The Magical, Holy Powers of Money and Guns

This last week, our King Jesus used the rod of the American military to strike down Osama bin Ladin, one of the heads of a terrorist network responsible for thousands of deaths. In so far as bin Ladin was actively involved in violence and terrorism, we can be thankful that a wicked man has been brought down. But it really ought to be hard for Christians to get too excited about our part in this. Wherever there has been dramatic celebrating and prideful flag waving, Christians ought to have grave concerns for several reasons: First, it was our own government that spent billions of dollars in the 80s arming and training bin Ladin and his associates. In those days, we called them resistance fighters, and we apparently viewed him as an ally. But this leads to the more fundamental reason we ought to have for concern. Our nation worships the twin deities of power and money. It’s easy to understand why we might pour billions of dollars into a man that we might later assassinate. We believe in the magical, holy powers of money and guns. We believe in the grace of violence and bribery. These are the sacraments of this idolatrous system. In God’s providence, He raises up nations and kingdoms, and He throws them down at His pleasure. There is no authority except that which is given from heaven. And we are to preach the peace of the gospel to every nation, and we are to call upon kings to kiss the Son, to submit to King Jesus, and to throw down their ambitions to replace the God of heaven. In so far as these kingdoms submit to Jesus and help to provide organization and facilitate the work of the gospel in society, we are thankful. But our citizenship is in heaven. We are colonists of the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, and we are here establishing His Kingdom in this world. We serve the Lord of heaven and earth, and we confess that the same Jesus who ordered the execution of bin Laden is perfectly capable of throwing our economy into ruin, drowning our military in the sea, or raising up enemies that send our leaders into a panic. Money and violence are false gods; they are idols. And when the Lord rises up in His might, He will show them to be empty and weak and powerless. But we cannot condemn our nation without also recognizing this idolatry in our own hearts and lives. And therefore wherever your heart hopes in the god of money, in savings accounts, retirement funds, or wherever you are full of fear or anxiety with regard to money, repent now. Wherever you find your safety and confidence in guns and soldiers and locked doors, repent. “Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it.” (Is. 13:9)