That’s not just a silly title for the Commentary, it’s a stupid and impossible thought. But if that’s the case, why isn’t making Christianity great again in America a foolish idea?
Christians in this country have a very parochial view of Christianity. We tend to consider America as the apex place for all things Christian. This is probably one reason for the rise of the New Apostolic Reformation, a.k.a. NAR, a.k.a. Dominionism, a.k.a. Kingdom Now Theology. At its core what do these various-named movements have in common? It is that the church must clean up the world so as to pave the way for the return of Christ.
Transcript:
That’s not just a silly title for the Commentary, it’s a stupid and impossible thought. But if that’s the case, why isn’t making Christianity great again in America a foolish idea?
Christians in this country have a very parochial view of Christianity. We tend to consider America as the apex place for all things Christian. This is probably one reason for the rise of the New Apostolic Reformation, a.k.a. NAR, a.k.a. Dominionism, a.k.a. Kingdom Now Theology. At its core what do these various-named movements have in common? It is that the church must clean up the world so as to pave the way for the return of Christ.
There are numerous other aspects to this common belief that goes by these several titles, but for our purposes today, let’s consider this idea that the church is the means by which Jesus returns.
The key aspect of this notion is captured in the philosophy of the Seven Mountain Mandate. Here are some quotes from an article describing it in GotQuestions.org:
The seven mountain (7-M) mandate or the seven mountain prophecy is a strategy for evangelizing the modern world and enlarging Christ’s kingdom.
Here are the seven “mountains” to be transformed, according to the seven mountain mandate:
1) Education
2) Religion
3) Family
4) Business
5) Government/Military
6) Arts/Entertainment
7) Media
Those who follow the seven mountain mandate speak of “occupying” the mountains, “invading” the culture, and “transforming” or “taking back” society.
This all sounds well and good. Haven’t we lamented over the last decade or two that the church – against the Words of Jesus’ Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 – foolishly holed up within its four walls and forgot about the world? Hasn’t there been quite a bit of discussion of late as the church has realized how woefully inadequate it’s been in transforming the culture; thus, we need good Christian representation in all the above spheres of society such as in the political realm?
However, has anyone ever considered the idea of too little, too late? The church has had centuries to achieve these purposes. Of great importance in this respect is that the Bible narrative shows us that times change. God moves on with His plans for mankind as history itself moves forward. First there were the Old Testament prophets proclaiming Jesus. Then Christ Himself came along fulfilling those prophecies in the New Testament. There have been 2,000 years in this Church Age, but Scripture tells us that the world is about to drastically change. The book of Revelation outlines what will occur.
This means that the time of Christians having the opportunity to capture all these seven mountains of worldly dominance is at an end. A season is coming soon – all the prophesied signs have converged to demonstrate this – that the Restrainer, a.k.a. the Holy Spirit, will step aside so as to allow lawlessness to prevail. Yes, God will let Satan have the run of the world so as to corrupt it even further. Yet, during this time, God will make Himself known so that any who might turn their lives over to Him, will. Note, God is doing this. He will bring these many Judgments in the Tribulation. Try as I might, I can’t find the place in God’s Word where He says that during these seven years, Christians – especially in the form of the church – will take control of the world. There will be newly minted Christians during this time – Tribulation saints – but those of us who know Christ now as Lord and Savior won’t be here. God will snatch us from this Christ-rejecting, alien and hostile, place. Why would He keep us here? The Tribulation is meant for unbelievers. God’s wrath that He will unleash is purposed for them. We who are in Christ no longer have God’s wrath upon us. Christ’s death and resurrection assured us of that.
Let’s now look at this another way. America was found as a God-fearing nation. Our laws and principles are predicated on Biblical precepts. In fact, the founders said that our formation was intended for a Godly people who pursued the Christian faith and could only be retained if we remained that way.
We had our issues in this regard, but for many years we effectively followed God via our Constitutional rights and in the way the church responded by evangelizing many in the world. We also blessed Israel in many ways. All this has ended. We are a post-Christian nation with few in our midst who either know God or even desire to know Him. We are also now on the cusp of abandoning Israel and invoking the curse of Genesis 12:3 upon our nation. Because we’ve rebelled, disobeyed and turned from Him, our end is near. We are on a collision course with Bible prophecy, specifically the Judgment plagues of the Tribulation.
The NAR folks can fantasize all they want, but they can’t change God’s Word, His intentions, and how this next era will play out. We do not have decades and generations left in this nation to accomplish the Seven Mountain Mandate. Even if we did, WE couldn’t do it, nor could we accomplish what the people behind this movement want. WE cannot clean up the world to make it presentable for Christ to return. That’s just a foolish notion. We, the church, cannot make Christianity great again. We never could, and the times demand that God must punish the world. His patience has run out.
Okay, now transfer everything I’ve said into the 10-40 Window halfway around the world. America may have been great in one sense long ago in its Christianity. Over the years, if the church had been doing its job, it could have constantly renewed its purpose and accomplished much, perhaps even extending the timeframe for judgment well out into the future. But, just like Israel, the church blew it.
The question is: Has Christianity ever been great in the 10-40 Window? Has any other nation on the earth ever had the blessings of America, aside from Israel during certain periods? What is it that brings blessings to a nation? It can only be reverence for God and obedience to Him. It can only happen when a people turn to Jesus Christ and make Him their king. In the case of Israel, it was having a belief in God that was Christ-like in its reverence toward Him. If a nation never had these qualities, it has never been blessed. Christianity has never been great in any other nations. It has especially never been great in Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Communist countries.
If that’s the case, how could Christians who have at best a 5% footprint in most of these places in the 10-40 Window ever take back the culture? They were never in a position to exercise dominion in those societies in the first place.
If Christians have to take back the world via these seven mountains of influence, one would suppose they’d have had to have some influence in the first place. If Christians are going to clean up the world preparing it for Jesus, presumably they’d have to do it in these very difficult places as well. They’d have make Christianity great in Iran, Somalia, India, Pakistan, China, North Korea, and on we go. There are certainly some incredibly faithful believers in these nations, but in the world as it’s presently constituted, do you think a strong Christian believer will take the reins in Yemen anytime soon? Heck, Washington, DC is an absolute cesspool of corruption and sexual immorality. Should we really hold our breath for a true Christ-follower to be OUR next president?
You should be able to see that the NAR belief of a Christianized world made ready for Jesus is a pipe dream from the depths of a Hong Kong opium den. If we’ve fallen to such depths in America, where Christianity has been relatively free to practice and are certainly not going to accomplish what the NAR-ites believe, then the rest of the world isn’t going to get anywhere near that either.
God will bring His wrath and Judgment to this Christ-rejecting world. The way of this world is not getting better by turning toward Christ. All is on a downhill slalom course. This planet is sliding toward perdition.
The truth of Scripture can’t be altered. We who declare Jesus must obey what He said. It’s very simple. We should watch and anticipate His return. After all, He said in Revelation 22:7 that He is coming soon. While we wait, we work for His coming kingdom while there’s still daylight . . .
. . . just as Jesus in John 9:4 says:
We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.