This ‘battle’ has consumed me. It affects how my mind works while reading God’s Word. The ‘sins of this world’ do seem to be attracted to centralization of power.
- Pride
- Greed
- Lust
- Envy
- Gluttony
- Wrath
- Sloth
So while these are commonly applied to people on an individual level, they should also be examined on a community, and even international level – wherever and to whatever level humans are involved.
This is democracy, in a nutshell. The majority of people are prone to sin. Think of voting. When you vote, consider your support – what drives it. Will ‘my candidate’ support my envy by taxing the rich? Will he support my greed by subsidizing my industry? Will he support my gluttony and sloth by implementing government services so I can just consume and don’t have to directly be involved with (participate in) the betterment of my community? Will he support my wrath by wielding the sword of judgment against those who harmlessly think and act in ways I might not approve? Will he satisfy lustful thirsts by endorsing sexual deviancy? Will he feed my pride by saying things I agree with, regardless of applicability in a constitutional republic?
Strange things happen when fear is pushed away in efforts to pursue righteousness. What prevents most people from standing up to corruption in government? After all, they do hold the most guns… Fear most likely prevents resolve. I remember shuddering a bit after hearing my own words in a reflection. “Taxes!? MOLON LABE!!!” was something I said out loud, and in a public posting. “Bring your guns and bring them all!” was also in there somewhere. My passion was grounded in a firm belief that the roots of the problems we have in our country are being watered with tax money. Think about the limitations our founders placed on government in the constitution. More clearly, the specific duties that the government is designed to perform, and no more. But alas, compare the limitation of duties to those which the government gladly allowed over the centuries to have been placed on them. Centralized powers in driving the economy through regulation, tax, and tax relief? Goes beyond ‘bearing the sword to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil’ wouldn’t you say?
So yes, I shuddered with a tinge of fear. I imagined the end result being me bleeding out from having a bullet puncture my chest. Then I became oddly okay with that. The manner in which that fear left me was unexpected.
“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed…” – Somewhere in God’s master plan, I will someday draw my last breath. My heart will drum its last beat. The acceptance of that became real.
“…Courage to change the things which should be changed…” – After accepting my ‘someday finality’ as truth, I was left with a conscious understanding that the end is not yet here. I continue to draw breath, my heart continues to beat. But quite importantly, my love and will continues to fiercely rage. I look at my wife and kids and know that my breath and heartbeat, I dedicate to them – after our Lord and Savior.
“…and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other…” – Causation and intentionality were at the front of my mind. We read in 2 Corinthians 11:12-15 that “Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of light”. Now… why would he do that? Why would he want to appear as something good, but still have an end in death and separation from our Lord? This is how I view socialism. Easy to sell to those who take comfort in what ‘fruit’ it offers on the surface. But this ‘tree’ is watered through coercive taxation, sold with sayings that feed into envy, “the rich need to pay” and suggests that an honorable level of actual altruism can be substituted by paying your taxes to fund welfare programs. And we expect the fruit from a tree watered as such to be nourishing to our country’s health?
Now we are aware that taxes fund atrocities such as:
- Abortion
- Public schools that deny the Holy Bible – in educating children
- Critical Race Theory (CRT) in educating children
- Sexual deviancy/gender dysphoria affirmation enforcement – in educating children
- Welfare socialism programs
It seems too clear to me that the above are recipes for the destruction of God’s blessed institution of community.
Another of God’s blessed institutions is the state. A worthy protectorate of our God-given rights. An institution to dispel evil, worthy of cheerful voluntary tribute. Tribute of both money and time. But when I’m told I must (or else) pay to fund the destruction of one of God’s blessed institutions, how shall I respond but with, “No. Draw your weapon and come at me.”
But, that is a bit extreme. It doesn’t need to come to that. The tax collector is a living breathing man. An eternal soul presently occupying a temporal body, feet of clay, much like mine. A breath of life is in him, much like myself. So maybe I should respond with, “No. But let’s sit down and talk about this as children of nature, and nature’s God, with our weapons holstered.”
Great insight, and a rare level of discernment!
Hope to hear more from you Ryan.
Thank you!
What a beautiful, intelligent, concise piece Ryan Millls. You capture the way many feel these days about the many dysfunctions of society today!