Welcome back, Pilgrim. Here’s what’s happened in town since you’ve been away…
Welcome back to the Reformer Newsletter, where we can take a dive into various projects and activities from around web3 and across the Christian community. You have joined this network to contribute to our collective mission of building for Christ’s Kingdom, and we will use this newsletter as a platform to enable that.
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
1 Corinthians 6:1-8
Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth covers a broad spectrum of topics which he not-so-gently corrects them: fix your grossly immoral practices, avoid the heresies which are popping their ugly heads, and stop allowing yourselves to fall into legalism. Mixed in this is the above tangent addressing members of the church bringing legal charges against each other, and Paul hits the church with this zinger which can be paraphrased as “from where I stand, you appear too dumb to take care of yourselves!”
In this context and through this letter, we are taught a fundamental truth which pertains to the Church today- while we are called to live righteously in our civic and social lives, we are also called to take responsibility now for governing the Kingdom as the sanctified Body of Christ. Across the projects and communities you engage in, remember that the you represent that Body. And within the ReformersNFT community, remember that we are here to lend a hand, engage with each other, pray for success for brothers and sisters, and seek fellowship through diligent work.
Around Web3
The Praxis Society: We have spotlighted individual articles out of this group, but it is also worthwhile to check out their overall mission. This team is looking to create a new city (or state? or city-state?) and build its institutions from the ground up based on classical governance principles. Not surprisingly there is much overlap between this group and the web3/crypto/Network State crowd.
Progressive Decentralization: We had some rich discussion in the Reformers Discord this week regarding the feasibility of “true” decentralization. Can any company or industry truly decentralize with the current need for high-cost, capital-intensive infrastructure? This article argues that “decentralization” vs. “centralization” is a sliding scale and we need to optimize, and not necessarily maximize, decentralization.
Around the Community
The Feast Days: This week I am very excited to have the chance to highlight an initiative from our very own ReformersNFT Community member, Hobbsy. The Feast Days is a very cool project which shows how crypto technologies and NFTs can be used to teach and celebrate classic Christian concepts like the liturgical calendar and the lives of the saints. Each of the 275 feast days on the Christian calendar has an associated NFT for the saints, believers, and teachers whom are remembered on that day. Check out this project now!