Bulletin 8.24.25

“No reason to get excited,” the thief, he kindly spoke
“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke
But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late”

— Bob Dylan, “All Along the Watchtower” from the 1967 album, John Wesley Harding

We see the idolatry of Statism arising among professing Christians and within the Christian church as early as the 1st Century.  The congregations in Pergamum and Thyatira worshipped idols. Many commentators argue that the Beast of Revelation is a political tyrant who was worshipped. Nero fits this description well. The angel who served as John’s prophetic tour guide corrects the apostle, putting it directly and simply, calling him to “Worship God! [not a created being]” The object of our worship matters; it’s the whole enchilada, including our political chips and salsa.

When we instead functionally ascribe worship to creation, and in particular to political leaders, it spawns bad consequences:  As Wright and Bird note: “When leaders are venerated as “God’s choice” – religious adulation – any critique will be treated as either treason or blasphemy”

… This lust for power, craving access to the inner circle, never satisfies, but always enslaves.  The corrective words of John prove just as potent and important today as they did in the first century: 

“Little children, keep yourself from idols.” (1 John 5:21)

We MUST render to Caesar the things that are his; worship is NOT one of those things. The State is a servant, not a savior.  Let’s stop acting as if it were the latter. 

—  Peter Jones, “Coziness With Pharaoh” (TruthXChange.org; June 23, 2025)