I think I seen the same video, if it's the one about a lady having her outdoor cafeteria shut down. Not really a socialist either, but leadership should lead by example. If you say, people can't get paid, then you should be the first offer up your salary, and not get paid. That is what being a leader is. Do what I say, and not as I do, is a dictatorship.
I'm not one to for revolt or rebellion, I see Christ offering his life, and rebuking Peter for drawing a sword. Now I think what the Pilgrims did is fair game though, move to a land that offers freedom of religion.
They are shutting down churches and forbidden church meetings, this constitutes a religious restriction, which doesn't sit well with me. Freedom of religion is not a privilege, but a God given right.
Yes her restaurant was shut down but a movie company's outdoor dining 25 feet away was not! My what a choosy coronavirus we have...
I agree leaders should lead by example but the ones in office don't seem to be of high caliber.
I thought about it a lot, especially in light of Scripture that tells us to obey government. Chuck Baldwin refuted that faulty interpretation. Also, people in times past were not passive. Look at how the allied forces had to battle Hitler. What if Christians had sat there waiting for God to act instead of acting to free the persecuted Jews? I see far too many passive Christians when we're told in Scripture that we're co-laborers with God.
I'm an avid reader and also watch many documentaries. What was done to the Jews was an atrocity. What was particularly interesting was that they interviewed the support personnel, such as nurses, who helped kill imperfect babies. They asked why they did it and they answered: "Because I was told to."
If you look up Milgram's experiment, you can see how average people can deliver painful shocks to their fellow humans if told to do so by an "authority." The experiment was quite chilling and shows how average people can turn off their conscience if an authority figure orders them to harm a fellow human.
So I don't think we're to sit waiting to be raptured out or for Christ to step in. Of course I believe we're to keep our eye on the signs of the time to watch for his return, but I also believe that we're to be proactive in trying to make the world a better place while we're here. Patrick Wood has a good idea of getting involved in one's local politics/ government. If Christians aren't a restraining power then who is going to be?
The story that you refer to about Peter cutting off the soldier's ear was situational: Christ knew that specific happenings had to be fulfilled: "Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?"
I don't think that means that our response should
always be passive. I think passivity among Christians has brought us to the terrible place that we are now at: multitudes of babies being aborted and their body parts sold. Filth coming out of Hollywood. Legislators who act like little Hitlers. I'm a firm believer that Christians should be the most
proactive people there are. We are warned in fact that there are sins of commission as well as sins of
omission.
I tried to get friends to do the simplest act of contacting legislators about bills that were coming up and they refused to even do that. There was a kind of smug belief that they were more spiritual because they trusted God to do it all. I don't believe that God is going to hold them guiltless. They ignore verses like this:
1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
Ephesians 2:10 - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Proverbs 18:9 - He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 - For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Proverbs 14:23 - In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips [tendeth] only to penury.
So I'm a believer in being proactive. We know that things are to wax worse - it was foretold to us that it would be 'as in the days of Noah' but nowhere in Scripture do I see God telling us to sit passively by and accept our lot until Christ returns. I see the opposite: we are to work and try to make the world a better place during our time here. There is much work to do.
I agree with you that it's really wrong to shut churches down. I was grateful for those pastors who refused to shut down. We need iron sharpening iron. You can't go to church but you can go into a liquor store? It's insanity.
