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A Biblical community would be...?

The Revolting Man

The Revolting Man

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This is a question that has been burning in my mind for years. How would a community of truly Bible believing people live together? What degree would the religious congregation control the civic administration? What kinds of laws would be enforced and how would they be decided on? Would there be police officers? Judges? Executive and or legislative entities? Is democracy a Biblical system or is the everyone supposed to do what is right in his own eyes as in the time of the judges? And what sacrifices should believers be willing to make to live in such a community? Any thoughts?
 
Plenty of people have pondered this question in the past, written books, even started communities...

I prefer a free association of individuals, without rules.

I would like to live in an area with a high proportion of Christians (but not exclusive).

For more structured systems, I think of Geneva with Jean Calvin presiding, burning Servetus for heresy.
 
I think a big trap such communities fall into is to be too moralistic. They think "we're all Christians, so we should all be exemplary citizens, so we should expect that, and enforce a high standard to have a great community". Well meaning. But that means becoming Pharisees, and ending up enforcing dress codes (no skirts above the ankle, maybe knee), bans on undesirable things like tobacco or alcohol, strict rules around relationships - and ultimately kicking out a lot of people who won't abide by these rules, throwing them into the world with no experience of the world so they end up far worse than they would have been otherwise, and becoming a frozen little band of isolated goody-goods, leaving a trail of destroyed lives that is covered up as a dirty little secret.

I'm with Ylop on the "no rules" thing. I'd go full-on libertarian, you can do whatever you want provided you don't harm anyone else.
Because that is the essence of Jesus' very simple "do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

Obviously I'd expect many individuals in such a community to voluntarily choose to have high standards of morality etc, but that's up to them, not the community leadership. I'd also expect strong differences in moral standards - one family's women go around topless while the next are virtually in black burquas - as each figures out the Bible for themselves. And that's ok.

This also restricts the power of the leaders because they have no authority to meddle in the private affairs of anyone who isn't harming anyone else, avoiding the risk of everyone's lives ending up being run by a small band of elders, or a charismatic cult leader...

And once the power of the leadership is restricted that far, so they're only getting involved in matters of theft, murder etc, the question of democracy / dictatorship / whatever becomes basically irrelevant. Whoever ends up in charge there's not much they can stuff up, and everybody doesn't need to be worried about having a say because their lives aren't going to be affected much by the outcome, so it really doesn't matter much what system you pick.
 
Slight detour.

I seriously considered moving to NH to join the Free State Project.

But now I am glad I didn't.

After a huge amount of fantastic effort by the participants, they still are relatively small. And the USA as a whole is steamrolling into stasiland.

Australia or NZ seem pretty good options on the world stage.

Let me know if anyone spots anything better (ie more free) going...
 
Pitcairn Island - raising a plural family in a community full of convicted rapists is not my idea of fun...
 
On the other hand, the existing population is getting pretty old, and is down to about 50, when the island has historically supported 200. So there is space for a 150-strong polygamist commune that would completely swamp the existing population... Furthermore their crimes can best be compared to in-family abuse since they were in such close confinement, doesn't mean they'd have any motivation to grab someone else's woman.
 
A BIBLICAL community would be...? ...living like the BIBLE says with people who also live like the Bible says, lol...more specifically some instructions from the Bible, not our opinion or preference, telling us what that would look like:

Leviticus 24:22
You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the YHUH your aluhym.
Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Messiah Yahusha.
1 Thessalonians 4:11
Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.

What righteous person would not want to join such a community? It's just too bad it won't exist until Messiah Yahusha is made head and King by Israel, and only YHUH knows when they will finally be ready for that.
 
Samuel, how did Pitcairn Island, and more particularly their Repopulation Plan, come up on your radar?
 
Hmmmm, the Pitcairn thing was sounding pretty cool, though ylops comments made me look stuff up. Yeah, we'd need to come in force for any sense of security. The trials of 2004 weren't that long ago!
 
The main problem with Pitcairn is that it is visited by a ship four times a year, has no harbour so you can only go in and out on small boats, has no economy at all except for selling trinkets to the very small number of tourists that visit by yacht occasionally, has a tiny internet connection shared between the entire island so you'd struggle to run an online business from there either, and in a medical emergency you'd have to be evacuated slowly by boat and would take weeks to get to a hospital. Ok, that's more than one problem...

But if the world went mad, people would just forget about you, because nobody would care. The island has no resources except for enough fertile soil and fishing grounds to keep you alive, so there's no reason to invade. The world would probably just forget you existed.
Of course, if the entire island was wiped out by a tsunami nobody would care about you either, so that goes both ways, but still it has a certain appeal to the right people!

