Scott Tungay
Hello Scott,
I think that Kinists would agree with me in saying that our top three defining beliefs are;
1.) Love for God
Specifically and actionably this means that Kinists believe that they have the privilege and responsibility to be part of Biblical churches where the God of the Bible is worshiped by means of Word and Sacrament. Further, it means that they have their shoulders to the wheel in advancing the Kingdom of God and His Christ. The Kinist love for God means that there is no cordoning off a common realm from a grace realm wherein God is less interested in the common realm or wherein God rules the common realm in a less explicit manner. The Kinist love for God means an understanding that all of Christ is for all of life. The Kinist love for God means all that the Kinist does is sub species aeternitatis (“from the perspective of the eternal”) and as such is done for God’s pleasure.
The love for God actionably means doing what we can to make sure a Biblical Church is present so that the family can worship together and together grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The love for God actionably means helping those in the community of faith who are in need as we can. The love for God means visiting the widow and orphan in their distress.
2.) Love for their Kith and Kin
Specifically and actionably this means that Kinists seek to honor God’s command to “Honor their Father’s and Mothers,” understanding that this commandment extends to generations past and anticipates generations yet to come. In loving our Kith and Kin we thereby also demonstrate our love to God (see #1 above). Love for Kith and Kin extends outwardly in concentric circles to those most intimately connected to us in our families. This is commonly called the ordo amoris. We prioritize our immediate family first, and then from their our love extends to the extended (Trustee) family and from there to those who belong to our ethnicity/race. This prioritizing of love for Kith and Kin is explicitly required of God’s people as seen in I Timothy 5:8. Those who object to this and who insist that we must love all people equally (the same) are living in defiance of God’s explicit instructions. This special love for Kith and Kin is seen most clearly in the actions of our Savior, who, while on the cross, makes provision for his own mother.
Actionably, this means storing up an inheritance for our children and grandchildren (Proverbs 13:22 — A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children …). Actionably it means taking care of our aged relatives as we can when they are in their dotage. Actionably it means that we do what we can to make sure that our adult children don’t have to launch into their beginning years with untold debt. Actionably it means that we do what we can to train our children to be adults so when they become adults they are not starting out without skills that translate into providing for and maintaining a home. Actionably, it means that we do what we can that our children choose wisely in marriage partners and if possible don’t move hundreds or thousands of miles away. Actionably, it means training our children to think like a Christian. We train them in worldview thinking so that they understand the difference between the way the heathen think and the way a Christian thinks. We train them in their undoubted catholic Christian faith teaching them the Bible, the catechism, and the Confessions. Be trained they can think through a brick wall and will not be fooled by the zeitgeist and are equipped themselves to train their children in the same way.
3.) Love of place
Specifically and actionably this means putting down roots. In our mobile and cosmopolitan times this is perhaps the most difficult to accomplish but it still should be our goal. We should see ourselves as belonging to a place as it belongs to us. This implies doing what we can to build community. The idea of community and place cannot be divorced from one another. This means knowing other families generationally as those families share our same place. This means, as possible, buying locally and supporting local businesses.
