Occupied Wall Street (occupy ’till I come)

For three weeks now the Occupy Wall Street mobfab has been lurching amumbo toward who knows what. Here are hundreds of people convened to occupy Wall Street for a cornucopia of vague discontents most of which seem to center around the banking and trading businesses. They do not like the way of things and they are letting the world know. And, here I am, snugly hiding out in my mountain retreat and nowhere near Wall Street. However, I feel compunctionated to mention a few thoughts on occupying, just the same.

 It captured my attention that the mismatched tie and boots popularium had stumbled into a worthwhile concept. They have it figured out that change happens when people fill the empty spaces with agreeing cohorts. What can your opposition do when everyplace they turn their enemies are not only taking up space but taking up all the public conversation as well? The nation’s attention has been turned toward that tiny piece of real estate and its occupying hordes. Now the unions are joining their forces so visions of Jimmy Hoffa and whack down, kick em in the belly politics begin to form in our brains. We do not know where this is going but the idea that occupying has power and influence is something to which we could pay attention.

 Today I read in Luke19, a parable, in which a man leaves for a journey to receive a kingdom. Before leaving he gives his servants money and instructs them to ‘occupy till I return’ (vs. 13). Later on, at the return of the (now king) ruler he measures the work of each servant while he was gone and rewards them accordingly. Of course the ruler in the parable is representing Christ and the servants are the ones who were supposed to occupy (that would be us) till He returned.

 Now, the Wall Street occupiers are said to be truncing about in Mao caps and Che Guevara tee shirts hoping against all plausibilities that they can usher in a new era with their communist heroes on the throne. I believe these guys really have no concept what horror would be ours, and theirs, if they succeeded. As products of the government education system and MTV they have never been educated in any meaningful shade of that word. Yet, their mission bears a recognition of truth when they believe that occupying can lead to establishment of a king, or a ruling class. They get it that filling all available space leaves little choice for their foes to advance. It is a simple strategy on its face. If you fill up everything you end up getting your way.

 So, here we are. The world around us consists largely of humanists of various stripe, a few heavily religious pagans or heretics from our own ranks, and a multicultural mumbo jumbo all competing for space in the culture. Only the reality is that none of them are competing only for space. Truth be known they are all competing for the king’s throne conniving to sit their representative in it. It looks like a great time to investigate this occupy concept in sharper light.

 This whole idea of occupying has not been a significant part of Christian discussion for a long time. Our spiritual ancestors understood the idea implicitly. The concept is all over the Bible so it is reasonable to say they got it from God. The earliest stories of His people in their land is one of bearing children, filling the land and occupying a kingdom (with God Himself as King) and, by so doing, to push back the pagan darkness around them. They (once again our spiritual ancestors) were promised in Deuteronomy 28:11 that if obedient God would “make you abound in prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your beast and in the produce of your ground in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.” This is normal language in Scripture for the rewards of obedience. God’s people were to be the “head and not the tail.” They were to be overflowing the land with children, flocks, and every type of prosperous reward. They were not just passing through. They were in the land to stay and they were erecting a formidable new culture built on God’s law and blessings which could not be defeated while living rightly before the heavenly King. They were occupying and they were invincible when in the right.

 Guys, we are the people of God, we are the chosen people. These are New Testament terms for the church. We are the servants in the parable. We are the peaceful army God has called to occupy the land. We by moral calling are to fill the land with children and influence of every kind. We not only must fill the land with children we must rear them all Christian, every single one. That should be our goal. I wrote recently about Christendom. This is Christendom, to fill the land and build the civilizing culture of our Redeemer King. If you find yourself complacent, awaiting the return of the Master, then first be busy doing all these things He has commanded. We do not know when Christ will return. In every century there have been those in our ranks who stopped building the kingdom to await the King. I am telling you, this is not the time to quit. Work for the kingdom through obedience in all things, until you exhale your final air. We must not only live or exist but we must occupy till He comes.

 For Christian Culture,

 Don Schanzenbach  10-8-11