LIE: We overcome tyranny by fighting for our rights

Lie:      We overcome tyranny by fighting for our rights.

Truth: We overcome tyranny by following Jesus’ example.

Here in late 2020, as the technocratic tyranny continues to encroach — the lockdowns, the mask mandates, the threat of forced vaccination, etc — the questions that Christians are asking multiplies.

Here are just a few:

• How can I resist tyranny without resorting to violence?
• Is it right to ‘stand up’ for American liberties?
• Have we reached the point that we should practice civil disobedience?
• What is civil disobedience and how should we practice it?
• Should I protect my family with a gun?
• Is it ever right to resort to violence against property or people?

We could ask many more questions like this. But the biggest question remains:

How can we possibly overcome this tyranny?

Since this article is long and the answer to that question is so important, I’ll let you bypass a lot of words and go straight to my answer. Scroll down to the Conclusion.

But if you do, please come back and read the rest of the article. It’s so important to understand the biblical foundation for that answer and especially how Romans chapter 13 is misunderstood.

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Let’s first define the word. Here’s the Webster’s definition:

tyranny — 1  the government or authority of a tyrant; a country governed by an absolute ruler; hence, arbitrary or despotic exercise of power; exercise of power over subjects and others with a rigor not authorized by law or justice, or not requisite for the purposes of government.[1]

The idea here is that tyranny is a rule that is both totalistic, immoral and dehumanizing. It presumes to have complete control over all its subjects. They don’t call it totalitarianism for nothing. But let’s try to get to the heart of why it’s so evil and destructive.

Why tyranny is so evil and what it tries to do to us

I love this quote from Charles Haddon Spurgeon:

Political slavery is an intolerable evil. To live, to think, to act, to speak, at the permission of another! Better to have no life at all! To depend for my existence upon a despot’s will is death itself.

Tyranny has many faces. The kind of tyranny we see forming today is a technocratic tyranny — Technocracy to be exact[2]. But all forms of tyranny, including the technocratic kind, does one thing: it seeks to crush our humanity. It attacks humanity and specifically Christians because Christians show the world what a real human being, made in the image of God, should look and act like. At least that’s what Christians should do.

Tyranny attacks us human beings and seeks to enslave us; it does not recognize the dignity of the individual human being, but seeks to conform and control and adapt and assimilate us into their ‘society.’ It seeks to suppress all opposition. It often poses as a benevolent father figure who knows best for us, telling us he’s just trying to protect us. Ever heard: We’re all in this together!’? Yet this tyranny is actually worse than most because it’s so deceitful and insidious.

We instinctively know that tyranny is wrong and that it must be defeated, yet we seem powerless to do anything about it. We occasionally see the Davids who confront the Goliaths and we cheer them on, but they seem to make so little difference. Apparently the borg/hive-mind drives on undeterred.

Without God in the equation, we naturally resort to manipulation or intimidation or force or violence to try to match tyranny’s power, but any attempt is doomed to failure. As individuals we can never overcome that way. And yet, since we see no other recourse, we easily get stuck and quickly spiral into despair or cynicism (or both).

Yet there is another way, spoken and demonstrated by Jesus. This way is often dismissed or overlooked because it seems so weak and helpless. Yet it’s the only way to overcome tyranny and is infinitely more powerful. We must learn this way, taught by our Master and empowered by his Holy Spirit. It’s an ancient way, so I really won’t be saying anything new here. But I do hope to relate it to our present form of tyranny and show how to defeat it.

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In the next five sections I will show the face of contemporary tyranny and how we can overcome it as Christians. We’ll take a deeper dive into the most salient passage — Romans 13 — used to teach the unconditional and implicit obedience to government authorities and show in its larger context that it is not unconditional. Each section of the five sections includes a short summary in italic.

Here are the five sections:

• Romans 13: the Context
• Subjection and Nonresistance
• Redefining Good and Evil
• Weaponizing Lies as Forced ‘Truth’
• Overcoming Tyranny

Romans 13: the Context

The passage in Romans 13 is often misunderstood because it’s taken out of its context. The context is Romans 12, an exhortation to love all people, even our enemies, and even the ruling authorities who are often our enemies. We are not to seek revenge but to be subject to them.

In light of Romans 13, resisting the authority amounts to resisting the ordinance of God.

