Plundering the Mercenaries: On Knowing What Time It Is
“Something is different. But I contend that it’s not that different…. ‘What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun’ (Eccl. 1:9)…. Even as the world is chaotic, we can be calm, friendly, and convictional in its midst.” - London Lyceum
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But in our current moment, we are moved to think that given the decay of church and society, we must align ourselves with the greatest warriors for Christianity to win, whether they are hired mercenaries with tactics at odds with the Christian faith and tradition or not. It’s not merely that we need to fudge a few facts for the sake of holy subterfuge. It’s time to take the gloves off. No one will have clean hands at the end of this war. Those purists who attempt to leave the world unstained are the very ones laying waste to all that is precious by their refusal to fight for the good. It’s time to beat our ploughshares into swords and our pruning hooks into spears.
But we are not in a brand-new moment. It may not be the 1950’s anymore but it’s not uncharted territory. Nothing new is under the sun.
How we do what we do has always been just as important as what we accomplish. That would be true even if this was “a brand new moment.” But it’s not, so we should allow ourselves to feel less pressure to ignore means in our focus on ends.
This was great, too…
Let me be clearer. Those who act like hired mercenaries by regularly employing deceit for their gain, targeting the same individuals whether they have warrant or not, to the cheers of the online mob, do not lead as the virtuous courageous man does. They are the rash pretender Aristotle warns against. They encourage and incite anger, fear, and cynicism instead of faith, hope, and love. They sustain intellectual cultures of deformed “virtue,” tending away from the mean to excess.
Then he lost me here…
This once again does not mean that there is nothing ever to fear or be angry about. Certainly, there is. And rage is necessary at times. So, it is natural to push back at my claims here. Those like Doug Wilson have the courage to fight the regime. We need that! Much of what they say is true and no one else has the courage to say it.
Well, the thing about courage is that it can’t stand alone. There is zeal and then there is knowledge, or put it another way, there is love and there is knowledge. Paul often put it in terms of faith and love (Gal 5:6, 1 Cor 13:2, Eph. 6:3, 1 Thess 1:3, 3:6). Passion requires information (Phil 1:9). So let’s be courageous… also correct.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
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