Foundation of patriarchs
Don't wait for someone else to step up..
We need to support good men. It really is that simple. Men are ordained by God through the order of creation to be the head of their families and by extension their communities. We need to support good patriarchs. The devil loves to attack and corrupt men most of all because through man’s fall into sin their household crumbles.
This goes all the way back to Eden when Adam failed to trust in the word of God and damned mankind. Both Adam and Eve knew the words God had spoken but, like Lucifer, they desired to be like God. In Adam’s fall we sinned all. But, even in this hour of great darkness, God provided for His children by promising a Savior. Yes, they both had to suffer the consequences for their actions, but God would not give up on his children, for our Father never abandons us.
Adam would have to struggle for the rest of his life to provide for his family. Gone were the easy days that God had set before him. He could no longer stroll amongst the splendor of paradise with all creation at his side, plucking any fruit his heart decided: now the ground would no longer yield its fruit without toil and the fear of man was upon creation. Eve also had her vocation cursed but she also received a promise: though her pain would be increased in childbirth, the fruit of her womb would crush the head of the serpent and deliver humanity from our sins.
Today, Satan is defeated but his attacks on the children of God have not abated. We must endure this little season until the sheaves are ripe for harvest. How then should we live? The same way that the church has always lived: repentance, forgiveness, and evangelism. This is the foundation upon which a community must build if it wants to endure. Therefore, a solid church and faithful under shepherd are essential and should be sought out above all else and, once they are found, we must strive to support and defend them until the Lord returns or calls us home. This requires good men.
It is my observation that a multitude of men know that something is quite wrong in the world today and are looking for solid communities that they can support and defend; I have seen at least a dozen examples of this in the community where I reside in the last three years. This represents a manifest opportunity for local Christian communities to intentionally organize in such a way as to be sought after by these men, thereby strengthening themselves.
There are two main challenges that need to be addressed by a Christian community looking to support these men: housing & employment. Both of these issues can easily be resolved by an intentional organization of patriarchs, a roundtable if you will, with the express goal of providing shelter and jobs to good men. Someone you know has expressed a desire to join your community but can’t afford to buy a house? Buy one and rent it to him at a chaste rate. A young man is looking to start a family and doesn’t want to delay until after college? Find him a good entry level job with a future if he applies himself and works hard. A man is looking to move but has not been able to find him a job? Be intentional about finding one for him or, better yet, see if he has the aptitude to start his own business; an entrepreneur is far more valuable to a community than a lacky.
What I would propose is the formal foundation of such a network that is able to work with a multitude of communities to streamline the process of matching good men with Christian communities. I would see this as a for-profit entity that would rent houses, find jobs, and help found businesses with the express mission of supporting communities by bringing in men and investment. For-profit is essential for several reasons, not the least of which is all the red tape associated with non-profits. Another reason is to attract investors to help build communities in a sustainable and scalable way. Let us seize this opportunity to build a bigger boat.
The cares and concerns of these dark days can be very distracting, but we must never lose sight of the fact that our treasure is not of this world and only what is done for Christ will last. Go to church, read your Bible, pray the Psalms, catechize your children, talk to your neighbors about Christ; be intentional about the time you are given for no man knows the hour of the Lord’s return. May we not be the wicked servant who buried his talent in the ground but rather the good and faithful servants who used what their Master had entrusted them with to do his work.
Unless the Lord builds the house, those that build it labor in vain.
The word of the Lord endures forever.
For Altar & Hearth,
The Arbiter