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.. — Romans 13:1–2

Given this strong word and the consequences that it holds for those who do not submit, and to those who resist, we need to have a crystal-clear understanding to be able to live faithfully. But many take a wrong view of this simply because they’re afraid of the potential consequences.

We misunderstand the Romans 13 passage and commonly take it out of context. We use it to preach the necessity of complete obedience to governmental authority. ‘There is no authority except from God,’ is the justification to preach conformity to the state and to avoid the fear and discomfort of necessary non-conformance and disobedience to the state.

We have to remember that the context of Romans 13 follows the introductory call at the beginning of Romans chapter 12 — ‘Be not conformed to this world:’

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. — Romans 12:2

We are not to be conformists, but NON-conformists. Yet non-conformity should not be our goal; we are not to be contrarian, just to be contrarian. The non-conforming life is simply the outcome of God transforming our mind. Paul beseeches Christians to be transformed, not conformed. We must not obey the trends and the ‘normals’ and ‘new normals’ of our society. But how?

The practice of love produces the renewal of our minds.

Paul lays out the practical outworking of Romans 12:1–2 with the rest of the chapter, which is a teaching on the practice of love to all people. Paul structures his teaching on the practice of love like so:

• 12:3–8: love for Christian believers
• 12:9–13: love for all people
• 12:14–18: love for persecutors, depressed, the humble
• 12:19–21 love for enemies

At the end of the chapter Paul teaches how to love, even our enemies; he charges the Roman Christians not to avenge themselves, but to love their enemies. Paul is in good company here; he obviously has heard this radical saying from Jesus:

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you. — Matthew 5:38–44

Jesus teaches us that, in the face of an oppressor who tries to take advantage of us and use us, we must not retaliate. We only ‘retaliate’ by loving him. But this kind of meek ‘turning of the cheek’ does not come easily. It can only come from a heart of love that has been loved deeply. It cannot be faked or simulated. But think of how the power of this love can ‘smite’ the enemy —  and not all enemies to be sure, but certainly some. Yet all would be affected in some way by the response of this kind of love and grace.

Surely Paul knew what he was talking about when he implored the Roman Christians: ‘I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice . . .’

So here is Paul’s statement at the close of Romans chapter 12, just before the famous chapter 13. Here he quotes from Proverbs 25:20 and 21:

Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. — Romans 12:19–21

Paul very clearly tells us how we are to overcome our enemies with good — to calmly practice the discrete acts of love toward those who persecute and abuse and intimidate and exploit and deceive us.

It is no coincidence then that Paul moves to the famous passage in Romans 13. Here it is in its entirety:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. — Romans 13:1–7

Let me summarize the import of Paul’s argument:

In the climate of the Roman Imperial power that was commonly hostile to Christians and where Roman exousia (authorities) were clearly the enemy of the Christian, it was common for Christians to either know someone personally or know of people in their community who had been abused and persecuted by Roman soldiers or officials. This abuse took place on every level — sexually, financially, psychologically, through deprivation, denial, and deceit — in ways large and small.

Given this climate, what do you suppose would be the natural desire of many, if not most Christians? I can answer that with one word: REVENGE. This is why Paul specifically addressed this at the end of chapter twelve: ‘Beloved, do not avenge yourselves . . . (vs 19). Vengeance is clearly the domain of God himself and we must not encroach on it or presume ourselves to be qualified or capable to perform it. God is just, but he is also full of mercy (aren’t you glad of that?!).

But although Paul takes vengeance off the table, he does direct Christians to a different kind of vengeance and vindication. Paul exhorts the Roman Christians to practice this ‘alternate vengeance’ by quoting from the book of Proverbs. Let’s read it again:

Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Doing good to your enemy ‘heaps coals of fire on his head’ — a quite strange metaphor, but, as it turns out, an apt one. Here’s how the Cambridge Bible describes it:

‘. . . in doing this [heaping coals of fire] you will be taking the most effectual vengeance,’ the idea of vengeance being, in the Christians’ view, transformed, so as to become in fact the victory of love.

Here is Meyer:

Painful shame and remorse wilt thou prepare for him . . . Glowing coals are to the Oriental a figure for pain that penetrates and cleaves to one, and in particular, according to the context, for the pain of remorse, as here, where magnanimous beneficence heaps up the coals of fire.

