Is Christian anarchism a faithful place to stand as governments grow darker, or should we still try to “fix” things through the kingdoms of this world? That is where this episode begins, and Brandon Kroll does not answer with soft edges.
This is one of those Bad Roman conversations that feels like a long walk into deep water. Some listeners will nod the whole way. Others will stop every few minutes and ask, “Wait, what did he just say?” But even when the details get wild, the central question of the episode is clear enough: Christians must decide whether our allegiance belongs to Christ or to the systems of power built on money, control, and fear.
Brandon Kroll, of the Manna Daily Podcast, returns to the show to connect Revelation 18, Ephesians 6, the merchant class, the founding of America, spiritual warfare, and the love of money. It is not a neat conversation. It is a provocative one. But the heartbeat underneath it is old and familiar: the powers of this age are not neutral, and disciples of Jesus should be careful not to confuse the machinery of government with the Kingdom of God.
When Merchants Become the Great Men of the Earth
Brandon starts in Revelation 18:23, where the merchants are called “the great men of the earth.” That phrase becomes a doorway into the whole conversation. What happens when commerce no longer serves people but rules them? What happens when wealth, technology, government power, and public deception all start moving as one machine?
That question does not stay in the first century. Brandon brings it right into our world of billionaires, corporate-government partnerships, and systems that seem too big to resist. Whether or not listeners agree with every link he makes, the deeper issue is hard to ignore: money is never just money when it starts shaping our desires.
Jesus warned us about Mammon because Mammon is not simply a budgeting problem. It is a loyalty problem.
And if the merchants really are the great men of the earth, then maybe empire does not only wear a crown. Maybe it also wears a suit, signs contracts, and smiles through a press conference.
The Government, the Market, and the Old Temptation of Control
One striking thread in this episode is Brandon’s insistence that America’s founding cannot be separated from merchant power. He moves through the East India Company, chartered privilege, the Articles of Confederation, federalization, and property requirements for voice and representation.
Some listeners will want to sift through every historical claim. Fair enough. But the spiritual point underneath the history is what gives the episode its force: concentrated power tends to gather around concentrated wealth, and both tend to justify themselves with grand language about order, freedom, and progress.
That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
We still live in a world where poor people are told to trust systems designed by people who profit from distance. We still treat “representation” as though it means consent. We still call people free while they are trapped in structures they did not choose and cannot meaningfully challenge.
The old temptation remains the same. We keep hoping Caesar will become kind if the right people advise him. Jesus offers a different path entirely.
The Love of Money Is Never Just About Cash
Around the middle of the episode, the conversation shifts hard into 1 Timothy 6:10 and the love of money. Here Brandon ties money, identity, digital control, and dependence together.
Again, some of his applications are unusual. But the warning itself is painfully relevant: the more tightly our lives are tied to central systems of access and approval, the easier it becomes for those systems to train us. Buy. Sell. Comply. Scan. Submit. Repeat.
What if the real danger is not just greed, but slowly becoming the kind of people who cannot imagine life without being managed?
That lands close to home. We all know how easy it is to trade freedom for convenience, conviction for access, and discipleship for comfort. The love of money is not only about wanting more. Sometimes it is about being too afraid to lose what keeps us comfortable.
And once comfort is king, Jesus becomes a consultant.
Our Struggle Is Not Against Flesh and Blood
One of the strongest moments in the episode comes when Craig brings the whole conversation back to Ephesians 6:12. That is the right move. Because if Christian anarchism means anything in a Bad Roman sense, it does not mean rage, chaos, or macho rebellion. It means seeing that our deepest battle is not against our neighbors, but against rulers, authorities, and dark powers that shape the world.
Craig asks plainly whether those “authorities” and “powers of this dark world” refer to the government, demons, or both. That question matters because Christians often make one of two mistakes. We either reduce evil to “bad people over there,” or we spiritualize everything so much that we stop naming real systems of domination.
The New Testament refuses both shortcuts.
The powers are spiritual, yes. But they also take visible form in institutions, economies, governments, and habits of obedience. Evil does not only show up in dramatic places. It can also show up in laws, rewards, and systems that train us to compromise.
Christian Anarchism and Heavenly Citizenship
Near the end, Brandon circles back to the idea that Christians belong neither to the land nor the sea, but to heaven. Whatever one makes of the imagery, the point resonates with Philippians 3:20: our citizenship is in heaven.
That line is so easy to quote and so hard to live.
