[Vision2020] sua sponte

[MOTHER KIRK]

Visionaries,

Some of you may be surprised to learn that Scripture abounds with 
land-zoning regulations. I could supply multiple examples to illustrate the 
point, but let me show you the most famous instance of 
zoning-regulation enforcement in the Bible--the Lord Jesus Christ--and draw from it an 
important lesson.

In all four Gospels we read that not once, but twice, Jesus acted sua 
sponte to evict illegal merchants from the temple district because it 
was zoned for worship, not for business. And He was not shy about it 
either. He used a whip to cast out the moneychangers, overturning their 
seats and tables in the process.

By modern standards, He acted as a building official who saw 
incompatible land-use activities taking place within a restricted zone and, 
without notice, immediately abated the illegal businesses. Furthermore, He 
cited a pre-existing code (the prophet Jeremiah) as His cause of action 
to enforce the zoning ordinance.

We may conclude from this that the Bible gives clear precedence for 
districts and zoning. There is a place for commerce just as there is a 
place for worship and for learning. (See Matt. 21:12-13 and John 2:13-17.)

This lesson in zoning applies to NSA because their occupation of a 
building within Moscow's Central Business District was the moral equivalent 
of an unauthorized re-zoning, which is tantamount to moving their 
neighbor's landmark, a form of theft: "Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's 
landmark" (Deut. 19:14). In this case, NSA pushed their neighbor's 
"commercial" landmark out of the way, and replaced it with a 
"non-commercial" landmark, in clear violation of the God's law and man's.

The gravity of this transgression can be seen in its cascading effects. 
First, it violates the second commandment on which all the law and 
prophets hang: "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matt. 22:36-40). 
Second, it breaks covenant with God and man, which the Bible calls 
"covenant breaking" (Rom. 1:31). And third, it involves a curse that the 
entire covenant community had to affirm: "Cursed be he that removeth his 
neighbor's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen" (Deut. 27:17).

NSA and the Kirk should quit calling the code "silly." Honor your 
Mother, little boys, and play the man. Live up to the articles of your 
confession and show Moscow "true submission to the constitutions, laws, and 
civil magistrates as ordained by God." Confess your sin and move out of 
the ATT building. Anything less would be hypocritical. Anything less 
will bring the curse.

Verily, verily yours,

M O T H E R    K I R K


PS: Fiat Lux would do well to know that human shields, like buildings, 
are limited, and the light of the body is the eye. "If therefore thine 
eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye 
be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the 
light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness."