The Place Where You Live

Through our daily desire to be obedient to Jesus Christ, we can make decisions that reflect His will and advance the Kingdom of God or take action that do not contribute to our personal growth or contribute to God's overall plan.  We have to come before the Lord in prayer daily and allow Him to guide our steps.  That goes for the seemingly small choices day by day, which cumulatively contribute to the trajectory of our lives, as well as the large ones.   The struggle between spirit and flesh is outlined by Paul in Romans 8 (ESV), which says:
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

The hills are alive with the sound of construction - and soon to be the sound of consternation - on the plateau near the Tennessee-Kentucky border outside of Nashville. With a vision to provide clean, rural living on plats of land with lots of acreage, a group of Christian investors have decided to offer a place where like-minded believers can come together, live together, and practice their faith together.   A Religion News Service article opens up by saying:

On a sunny morning in mid-February, Josh Abbotoy, who describes himself as a “conservative Christian who does land deals,” drove a 20-year-old Lexus LX470 around a former farm, crossing a creek, squeezing by a run-down barn and driving along one of the farm’s roads in hopes of showing off the view from one of the ridgetops.

The article says: "At the top of the ridge, Abbotoy surveyed the view of the green fields and rolling hills while painting a picture of a community filled with lovely homes and families, looking down over wide fields and a stately church."  This RNS article appeared about a year ago.  BBC ran an article about this possible influx of Christians into small communities dotted across the region just a few weeks ago.

NewsChannel 5 and a reporter named Phil Williams has reportedly spent quite a bit of airtime on this phenomenon.  And, it seems you have three distinct groups of people in the scenario - 1) those associated with RidgeRunner, which is a real estate company that is offering land in the region and marketing to a Christian audience, 2) the current residents in the region, who believe that Christians moving into the area pose a threat, because, you know, "Christian nationalism," and 3) some professing Christians who hold to a viewpoint that is tinged with anti-semitic rhetoric and viewpoints.

Apparently, a pastor who has established a church in the area and originates a podcast from there, according to RNS: "...is known for promoting the idea that Christians should dominate American culture and for his criticism of Jews and other non-Christians."  The article notes, "In a podcast earlier this year with Texas pastor Joel Webbon, Isker rejected the idea of 'Judeo-Christian religion' and blamed Jews for the rise of secularism."  He said, 
“We have to be wary of them,” adding, “We have to not allow them to have power in our culture and destroy Christian culture.”  Webbon is also known on social media as possessing some out-of-mainstream views; The Christian Post reported, quoting from his podcast:

Webbon said while the Founding Fathers largely held positive views of Jewish Americans in the colonial era because of the Bible and their knowledge of the Hebrew language, "they were pretty adamant about […] no mistreatment or anything like that, and yet, simultaneously, without racial animus, they also were just able to say, ‘No, America is for Americans and it is predominantly an Anglo-Protestant project.’”

He continued: “Jews cannot hold public office. They can live here, and they can live here peacefully, and all these kinds of things, but, no, this is a Christian nation, and those who reject Christ and hate Christ, they can be in the car, and we shouldn’t mistreat them, but they don’t get to drive.

This is an ongoing source of tensions among Christians and those who share our values - we must always be careful to embrace policies that exclude others because of immutable characteristics.

But, we also recognize that we have civic responsibility, so if a significant number of people who share our faith perspective begin to buy land and establish themselves in an area, it's only a natural progression that those individuals would comprise the leadership and set the direction.  So, then you have that other group - they don't want the Christians to come in and "take over."   As NewsChannel 5 says:

What bothers the locals we spoke with is not so much the notion of people moving in from out of state; that is already happening.

It is the fear that these developers might have a plan up their sleeves to eventually take control.

"I have a really bad feeling that these people are going to step in here, they are going to take over our local city government probably first, and then they'll do what they can to take over the county,” Don Downs said.

These people.  They see Christians as a threat.  RNS interviewed a local pastor who sees the influx as a good thing, though, stating, "I think it’s a good thing when people move in, especially if they are going to hold to more biblical principles and morals,” adding, “And from what I’ve seen of the individuals that are buying the land, at least they do hold to some kind of moral principles.”

RNS goes on to say:

Abbotoy, for his part, worries about the decline of American civil religion. What will bind Americans together, he wonders, in the way that Protestant religion did?

“I think every society, if it’s going to stay together, needs to have one,” he said.
That has led some of his friends — and potential customers — to wonder if America was better off when Christianity was more prominent. There are trade-offs and downsides to that kind of arrangement, he said. But those trade-offs are better than what we have now, he added.

“I think you’re seeing a lot of people who are not personally Christian,” he said, “saying, the arrangement we had where Christianity was dominant public orthodoxy was better than what we have now.”

The pastor admits taking one of these podcasters to task for their views.  And, apparently, so has Abbotoy, according to NewsChannel 5; "Abbotoy — who is associated with two companies involved in the project, New Founding and Ridgerunner — also tried to distance himself from the podcasters who were initially described as his company's partners and who work out of the same office space as his company's offices."  He said, “They don't speak for my company. You know, I have various disagreements with them on things."

And, hopefully, these views are being called out and the land developers are distancing themselves from them.  

The fear of Christians moving into a small town and assuming leadership positions, especially those of a political nature, seems to be quite prevalent here.  And, Abbotoy and business partner, Nate Fischer, are apparently intent on being a Christian witness in various rural areas in Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky.  While the locals seem to be threatened by this - with the flames being fanned by an overzealous Nashville news reporter, they ideally should welcome a Christian presence, rather than adopt an "us vs. them" mentality.

Christians are not the enemy.  And, while we are called to be distinct people, we are not directed to be hostile.  There is a difference between speaking truth in love and loving to speak what is not necessarily the truth.  It's OK when God's people choose to "do life together" and even live in close proximity with one another.  That really is what the Church is all about.  And, we should not be expected to hide in our communes and not affect the people around us.  Our mission on earth is not to simply build enclaves and isolate ourselves but to open up our hearts to the world and show them a better way, the way of the cross.