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This is the final part of my series, ‘Our world has gone mad!’ At the start, I said: I will be tackling politics, economics, globalism and nationalism, the legal and justice systems, communication, healthcare, personal freedom, personal responsibility, and finally, revolution.

We Are Living Through a Revolution

Consider these definitions of ‘revolution’:

an overthrow or repudiation and the thorough replacement of an established government or political system by the people governed. (Dictionary.com)

the overthrow of a government by those who are governed. (Vocabulary.com)

Note the assumption that a revolution refers to the overthrow of the established government by those who are governed.

I suggest that a revolution is currently underway. Our established governments or political systems are being replaced, under our feet. The defeat of dictatorship that took place in World War II gave us Western democracy and the sovereignty of the nation-state — one notable example being the establishment of the State of Israel (14 May 1948).

The madness we see in our world is the consequence of the latest revolution against our established governments or political systems. But this revolution has not come from the people governed but from global powers and corporations.  Sadly, most people, the people governed, cling to the illusion that our established governments and political systems are still operational and functional in the way they were established.

Here in Australia, we no longer have the two sides of politics that the people choose between. Instead, we have a uni-party that receives its instructions from global elites and international corporate giants.

Stop and mourn for a while at the impact of the latest law reform in South Australia that has seen the lawful killing of eight full-term babies at the hands of the medical profession. Meanwhile, most of us try to live our lives as close to normal as we can.

This is a revolution, and we are living through it, whether we can see it or not.

The Farmers Are Revolting

• Angry farmers block streets, dump manure and clash with police in Brussels (Euronews, 27 February 2024)
• Police sprayed with manure as farmers blockade EU HQ (Sky News, 27 February 2024)
• EU Farmers Protests Farmers Protest Across Europe, Press Ministers For Action N18V (CNBC TV18)
• The Revolution of German Farmers | Eva Vlaardingerbroek & Anthony Lee | EP 416 (Jordan Peterson, 23 January 2024)

How do we respond to this news? Are we revolted by the spreading of manure by the farmers? Do you dismiss their cause as some of the protesters resorted to violence?

Jeff Taylor struck a chord for me. He recounted how some of the Belgian police were handing out teacakes to the demonstrators across their barbed wire fence. Their exchange was extremely lighthearted, as it was said that the police understood the farmer’s grievances.

Eva Vlaardingerbroek described the situation by quoting Carl Jung (1875 – 1961):

If you can’t understand someone’s actions (referring to Western governments), you have to look to the consequences for their motives.

The motives:

If we become poorer, we become more dependent on them.

The farmers want to be able to farm efficiently, making a living for themselves and their families. They find their conditions intolerable, so at great personal loss and the loss of food production for their markets, they are prepared to take to the streets.

They want to feed their countrymen, and the people want wholesome, fresh food to eat. It’s as simple as that. The policies and actions of many Western nations are making this increasingly impossible. Similar stories have been seen from the developing world; remember Sri Lanka?

Should the farmers protest; should they be mounting a revolution against the established government and political system? If I were a farmer, I would be with them; I would be taking the teacakes from the police, but I would not be engaged in violence. I would hope that I could model my protest on Mahatma Gandhi (1869 – 1948).

Revered the world over for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was known to his many followers as Mahatma, or “the great-souled one”. (History.com)

The farmers are on the current front line against the establishment. But stand back. Why are they, the governed, revolting against their established leaders?

They are hurting. Some have already been driven off their lands by economic pressure. Some have been driven from their motherlands by economic, social and political pressure. It seems to me that their governments are not serving them any longer; they are plainly oppressing them.

This indicates to me that these national governments have, in turn, been overthrown by the global governments, intent on their vision for utopia. I no longer believe that local government stands for my interests. I no longer believe that my state government has my back, and I no longer believe that our federal government has any allegiance to my Judeo-Christian values. They do not serve me.

Should Christians Revolt?

What should I do? If I have lost faith in the established government and political system? If I believe that our national leaders are being manipulated by evil intent and that our democratic system is so broken, my vote can’t change a thing?

Should I be like a lamb led to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers, silent (Isaiah 53:7)? It seems to me that Christians, afraid of conflict because they don’t want to get hurt, hide behind the spiritual cloak of turning the other cheek and not making waves. (Matthew 5:38-40)

I give you one of the Proverbs:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,

for the rights of all who are destitute.

Speak up and judge fairly;

defend the rights of the poor and needy. (Proverbs 31:8-9)

This question of whether Christians should revolt is becoming increasingly pertinent in our day. But, looking at the lives of Bible characters, both Old and New Testament, they did not appear to waver on this question. They seemed to be quite resolute. Consider Esther, Daniel, and Jesus’ Apostles in the Acts, to name but a few.

This Proverb gives us a fresh perspective. We are called to speak up for the voiceless, and we are to champion the cause of the poor and needy. In other words, we are to stand for others and not count the cost to ourselves.

We might be able to navigate life not violating our own conscience, but only because we have closed our eyes and shut our ears to the destitute and the poor and needy. We live in peaceful, clean and tidy neighbourhoods. We have fellowship with respectable friends at church. We live in our bubble that shuts off engagement with the wider community and with politics.

We get uncomfortable when the wider community and politics comes home to us. For example, a family member wants to change sex, have an abortion or marry someone of their own sex. Or we have to stop addressing that girl at school as a ‘she’ or a ‘her’, but from now on, call her a ‘him’ and a ‘he’.

We get uncomfortable when anti-Jewish hatred is paraded on our streets, and the authorities turn a blind eye, at the same time as someone praying silently outside an abortion clinic is arrested.

I put it to you: our established government and political system is broken beyond repair. But that does not mean we can do nothing. We can all do something, and that something is nothing more than revolution!

While our world is clean and respectable, it is hard to shine as the light of the world, but now, the world is so evidently dark, that it is so much easier to shine. Jesus calls us to shine:

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:14-16

The Christian Revolution

What might a Christian revolution look like?

In recent years, all too often, the Christian church has been characterised by compromise with the world. Christian leaders have been silent on the onslaught against our Judeo-Christian values. They have been silent when they should have given voice to the voiceless, and then the rights of the poor and needy have been trashed.

We are called to pray for our leaders and our pastors in particular. Let’s pray that God will raise up Christian leaders who will take a stand in the public square against the evil tide coming upon us. Let’s take every opportunity to encourage our Christian leadership to speak out.

We are called to seek wisdom from God. Let’s pray that our eyes will not be dim and our ears will not be muffled, deceived by the cunning craftiness of the devil and his schemes. (Ephesians 4:14)

We are called to no compromise. This is bound to cost us. No compromise will always cost us. Perhaps reputation, friendships, and freedom. However, the joy of the Lord is ample compensation!

Our verse from Proverbs (31:8-9) calls us not to be silent. Not many have respected public platforms from which to speak, but we can all speak. It seems to me that if we have something to say and are passionate about it, God will give us a voice. Just imagine the crescendos of sound as we all give voice to the voiceless! This is our Christian revolution!

Will our revolution take us to the streets? I expect it will — for example, the rally against antisemitism or the Walk for Life. I think we should get used to this. Taking to the streets also gives us a platform to speak with others.

Will our revolution overthrow or repudiate and replace an established government or political system? All things are possible, but right now, right here, it doesn’t look likely. But it sure feels so much better than keeping silent! The revolution gets me out of bed each morning! The revolution gives me a spring in my step and the joy of the Lord in my heart.

Today I have become your Father. Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots. Now then, you kings, act wisely! ~ Psalm 2:8-10

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Photo by Ieva Brinkmane.