“17 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5 But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7 and Jason has received them, and they are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” 8 And the people and the city authorities were disturbed when they heard these things. 9 And when they had taken money as security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. Paul and Silas in Berea 10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds. 14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they departed. Paul in Athens 16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.” (Ac 17:1–21 ESV)

Doubling down on saved status, and are we the vexing, aggravating, faith notwithstanding, unsubmitted Arm? Real Folk would like to know, about something called Freedom of Religion: the Room, spacious Room, for Theological Points to be advanced and made. Yes, if we have any conceit, it is that the abusive church and the malfeasance church, really lacks any theological heft. It is worldly in its understandings of power, of end times, of conversion, of sanctification.

Jesus said, “Those not with us are against us”: correcting or updating His earlier, “Those not against us are for us”. Indeed, painfully, in mind of real politik, in mind of Service and Duty, conscripted and drafted Duty, in mind of License and Spycraft most sublime, we are chip-on-shoulder Converted to Christian Faith, and wise as serpents, innocent as doves, we must see fulcrums shift by the sheer expressive Power of Christ’s religion, fulcrums shift and the balance, the counter-balance, fall out of concord with each other: those not with us are against us.

Spycraft only insofar as Always we are on foreign soil, Always we are excluded or shunned because of Questionable Associations (foreign agents who we befriend?), Always we are Ready to Die, to be Reassigned, to be quieted for a spell of other men’s labors, women’s labors, yet office desk piled high Inbox of things to do if given the Time.

Spycraft instead means Work in a community called Intelligence, where Christians are Minted via Lived Experience, where we Mightily hold on strong to the Credo of Real Deal experience and Real Deal patient exuberance and due haste. The winds are high up here, they say. The storm clouds are meteorologically interesting, perhaps, but more important they are my Today’s Lived Experience: I feel the storm clouds at threatening Peak. Spycraft no more, rather Curious seeker and Enabler, Handler and servant to Spymaster-in-chief, we literally Listen In to dialog about how the Enemy sees us the Christian fold and Christian State. Shared dialog because, hey, we are loving Human Beings who love on the thought of our intel officer Friends—all of us, by now—are going to use the Human Fragment of the Knowledge Edifice, in service to a Greater Good.

All of us go Intel, go Rogue Agent, even, because “I need you to do things my people can’t do”. Plausible deniability. Commingling of Church and State (brr…). Wild high seas, Wild West, vast scopes and terrains of Plainland and Land for the dealings, for the high-minds’ purview and license to Act, no longer a wild beast of false claims, but Tomorrow’s Agent vis-a-vis Justified in the minds of the world (those not for us are against us…), consensus of Community being, “we need these wise as serpents, who miraculously also are Friending us, are Innocent like Doves”.

Fire drill, batten down the hatches, it may have been a brass quintet that formed the backdrop of news hastening down the unclassified simple pings, war has begun. Classic. To the soldier, the Call is to Prayer. The Call is to truly Forgiving Oneself for deep flaws, Psychological Flaws, Self-Masochistic tendencies, real ineptitude for the Office it can feel, and yet… and yet the Day is ours to lay Claim to. You, here! You, over there! All of us, Pray! Your Basic Training insofar as you are socialized (to a fault) members of a living organism blessed with four, five, six decades of a modicum of pained, perhaps, but real nonetheless Peace, contrasts starkly with those who lived in bunkers of their own mind ever since the “towers fell”. Or prior. To a fault, we value not the human life over the refusal to bunker-down. We stay Embedded to the last. We do not neglect to meet together. We put life and limb On the Line, because—not because, hey, your survival is proof you’re just a tad paranoid—because we are Soldiers situated in climes and tenures we personally even Own a bit, and are dutiful with this “Wealth” to discharge our duties to our people Faithfully. Give a man a fishing rod, and see what he or she can bring about!

We are gifted that Fishing Rod in the Spirit, and we use it willy-nilly without reservation, because some folks, some “Agents” are lightyears, leagues ahead of others, or ahead of the faux Agency hastily set up in mocking entrepreneurial Frustration with the nation’s judiciary, justice department, war department, and arts or science departments. Labor. Etc. We may be Firing on all Cylinders while they… too pathetic to address directly, almost, except the Approach and the Introduction, hey, we have a few empty desks around here… you, you are someone with Experience in “getting things done”, only around here, it is done a little differently.

Every dream meets every Nightmare: those called to the ministry have nothing to fear, while those presuming, it is a dangerous cat or beast to handle. You can really hurt yourself. But to those Called, it is a solemn Duty discharged, to put aside all the boastful works-righteous Career Steps of other Professions, in the service of arranging the altar flowers, of meekly carrying the cross into the sanctuary, or patiently repeating the words of consecration over the Elements, or listening to yet another penitent’s solemn confession. Of guiding the altar guild and coping with the vestry or parish council.