Why Anarchy Just Won't Work

   

    Earlier this week, I was tapping through my Instagram stories, which have been filled with #blacklivesmatter and other tags and information relating to the recent events. Now and then, someone will post about police reform. But then I saw one shared post that stopped me in my tracks. The red words were in bold at the top. "Abolish the Police?". Part of me gaped. The other half simply sighed, already used to the radical thoughts that have recently been all over the media. This one, however, bordered near anarchist thought. I clicked on the post to read it. After all, knowing the points of other beliefs is always to our advantage. The post went on to explain how the police should be defunded and dismantled, what its replacement should be, and why. The thinking behind it was simple.

Humankind is inherently good,  kind and can take care of itself with no boundaries. 

    Sadly my friends, this kind of thinking is wrong. Humans are not inherently good. The post proposed replacing police officers with social workers to meet crisis. When asked the question "what about robbers and murderers?" it replied by saying that almost all crime activity stems from a human whose needs have not been met. If we meet the needs of everyone equally, then crime goes away. It sounds lovely, doesn't it? Honestly, it reminded me of a book written very long ago by Sir Thomas More, Utopia. Before you ask, yes, the name is exactly what it sounds. Utopia explored a possible world where government is perfectly rational, people are good, property is shared, everyone is equal and the world runs as smooth as maple syrup. But there's a reason that the word "utopia", which was coined by More, became defined as "an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect." 

Humankind is inherently evil, cruel and requires boundaries to keep from destroying itself.

    This is a biblical truth. (1 Cor. 2:14) Any church that tries to tell you otherwise, is lying. God created perfect man. Man sinned. Man became cursed to be born sinful, generation after generation. We cannot help but love sin, love destruction, love what is evil. Our only hope for salvation is Jesus Christ, and through Him we can strive for goodness, but we will never achieve it (that's why we need salvation in the first place). And even though there are those who have been saved by Him, the world will always have those who are not. All of this combines to create a world that is evil. A world that sadly, cannot take care of itself. 

    Dismantling the police and offering "equal fulfillment of needs for all" will not do away with crime, and will not better society. There will always be people whose needs have not been fulfilled, and there will always be people who want more and are willing to hurt others to get it. While the police has caused harm to some they have protected many, and they offer the important boundaries we all need. Without authority, society would dissolve into chaos where anyone could do what they'd like. For that reason, God established authority on Earth. Romans 13:1 says "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." Government is an institute that God allows, and He is sovereign over who is at the head of it. For this reason, we need to cooperate with our government unless they are forcing us to do something against the Word. 

Abolishing authority is not biblical in the slightest.

    So before we rally to the streets, demanding the dismantling of an institute that helps keep humanity in check, let's look at ourselves. If there were no rules, no laws, no boundaries, would we truly be good? Would we behave, not lash out or steal whenever we are offended? The answer to that is no, and it's obvious in our current events. People are angry, and how are they responding? By destruction and breaking the law. How much worse could we be without authority instituted by God? Infinitely worse, because we are a broken people, desperately in need of a God who can save us. But because there will always be those who do not want to be saved, we cannot dissolve into anarchy. We must try and keep the heart of this world beating, however corrupt the people of it may be. 

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