But the metaphor may have a dual meaning, an obverse side. The good that we would do to our enemy hopefully produces this remorse and repentance. But if it doesn’t, the coals of fire stick to your enemy’s head as a sign of judgment, slowly burning and eventually consuming his mind. The torture that he loves to exact on others, will, in time, torture him. The thought of this should stir up your mercy toward him.

Subjection and Nonresistance

We are to be subject to the ruling authorities in the normal course of life and not organize resistance or revolt against them.

Now we come to a crucial question.

What does it mean: ‘Let every soul be subject . . . and whoever resists . . . ’

Let’s look at the two operative words:

subject – from the Greek hypotássō (from hypó, “under” and tássō, “arrange”). It means to place or rank under, to subject. The word tasso is primarily a military term meaning ‘to draw up in order, arrange in place, assign, appoint, order.’[3]

resist – from the Greek antitassó (from antí, “opposite to, against” and tássō, “arrange, order”). Antitássomai was used in antiquity of organized resistance, like an army assuming a specific battle-array position to resist in “full alignment.”

I believe Paul is saying three basic things:

Be subject to the governing authorities. We are to respect and place ourselves under their authority, knowing that they are ultimately under God’s authority. It is an attitude and posture of the mind to listen and to do what is expected of us in the normal course of life.

Do not revolt or organize against the governing authorities. Our respect to the governing authorities extends to our outward posture. Our posture must not ‘square off’ or to be against them. To resist authorities means to intentionally and actively work against the authorities. In other words, we are not to resort to violence or revolt. This harkens back to Paul’s admonition: ‘Repay no one evil for evil.’ We are not to take matters into our own hands. This should cause us to think very carefully about organizing or joining a protest or a militia.[4]

Do good to your enemy. As Christians we must see the human being, not just the soldier or the jack-booted thug or the brown-shirted authoritarian. In these days, it’s easy to fall into the trap of demonizing our governors and mayors and health officials. But we must not do that. Many of them are well-intentioned and sincerely think they’re doing good; and of course, some things they do are good. We must heed Paul’s words to the Ephesians: ‘We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers . . . ’ It is the spiritual entities that worm and force their way onto these people through fear, guilt, shame, blackmail, etc. It’s not enough to tolerate or avoid your enemy; God calls us to love them as human beings in the Name of Jesus. We must not fear them but courageously act with simple kindnesses.[5]

We can do all of this because we know that Christ has overcome via the cross. It was his willingness to be ‘subject to the governing authorities’ that got him crucified and the reason that he told Peter to ‘put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which my Father has given me?’[6] It was on the cross that he triumphed over them. Paul makes this clear to the Christians in Colosse:

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it [that is, the cross]. — Colossians 2:13–15

Christ’s trust, that the Father was ultimately in control of the authorities, produced the confidence in him to be nailed to the cross. He trusted in the Father’s eventual vindication and he was not disappointed. In our submission to the authorities, we also are submitting ourselves to God because we know that the authorities are ultimately subject to him.

Paul tells us in Philippians to take up this same mind and it is essentially the same posture/attitude described in Romans 13.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Philippians 2:5–11

One final note: Romans 13:1–7 never says that we must obey the governing authorities; rather, it uses a more general word — that we are to be subject to them, which may include obedience, but is more about the general attitude and posture of our life. A similar idea is found in the Fifth Commandment: ‘You shall honor your father and your mother.’ We must never stop honoring our parents, no matter how old we get; but when we become an adult we will no longer be expected to obey them. Only children are commanded to obey parents.[7]

The point is that obedience always includes honor; but honor does not always include obedience. Likewise, obedience always includes subjection; but subjection does not always include obedience or conformance to orders that use the pretext of emergency powers.

Redefining Good and Evil

The governing authorities are ‘ministers of God for good’ and a ‘terror to evil doers.’ As long as this is true we should have no trouble subjecting ourselves to them. It’s when they start calling evil good that justifies non-compliance with their ‘good,’ which is really evil.

Romans 13:3–4 describes how the governing authorities rule within the domain of good and evil. They are:

• a terror to evil works
• an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil
• God’s minister to you for good

This is the same good and evil that Paul spoke of a few verses earlier: ‘Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.’ Also at the very beginning of the exhortation in Romans 12, Paul says: ‘Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.’ Good and evil are central to this whole discussion on subjection and non-resistance. This means that we must have agreement on the meaning of good and evil. Now, good and evil may seem self-evident, but sadly it is not so simple.

