What is a "Christian Anarchist?"

I used the phrase "Christian anarchists" in the KOLR10/KWTO debate on Thursday. The phrase was picked up by a blogger.

Let's start with a grammar lesson on prefixes and double negatives.

If you ain't got no money, then you ain't got no money.

The two negatives cancel.

If you are not an "anarchist," then you are an "archist."

But what's an "archist?"

An "archist" (I admit, I sort of made the word up; but it comes from the Greek root of "anarchist") is someone who advocates, defends, or practices the initiation of force as a solution to personal or social problems.

Note the word "initiate." It would be the "initiation of force" for me to use my tranquilizer dart gun as a technique for "date-rape." But using my tranquilizer dart gun against someone who is in the act of committing a forcible rape is not the initiation of force. It is a response to - and an attempt to end - the initiation of force.

A "Christian," obviously, is someone who follows the commands of Jesus Christ.

Before Jesus was executed and rose again, His disciples really didn't get the big picture. At one point Jesus had to rebuke the Apostle Peter: "Get thee behind Me, Satan! Your allegiance is to the ways of man, not the ways of God!" In the tenth chapter of Mark's Gospel, Jesus catches His disciples arguing about who is going to be the "greatest" in the coming Kingdom. Mark 10:42-45:

42 Jesus called them together and said, "The other nations have rulers. You know that those rulers love to show their power over the people, and their important leaders love to use all their authority. 43 But it should not be that way among you. Whoever wants to become great among you must serve the rest of you like a servant. 44 Whoever wants to become the first among you must serve all of you like a slave. 45 In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people."

In the Greek, Jesus said that the kings of the Gentiles love to be "archists." The authority of kings in Greco-Roman times was the right to initiate force against others. Christ says His followers are "not" to be "archists."

Too many Christians (today and throughout history) believe in using the civil government to force non-Christians to think or act like Christians. This in itself is not thinking or acting like a Christian.

A Christian is not an "archist." A Christian should not vote for an "archist."