrictions in their Covenant service. It wasn't a waste of effort. It was never a question of what could be accomplished in human terms. The gospel message pays no attention to efficiency as men measure it. It is extravagant and wasteful. Paul was seeking the lost sheep wherever they were.
Here's the thing: Those lost sheep hidden in obscure corners are not going to be found by digging for those hidden places. That's the whole point of hiding. They still have their eyes on the mainstream; that's where they see my message. Every time I've touched someone hiding out like that, it was from out in the public view.
I'm going to stay out here calling to the the lost sheep in the voice they recognize.
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