The Price Are Christians Willing To Pay?
By Al Cronkrite The Covenant News ~ May 7, 2007
A friend called me this morning upset by being chided by his wife and adult children regarding his attempts to bring righteous change to society. His family is embarrassed by public displays of displeasure with the status quo and particularly so with attempts at direct confrontation.
God gives the gift of confrontation to some of His subjects and not to others. Many who have it feel driven to use it. They perceive reality differently and often see the error or disorder quicker and with more precision. Not only do these individuals feel compelled to point out truth in the face of error but they also want to see truth prevail and the disorder corrected.
The gift of confrontation like the gift of salvation comes with a price tag.
In our time, the powers of evil are winning by default. The Church of Jesus Christ is aware they are engaged in a war but they have not accessed the armory God has provided for fighting it. Because God’s weapons have not been appropriated, what confrontation has been put forth, complaining about particular sins being promoted and allowed in our society, has failed to offer an alternative plan and has produced no fruit.
Pastor Chuck Baldwin, whose popular essays warning about the evils of the coming world order and the duplicity of our government, is an almost singular voice from the ecclesiastical quarter. His essays are timely and informative but his dispensational stance precludes a Godly solution to our dilemma. Dr. Baldwin recently wrote “I am a pre-millennial dispensationalist in my understanding of Eschatology. Yes, Gertrude, I believe in the Rapture of the Church.” (Read his entire essay here.) I do not know Gertrude but I do know that the theology of Dispensationalism has emasculated the Church of Jesus Christ and rendered it useless. It is a theological order born of rebellion against the sound doctrines bequeathed by our Reformed forefathers.
Pre-millennialism spiritualizes Christianity and rather than vesting its followers with the duty of bringing Godly dominion to His creation it allows the fatalistic refrain that the end times are upon us and we must expect and accept deterioration. It is a self-fulfilling, defeatist theology and in spite of the fact that Pastor Baldwin has an outstanding ability to define the problem, his doctrine fails to put forth a Biblical solution.
The dominion of the Church of Jesus Christ includes God’s entire creation and everything in it. Government is part of the Church. Businesses are part of the Church. The Church Universal is not contained in a particular building or denomination but is a big-tent that encompasses everything. The building we enter on Sunday is an institution for community worship. We refer to it as the church but important as it is, it is only a small portion of the larger Church.
Cal Thomas is a popular syndicated columnist who regularly upbraids Christians for being involved in politics He writes “Politics is about compromise. The message of the church is about truth.” An element of truth lies in Thomas’ opinion. The government in a Christian nation is part of the Church, accountable to God and duty bound to obey His Laws, it is separate from the institutional church in function and clergymen are enjoined to critique its behavior but not become involved in its function. Government has no more right to compromise righteousness than the church or the family. Thomas is wrong on this score. Government is to protect the nation from disruptive forces from without or within, it is to carry out the sentences pronounced by the magistrates, and protect the church and families. Its functions are restricted!
Clericalism is a result of pre-millennialism. In the Institutes of Biblical Law, Dr. R. J. Rushdoony defines Clericalism as “the exultation of the church institution and its clergy…This identification is a product of premillennialism and amillennialism, both of which limit God’s redemptive and sanctifying works in history to the institution. The result is clericalism….Only when the work of the church is seen as one of broad implications for dominion in every realm under Christ can clericalism be avoided.”
No nation can exist in a state of peaceful freedom without justice and no court can dispense justice without an immutable standard. Though the United States has been arrogant and aggressive, it has enjoyed the benefits of a legal system derived from Biblical Law. Now, this grounding is being eroded as the god of secularism encroaches. The ages have made no change in the sin of fallen men. The hidden forces that control the state have eaten of the Apple and seek to be like God. Justice and power are linked and power seeks to dictate right and wrong.
This week a Florida woman rushing to the side of her hospitalized husband was stopped, manhandled, and handcuffed by a policeman. (Read about it here) Local policemen no longer attempt to enhance the social order by restraining evil and promoting righteousness, instead they seek power to demand instant acquiescence. In what should serve as a wake-up call, Rob Blackstock describes the militarization of local police forces. Read the entire article here. He points out that since the 1980s the use of SWAT teams has gone from 3,000 per year to over 40,000. He provides a link to a list of botched raids. See it here.
We are now far removed from the model provided in God’s Word and the binding fingers of tyranny are being felt across the nation.
My wife and I watched a movie called “Freedom Writers” staring Hillary Swank. The movie championed a school teacher in California who was able to unite one white boy, and several unruly and antagonistic, gang oriented Mexican, Black, and Oriental boys and girls. She lost her husband to divorce and fought with school leaders to accomplish the task. It was an emotional movie with strong elements of propaganda. The lesson being taught was that all races can get along if the proper secular catalyst is available. The students were transformed by keeping a diary and reading (The miracle that they could read and write was not explained.) the Diary of Anne Frank. The Holocaust was a dominate factor in their redemption.
Multiculturalism and polytheism are being portrayed in favorable terms and the introspective, selfish, and theologically stunted Christian Church has failed to confront the heresy.
God created a polyglot with the express intention of allaying sin. Multiculturalism steals the culture in an attempt to fit together parts of a puzzle that were not intended to match. Polytheism strikes at God’s desire to garner our entire worship; instead creating a junk pile of insignificant, meaningless religions that are easily overcome by human power.
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is a globalist! The battle is not against the principle of world government. God seeks control of His entire creation. The battle is against the secular cabal that seeks to mount the Throne of God. Though all are sinners, different races created by God can all live peacefully under the Laws God has given us with each race functioning obediently in its own sphere and all worshiping the One True God.
The institutional church is a center of worship that teaches the Law and monitors obedience. The courts dispense the only true justice by deciding cases according to the mandates of The Creator. The state carries out the directives of the courts, attends to the protection of the nation, and in unusual cases might act as a resource for the court system.
The cost of establishing the kingdom of God is high. Humanistic governments have been responsible for the deaths of millions of their own citizens during the Twentieth Century alone. Confronting this juggernaut involves sacrifice. Confrontation is a form of war and is seldom completed without retaliation.
It is the duty of the Church of Jesus Christ to confront evil throughout God’s creation. We are not only to confront evil but to offer God’s solution to the pandemic violence and oppression common to man. Jesus died for our sins: we are forgiven and empowered by His Spirit. He sits as King on the right hand of God seeking dominion over the entire creation. Dominion is a product of obedience to His Laws and obedience will bring peace, prosperity, and great blessing.
Wake up Church! Jesus paid the price for our salvation, now we must pay the price for Him to reign.
Mr. and Mrs. Secularist, if you read this essay, please do not assume that we Dominionists are intent on forcing you to obey God’s Laws. We are a nation that has failed to obey the Constitution which is the highest law of our land. Scores of elected representatives in the house and senate ignore our constitution and pass legislation inimical to the welfare of the nation on a daily basis. God’s Laws cannot become effective until the majority of us are enlightened with the understanding that human law always results in tyranny and tyranny always results in suffering and in a failure to allow citizens to achieve their full potential. God’s Laws must be embraced by the majority of the population before they can bring peace and prosperity to the world.