Because if our citizenship is really in heaven, then the government cannot claim our ultimate loyalty. Flags cannot tell us who we are. Money cannot tell us what we are worth. Political structures cannot tell us what hope is possible. The Kingdom of God is not an improved version of government. It is a rival reality.
This is where Bad Roman listeners should lean in. Christian anarchism, at its healthiest, is not rebellion for rebellion’s sake. It is a refusal to hand over to Caesar, to governments, what belongs to Christ: our conscience, our worship, our neighbor-love, our fear, and our future.
Closing
If this episode unsettled you, that may not be a bad thing. Sometimes we need our reflexes interrupted before we can hear Jesus clearly again.
🤝Connect with Brandon Kroll🤝
Highlights & Takeaways
Revelation’s warning about merchants still speaks in an age of corporate-government power.
The love of money is about loyalty, not just greed.
Christians should be careful with systems that demand dependence in exchange for access.
Representation without real consent is not the same as freedom.
Ephesians 6 pushes us to see both spiritual evil and real systems of domination.
Christian anarchism is not chaos; it is allegiance to Christ over coercive power.
Material comfort can become a rival master if we are not paying attention.
Philippians 3:20 reminds us that our deepest citizenship is in heaven.
Listen
Listen for the tension running through the whole episode: are we trying to beat the government and empire at its own game, or are we learning to live as citizens of another Kingdom?
Reflect
Where are you most tempted to trust the government or the market to do what only Christ can do? What forms of comfort or control make you slow to question empire/government?
Read
Read Revelation 18, Ephesians 6:10–20, 1 Timothy 6:6–10, and Philippians 3:17–21. Hold them together and ask what they reveal about money, power, and allegiance.
Practice
This week, examine one area where your life is tightly bound to systems of convenience and control. Don’t start with panic. Start with honesty. Ask what faithfulness to Jesus would look like there.
Episode Timestamps:
(0:00) Is Christian anarchism a good place to be as empires grow?
Craig frames the episode around Christian anarchism, empire/government, Ephesians 6, and the love of money
Brandon Kroll returns to talk spiritual warfare and allegiance
Christ vs. the kingdoms of this world
(2:58) Starting with Revelation 18:23
Craig hands the conversation to Brandon
Revelation 18:23 tied to Ephesians 6
the episode’s scriptural frame comes into focus
(3:20) The merchants, sorcery, and deception
“the merchants were the great men of the earth”
pharmakeia / sorcery language
nations deceived through power and commerce
(4:44) America founded by merchants
Brandon moves from Revelation to modern elites
Charles Beard’s An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution enters the discussion
merchant power becomes a lens for reading America’s roots
(6:58) Articles of Confederation and federal control
looser confederation vs. franchise-style federal control
one center of power over many states
Brandon’s “franchise” analogy
(7:33) Property, money, and public voice
representation tied to property and money
peasants, patriots, and class language
Leviticus 25 raised against land-selling and ownership claims
(24:18) Saints, rulers, and the governments of this world
saints defined as people set apart from this world
being against the rulers of this world
money, materialism, and merchant control
(35:03) Technology, feeds, and programmed belief
AI, feeds, and controlled information
shaping people to believe what they already want
programming people to act on behalf of power
(36:53) Ephesians 6 and the real battle
Craig returns to Ephesians 6:12
rulers, authorities, and spiritual warfare move back to the center
the episode shifts from history and money back to the powers
(37:20) Government, demons, or both?
Craig asks the question directly
Brandon keeps pressing the powers language
spiritual warfare stays tied to visible systems of rule
(49:14) Rome, seven mountains, and America’s symbols
America, Rome, and symbolic parallels
Catholic influence and founding imagery raised
the conversation turns from abstract powers to public symbols
(49:49) Charlie Kirk and Christian nationalist imagination
Brandon reflects on Charlie Kirk’s name and symbolism
Christian nationalism comes into sharper focus
the talk shifts into a dystopian thought experiment
(50:40) Restrictions, surveillance, and forced “Christian” order
“make America Christian again” on a world scale
Palantir surveillance and restrictions on the population
public executions and corporate power used as a warning image
(59:23) Fear, compliance, and getting back to normal
confusion and fear drive people toward control
compliance is tied to comfort and normalcy
Christians who resist power are contrasted with those who go along
(1:00:00) Voting, agency, and what we hand to government
Craig shifts toward voting and political participation
agency, trust, and dependence come into view
allegiance to Christ is measured against what we hand to Caesar
(1:02:41) Caesar, land and sea, and citizenship in heaven
“give that to Caesar” language returns
land empire and sea imagery are tied to the government
Philippians 3:20 closes the argument with citizenship in heaven
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