It also has a very polygamous early history, there's a tradition to bring back...
 
Alright, Pitcairn Island it is then. But seriously, we're to live in communion with each other and to not forsake the gathering together into ourselves, what does that look like? Most of us don't like the modern church, and in fact the modern church doesn't seem to like itself much either.

I agree with Samuel that a man should be virtually autonomous in his own home, unless he violated a command that called for death as a penalty not much a man does should be anyone else's business. But theft happens. Bulls break free and gore people. Even Old Testament law called for judges and elders.

I know this, I believe only men, the heads of households or of a certain advanced age should have a vote.
 
I don't get the question, exactly. What is community? Are we talking about what a community of not necessarily christians but heavily influenced by the bible? Or a community of believers that excludes non-believers from living in it? Or are we talking about just how the church ought to be without respect to the surrounding culture?

I think it's because I associate the word community with board meetings and chili cook-offs and folk music.
 
For me the answer comes from Acts 2 & 4, Hebrews 10, 1 Thessalonians 5, Philippians 2, Colossians 3, and through a multitude of other verses.

So, in my mind, this isn't necessarily people who all live in one subdivision or even one city, but they are a community of believers who ensure there is not need among them. They eagerly spend time together, seeking the Lord. They are kind with one another, understanding, helpful, seeking the fellowship of one another, seeking time to study and learn more about our Lord and His greatness together, worshiping as one, glorifying Him in all we do. If a brother or sister in Christ is in need, they reach out to help them. Their desire should be to be around one another, as there is no one in the world they have more in common with than other believers. Disputes should be able to be handled within the church, not relying on outside worldly counsel or judges. Those who don't know Christ should be envious, even if of nothing else, of the sense of community and love shared among the believers. Christ's love should be so ever present it is oozing everywhere.

Acts 2:44 And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; 45 and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, 47a praising God and having favor with all the people.

Acts 4:32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. 34 For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales 35 and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

1 Thessalonians 5:13b Live in peace with one another. 14 We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. 16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 19Do not quench the Spirit; 20do not despise prophetic utterances. 21But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; 4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Colossians 3:12 So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. 14 Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.
 
Their supply ship is 4 times a year, but there were a couple others making for a possible 14 day trip they said, lol. I was actually thinking I'd check to see how the situation was once I had an Air Force retirement check coming in every month in a few years!
 
As I understand it, each time the supply ship comes, it visits twice, 14 days apart, on the way to and from somewhere else. Still only 4 times a year, but each time you've got two chances to get on & off. Means if you want to go for a short visit you can go for those 14 days and get back on the ship before it goes back to New Zealand.

Back on topic - well said aineo. We aren't called to start new physical communities or countries, but rather to live in community, and we can do that within a wider secular world.
 
It was an excellent answer Aineo. I guess I should have prefaced the question with the information that I envision a time when Christians are excluded from society and have to function semi-autonomously with in the broader culture. We'll have to educate our children, provide for rudimentary justice and even civil administration. Revelation talks about Christians not being able to buy or sell. Muslims greatly curtail Christians public lives. This isn't theoretical. I am not talking about a commune, or some kind of gated Christian country club and I certainly would never exclude anyone.
 
So Wednesday my wives and I are sitting around having a fun little talk about where we would move to, if all the difficulties of moving weren't an issue. Nelle insisted on someplace warm, Elaine would rather be away from people than in a crowded locale. The kids just want to live in tree houses and be wilderness survivors. Then Nelle came up with a suggestion, a place she had read a lot about, that had a lot of interesting history. We decided we would pick up and move (in fantasy-land only of course) to Pitcairn Island. We were even having enough fun with it that we looked up the website and saw they were giving away free land!

When I read the posts here, it just seemed like a pretty funny coincidence :) ! Maybe it's a sign. Geez, then all the parents/inlaws would really hate me!

For full disclosure, the plan is to move to Henderson Island, several dozen miles away, live like the swiss family Robinson, and make moonshine in a homemade distillery. We will be the polygamist bootleggers of Pitcairn Island. This is the kind of stuff we come up with on a lazy Wednesday afternoon :)
 
Another problem with Pitcairn is the following from their marriage laws:

PART VI—OFFENCES AND PENALTIES
33. Whoever is guilty of bigamy shall be liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.
34. Whoever, being unmarried, goes through the ceremony of marriage with a person whom he or she knows to be married to another person, shall be liable to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years.
Click to expand...

...and with the island being so sparse in population, you will be noticed.
 
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