Here is a simple chart of examples on the common meaning of good versus evil and then a contrived ‘good,’ but which is actually evil.

Good	Evil	Called ‘good’ but actually evil
giving to the poor	murder	forced masking[8]
serving meals	deceit	forced isolation
providing shelter	adultery	forbidding human contact (social distancing)
encouraging the weak	theft	vaccines (injection of unknown and poisonous substances)[9]
checking in on the elderly	envy	forbidding social gatherings
visiting the sick	lust	encouraging minors to get sex reassignment surgery and medication
showing affection	hate	censoring alternate voices (deplatforming)

As long as the authorities work within the bounds of legitimate good and evil, no resistance is necessary. They remain, as Paul says, ‘a terror to evil works,’ and ‘God’s minister to you for good.’ But obviously, this assumes an agreement on what is good and evil. Yet this equilibrium is radically upset if and when the authorities claim an evil to be ‘good.’[10]

We really should not be surprised when this kind of reversal happens. Paul, in his description of the depravity of man, earlier in Romans, tells us that this kind of warped lie–truth exchange is a fundamental reality in our world. And it’s not just a contemporary reality; it’s an ancient one.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, . . . Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. — Romans 1:18, 24–25

Obviously, if something is bad we cannot and must not call it good!

We must not submit or oblige or agree or conform or listen to the authorities’ messaging that is used to convince and conform us to their ‘good,’ even if it is supposed to be a temporary or qualified ‘good’ or ‘normal.’ If they must spend millions of dollars to convince us that vaccines or masks or isolation is good or that human contact is ‘dirty,’ we should at least be skeptical of it, especially when the culprit is an ‘invisible enemy.’ This enemy can only be detected by certain qualified, named experts. And any dissenting voices – even credentialed physicians, epidemiologists and virologists – are dangerous and must be silenced.[11]

So we cannot use Romans 13 as a one-size-fits-all blanket, or a one-dimensional rule that we must obey the governmental authorities’ word unconditionally or implicitly. The US Supreme Court also once ruled that slavery was acceptable and necessary.[12] But we now know that those who meekly acquiesced, eventually found themselves on the wrong side of history. Now, no one would dare defend chattel slavery as ‘good,’ yet then, millions did.

Weaponizing Lies as ‘Forced Truth’

We’ve now reached a critical point in our world when lies are called truth and are forced and enforced on us through AI cyberwar.

Sean Gourley, physicist, founder and CEO of Primer, a company specializing in machine intelligence, in his article To Fight Disinformation, We Need to Weaponise the Truth, states:

Computational warfare and disinformation campaigns will, in 2020, become a more serious threat than physical war, and we will have to rethink the weapons we deploy to fight them. . . . the most dangerous form of cyberwar is the accelerating war to hijack our minds and belief systems. This is an attack on truth – and democratic countries are most at risk.[13]

Gourley is talking about a very real attack on truth, but the truth of the matter is that it’s the opposite of what he claims. He believes the enemies of truth are state actors (mainly Iran, China and Russia), who wage a cyberwar of disinformation against democracies. To attack western democracies, he says these shady criminals use the four Ds:

• dismiss critics
• distort facts
• distract from other issues
• dismay the audience

But that’s just a fake story for what he’s really after: he’s really attacking independent journalists whose message contradicts the mainstream narratives of ‘established,’ ‘settled’ ‘truth,’ and then calling those alternate narratives, ‘disinformation.’ And with Primer (his company), he’s building a huge AI machine to assault those who will not bow to the lies of the captured, dissimulating press.

He goes on to describe the scale and scope of his weaponization of ‘truth’:

In 2020 we will realise that, to fight disinformation, we will need instead a Manhattan Project for truth. Imagine if one million people and one million artificially intelligent agents were assigned to scale up Wikipedia or a Wikipedia-like knowledge base as part of a national defence effort. . . . we need a public version that keeps track of history as it unfolds minute-by-minute. This effort would be ultimately about building and enhancing our collective intelligence and establishing a baseline for what’s true or not. Democracy as we know it won’t be possible in a world where information is distrusted and everything is manipulatable. . . . In 2020, we will begin to weaponise truth.[14]

If the authorities claim to be the exclusive authority on truth, that whatever they say is true and cannot be questioned, then they have elevated lies as truth, evil as good and themselves as gods.

