Revolution and Institution

When revolution hits, the world gets turned upside-down.

Nothing remains the same. Every government institution is shut down and replaced with systems that are realigned in accordance with the new rulers. When a government has been in place for a while, institutions are old, with policies that pile up on one another, creating a bureaucracy of injustice that can never be righted. The only thing to do is to scrap the institutions and to begin anew.

Any institution is created to serve people. If it was not intended to do that, then it never would have been created. A war department is created to provide security for the people in a particular nation. A social department is created to help those in need. A Tax department is created to serve those who work for the government—perhaps a small percentage of the population, but it still serves people. However, should an institution and the people within that institution no longer serve people, but the institution itself, then that institution is no longer worth anything.

It must be recognized that any group or institution is only as good as the people working for it. If there are people who really care about others and seek their well being, then all is fine. However, usually, institutions become entities that train people to not care about people, but to care about policies and to maintain the status quo.

This is what had happened to the Temple institution in the first century. The building and maintenance of the Temple had become so huge, that it no longer served people, but the people of the nation were conscripted to serve it. Those who were in charge of the Temple were no longer concerned with doing what they could to help people, but to keep the programs of the Temple continuing. The Temple was a contention-point of national policy and the priests would do all they could to keep it up—they required taxes, created legal loopholes so money could be put into the Temple. The whole structure of the Temple itself was changed, so that it might be maintained, without consideration of the people who were to be connected with God. Salespeople were allowed to sell their goods right where the poor and outcast were to worship.

The Temple was no longer submitted to its true king, God, but it served the interests of its builders—the Herodians--, its maintainers—the priesthood, —and its lords—the Romans. But as for helping the people serve God, it no longer did that successfully.

Rather than being a servant of people to connect them to God, the Temple cult became a block between people and God. A new way was needed to connect with God, a way that the Temple could not provide. A way that people could worship and have God hear them anywhere, not just in one place in the world.

Thus, Jesus determined the Temple needed to be destroyed. And Jesus said that when the Revolution came, it would be.

All institutions are based on the foundational institution of all societies—the family. The family provides the structure and social formation necessary to create citizens and workers. All people work and create social institutions to protect and support their families. Thus are nations created. Nations provide military and economic security so that the family might thrive. However, should nations no longer serve the needs of families, then those structures will fall. Should it no longer provide for the needy, then the nation is no longer a necessary part of life.

In the first century, the nation-province of Judea was not serving families. Rather, Rome used the government of the province to maintain its bloated government and to uphold the wealthy of its government. It moved people around at will and blocked people from their daily work to survive.

Thus, Jesus determined that the nation of Judea must be destroyed.

Every institution is only worthwhile if they recognize the authority that created them and followed the fundamental principles that they were created for.

The Jewish families of the first century were created by God to love each other and to serve God with all of their heart. However, many of these families were only seeking their own greed and power. They were insisting on every member to serve the family, or the leaders of the family, but they did not focus on serving God and dedicating all of their resources to honoring Him and helping the needy, as God established.

Thus, Jesus determined that the family must be destroyed. And his Revolution would destroy it.

The Revolution is not coming to support the institutions that already exist. Most churches that exist now are bloated and focused on self-maintenance, not on serving others. Even the “outreach” that most churches do are simple programs to grow the church, not to meet people’s needs. The United States government is out to serve the interests of the wealthy and its own policies and it doesn’t care who they need to kill or what lies they need to say in order to maintain the status quo. The Christian families are no longer concerned with serving Jesus or obeying him. Rather, they are focused on their own greed and authority in the world.

When the Revolution of Jesus hits, they will all be destroyed.

These institutions will not just be re-formed. They will not just be gutted. They will not just be given new leadership. Revolution transforms society. It rips it apart. Revolution takes all that is known and replaces it with new things.

Apathy will be replaced with love.
Bureaucracies will be replaced with caring people.
Policies will be replaced with trust.
Conservatism will be replaced with radical transformation.
Liberalism will be replaced with strong leadership.
And nothing will be the same.