“I don’t disagree but as a realist, I repeat – that change isn’t going to happen.”

This was said to me by a friend of mine in a Facebook Messenger conversation. My friend and I often discuss how our faith in Christ impacts how we live in American culture. I’m hoping he won’t mind me sharing.

He was replying to a point I had made. I want the government as involved in businesses as it is in churches. In other words, absent.

A purely free-market approach.

Voluntaryists/Anarchists/Libertarians are free-market advocates.

My friend had indicated that a free-market approach would work great in an ideal world. Of course, I don’t believe that it can’t work today.

Psalm 110

If you’re familiar with the apostles’ teaching on Christ’s kingdom, one passage is central to a lot of their teaching. It’s Psalm 110.

If you don’t recognize that Psalm, have a conversation with your pastor or Bible teacher. It is one of the most quoted and referenced passages of Scripture in the New Testament.

That means you should know it if you don’t.

But I want to talk about the description of how people will live in His kingdom, which, in case you’ve not been taught that either, we are living in today.

First, Christ rules in His kingdom surrounded by His enemies.

“Sit alongside me here on my throne … now rule, though surrounded by enemies!” -Psalm 110:1 & 2

Second, Christ’s kingdom is made up of volunteers.

“Your people will freely join you” – Psalm 110:3

We become citizens of His kingdom willingly and voluntarily. We grow by conquering His enemies with gospel truth. Not with guns, bullets, bombs, arrows, swords, or whatever machination of death with which we can kill.

Life Without Rulers

Here is where everything gets confusing. I’m going to briefly try to cut some of that confusion today.

You will see folks like me often use the hashtag #noKingbutChrist in our social media posts. We’re sharing the same gospel for which the apostles and early church died.

Rome demanded obedience to Caesar, who was declared “Lord and Savior.”  Our fore-runners had a different message. Jesus is “Lord and Savior.” In Rome, it was OK to worship any god you wanted; you were just not allowed to live in defiance of Roman doctrine.

My faith compels me to see any governmental ruler as following in the footsteps of the Romans. Note, I said ruler. Rulers compel by force; leaders compel by volition.

Jesus Christ is a leader. He compels us by our own volition.

We’re Just Ahead

I asked my friend in our Facebook Messenger conversation, “Who was the president was in the Garden?” He replied, “No one, obviously.”

I’ll not share his reply to the question about whom the president is in Revelation 22 for reasons kept between he and I. The correct answer is no one.

Voluntaryists are simply ahead of the curve.

We believe that where Christ is taking things is into a restoration of Paradise lost.

In Paradise, no human rulers existed. Mankind was at liberty, without the constraint of cumbersome statutes upon statutes, compulsions upon compulsions, taxes upon taxes, and fees upon fees.

Voluntaryists work to carry out the mandate of Christ’s Kingdom.

Christ’s Kingdom is voluntary from top to bottom. This means our economics and politics should be about willing and voluntary transactions in the absence of force, fraud, and coercion.

Doesn’t that sound ideal? What is wrong with working toward that ideal today, in the midst of many who worship the idol of compulsion?

Will you join us?

This article was originally published at Mark4Libertas.