Overcoming Tyranny

To overcome tyranny we must recognize it as such, but we will not overcome it by fighting for or defending our rights. We will only overcome the same way Jesus did, by taking up our cross.

To overcome tyranny we must first recognize it as such. Tyranny is totalistic and seeks to control its people through harsh controls and deceit. This is nothing new; it’s what Christians and all peoples have had to deal with in all ages. And it’s what most of today’s world is now beginning to contend with. The technocratic tyranny has now begun to show its face and we must not fail to recognize it.

In the final analysis, to overcome tyranny, we as Christians can learn what to do and say by observing what Jesus did and said in the face of his enemies. Let’s take a look at his encounter with the Roman Procurator of Palestine, Pontius Pilate and note a few key things. Here is the passage in its entirety (See John 18:28–38 and 19:7–11).

Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this Man?” They answered and said to him, “If He were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered Him up to you.”

Then Pilate said to them, “You take Him and judge Him according to your law.”

Therefore the Jews said to him, “It is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,” that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which He spoke, signifying by what death He would die.

Then Pilate entered the Praetorium again, called Jesus, and said to Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

Jesus answered him, “Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”

Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?”

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”

Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”

Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all. — John 18:28–38

Then later:

The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”

Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

Jesus answered, “You could have no power [authority] at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” — John 19:7–11

Here are some key take-aways:

Leaders are prone to want to be the only ones who can say what’s true and what is false.

Jesus was arrested by the ruling Jewish authorities, in large part, because he contradicted their narratives of what was true and good and thereby jeopardized their authority. They could not tolerate that, yet he did not resist; that is, he did not organize a revolt, although he could have and was expected to do so by many.

Pilate demands to know the charge against Jesus.

The Roman judicial system was based on the establishment of truth. The Jewish authorities, at least in this case, tried to establish a false charge, saying ‘if he were not an evildoer, we would not have delivered him to you.’ Again, they were expecting Pilate to blindly trust them. He did not.

Jesus calmly submits to his arrest and arraignment, without rancor or defiance.

Although Peter tried to defend Jesus against his arrest, Jesus refused this and even took a moment to heal Malchus’ ear. Jesus calmly submitted to their arrest and arraignment.

Jesus speaks to Pilate man to man.

In the exchange between Pilate and Jesus there is real dialog. Jesus asks a probing question and is unafraid to speak the truth of who he is and of the reality of Pilate’s dilemma.

Jesus is unafraid to speak the truth and elevates the truth above human authority.

Jesus says he came into the world to bear witness to the truth and that if Pilate would listen, he would see the truth gazing back at him.

Jesus speaks of and is aware of the invisible authorities over Pilate.

In John 19:11, Jesus says, ‘You could have no authority (exousia) at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. This power from above is normally thought to be the power of God. But if that’s true, the following sentence doesn’t make sense: ‘Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.’

Is the authority given to Pilate from ‘above’ the one who has the greater sin? If the ‘above’ authority given to Pilate is sinful, this cannot be God. Who then is Jesus talking about who gives Pilate authority and who has the greater sin? This is one more instance of political powers and their dark spiritual overlords. Jesus sees and clearly acknowledges the forces at play.[15]

The irony is that Jesus also speaks as the judge here; the roles are momentarily reversed. Jesus pronounces an oblique consolation to Pilate, that his sin is less than his masters. Jesus does not stop being who he is, even in the face of his own judgment.

Conclusion

Finally we come to the heart of the problem: How then do we overcome tyranny? Simply put:

            We overcome tyranny by following Jesus’ example.

At the risk of sounding formulaic, I’ll list five things we can do. But to do these five things successfully you must have a foundation of faith in Jesus Christ. Without that, attempting to do any of them is futile. But with that faith you can move mountains.[16]

We overcome tyranny by doing five things:

1  Do not comply — ‘DO NOT CONFORM TO THIS WORLD.’ In other words, just say ‘No.’ You alone must decide what is true and good and right. Do not let others bully you into submission. Do what is good and right according to what you believe is true. Have the courage of your convictions.

