It is right to call the Church fallen, old wineskins, apostate even, not hearing the Spirit, not doing Christ’s work, not even knowing God herself, corrupt from the inside and out, molded by the god of this world, built to serve power, deserving of God’s fiercest judgment – and it is right to act like it. To do something about it.

It is right to see the state as wicked, as protectors of the bourgeoisie, as enemies of the working class, as the constant brutal force of colonialism, deserving of God’s fiercest judgment – and it is right to act like it. To do something about it.

It is right to see these things as historically connected, their violence serving imperialism and white supremacy, and each other.

To those who are crushed by the impossibilities of discipleship in institutional Christianity: I promise you that Christians can live another way.

We can be disciples of Christ still, but in a way that does not replicate the dynamics of imperialism. And the Spirit is leading many of us out of the churches, and into the streets. We have discovered greater discipleship and gospel vision among revolutionaries than in the churches, and this is a good thing. The steeplehouses have always been intimately tied to colonialism and imperialism, and gender inclusive language will not undo that.

As a people convinced that the Spirit is poured out on all flesh, we can be confident that accompanying revolutionary currents is our duty, even if it leads to martyrdom. We can look to the example of Jesus, who died in place of Barabbas, an insurrectionist.

That will be hard for most Christians to understand – even in more “progressive” churches. We don’t have to wait for them, or anybody else blinded by their privilege or power, to follow Jesus. Many people cannot be reasoned into the empathy that revolution demands. Apologetics will not change their hearts. Some have no stake in revolution, and that’s that. We can and need to be the Church in a different way. In a way that joins its faith to the Commune, and actively combats white-led institutional Christianity.

We don’t need institutions that continue to exploit oppressed people in order to be disciples. Wherever two or three are gathered, there is Christ. All we need is a few comrades who are committed to each other’s wholeness and Christ’s call to overthrow the systems of this world.

Our little communities can embrace a full gospel that is both profoundly mystical and material. Starting in small ways, we can sustain systems of mutual aid, sharpen each other’s minds and spirits in study and prayer, create space for self-crit and discernment – regularly strengthening each other as revolutionaries and loving each other as dear friends. As a community, we can be present to the needs of the revolutionary movement, and offer spaces of prayer, contemplation, and healing. We can also be a bold witness against the institutional church, disrupting their order to prophesy their coming judgment and to proclaim a different way to follow Jesus.

This is all fun to imagine, to talk about, but we don’t have the privilege of just imagining and talking. We must follow the Spirit in tearing down the steeplehouses and pour out God’s transformative judgment on this world.