2  Speak the truth. Your words, spoken with conviction and the Holy Spirit can move mountains. Do not underestimate their power. You must resist the forces that are trying to silence you and force you into a passive state. The dark powers understand the power of truth spoken with faith. But to speak the truth you must have your own convictions; you cannot just passively follow a man or a woman.

3  Love your enemy. Treat him or her with the kindness and respect that every human being, made in the image of God deserves. Do not use force or intimidation or violence against your oppressor. But read on to number four —

4  Protect the weak and the vulnerable.[17] What if your enemy is threatening to hurt your child, your grandmother or anyone who cannot defend themselves? What do we do? In those cases, we must say, ‘NO!’ ‘STOP!’ ‘THAT’S WRONG!’ We must speak up, and we must protect them in any way we can, including physically restraining them to the point of sacrificing our own life for the life of the vulnerable one.

5  And for all these count the cost. If you do these four things, you will most likely pay the consequences one day. So it’s important to understand what those consequences are likely to be and then prepare for them. Prepare spiritually, mentally, physically, financially as best you can. Work out your plan with your loved ones and the body of Christ and know that, in the final analysis, the will of God WILL be done! He will have the last word.

Jesus told us this himself:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. — Matthew 16:24–25

Now here is some practical guidance as we ponder these things:

• Forgive your enemies: Jesus said while on the cross: ‘Father, forgive them for the do not know what they’re doing.’
• Do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. Do not let others upset you when they oppose you. Speak calmly but with conviction.
• Understand that, either by intimidation or deceit or force or all three, the goal of the enemy is to get you to conform and then to assimilate you. Do not conform but be transformed.
• Defend the weak and vulnerable, even if it means putting yourself at risk.
• Admit your own weaknesses, failures and sins, and thereby defuse the anger. Revealing your own humanity helps your enemies to identify with you. We all know that we are flawed and broken human beings. When we honestly admit this, we help others to admit it too.
• Refuse to reduce your enemy to a caricature of evil; he or she is a human being worthy of your love and the love of God. He or she has a family, desires, fears, hopes, dreams, just like you.
• Refuse to reduce contact with your enemy to a purely transactional basis.
• Do not be too quick to defend yourself in the face of accusations. Doing so may only allow your enemy to falsely frame the situation.
• Depend on the Lord to give you the words to say in the hour of your trial.
• Do not be too quick to calculate your escape or come to your own defense; rather, calmly – without panic – trust in the Lord to come to your defense and rescue.
• Do not fake your faith. Your faith must be genuine in order to face the oppression of the enemy’s tyranny. Only genuine faith will stand the test. Now is the time to pass the test of your faith.

One last word:

Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. — John 16:33

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[1] Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

[2] See for example, James Corbett’s excellent work on Technocracy, updated for 2020: https://www.corbettreport.com/greatreset/

[3] Greek definitions are taken from the Bible Hub: https://biblehub.com.

[4] I certainly am not saying that joining or organizing a protest or a militia is wrong; I am only saying that, quite outside of our control, these can very easily turn violent and to a posture of antitasso, ‘forming against.’

[5] See the article, LIE: I am defeated, part 1 and part 2.

[6] John 18:11

[7] Ephesians 6:1

[8] See the article: Why I won’t wear a mask wherever and whenever possible.

[9] See the article: Why I won’t take the vaccine, assuming I will have a choice.

[10] See the article: In Liars We Trust

[11] See for example the OffGuardian article, 12 Experts Questioning the Coronavirus Panic: https://off-guardian.org/2020/03/24/12-experts-questioning-the-coronavirus-panic/ captured on Nov 15, 2020. This article was written on March 24, 2020, early on in the era of COVID-19. OffGuardian has many other similar well-researched and well-credentialed articles.

[12] See Dred Scot v. Sandford: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_v._Sandford/Opinion_of_the_Court

[13] See: https://primer.ai/blog/to-fight-disinformation-we-need-to-weaponise-the-truth/ captured on 13 Nov 2020

[14] This article originally appeared in Wired, UK on January 6, 2020.

[15] See my article: What is the mark of the Beast?, part 1 and part 2.

[16] See Matthew 17:20

[17] The ‘Quartet of the Vulnerable’ includes the widow, the orphan, the immigrant and the poor.