Recovering the American Social Order

We must reorient ourselves around the truth of total reality and the distinctly Christian principles and presuppositions that gave rise to the American social order.

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America’s worldview and cultural values have steadily shifted leftward since academics and institutions embraced progressive ideologies in the mid-twentieth century. Only recently have conservatives recognized the extent of this shift.

Currently, American culture reflects Herbert Marcuse’s concept of “Repressive Tolerance” through cancel culture and censorship of anything from the political right, including Christian values. We’re caught in the cycle of social change prescribed by Hegel’s dialectic within an oppressor versus oppressed paradigm (Marx).

Now that many Americans have woken up, we realize that we must break free from these destructive cycles. We realize nothing good comes from them.

Moving Forward

We cannot fight back or reverse current trends using the same tactics prescribed by Marcuse and Hegel. Instead, we must reorient ourselves around the truth of total reality and the distinctly Christian principles and presuppositions that gave rise to the American social order. We must return to the foundational Christian ideals that shaped early American culture and institutions.

The traditional political paradigm of left versus right is no longer tenable. Instead, we must focus on distinguishing good from evil and truth from falsehood – using biblical categories over secular ones.

Spiritual Solutions

America’s core challenge isn’t primarily political – it’s spiritual and theological. As such, political solutions are incapable of addressing our fundamental problems. In fact, they may exacerbate them. Fundamentally, we have spiritual problems in our nation. We must understand that spiritual problems demand spiritual solutions and respond accordingly.

Rebuilding the American social order depends on recovering our historical biblical heritage that gave rise to it in the first place.

Joran J. Ballor wrote, “In times of great upheaval and uncertainty, it is necessary to look to the past for resources to help us recognize and address our own contemporary challenges. While Scripture is foremost among these foundations, the thoughts and reflections of Christians throughout history also provide us with important guidance.”

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Render Unto Caesar but Jesus is Lord!

The first confession of the early church was, “Jesus is Lord!” This first confession implied that since Jesus is Lord, Caesar is not. This was a political statement that cost many Christians their lives.

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What do we “render unto Caesar?”

The first confession of the early church was, “Jesus is Lord!” This first confession implied that since Jesus is Lord, Caesar is not. This was a political statement that cost many Christians their lives. The Romans wouldn’t have burned Christians at the stake or fed them to lions or beheaded them for saying, “Jesus loves you!”

The proper starting place for biblical understanding of governing authority is not Romans 13, as many pastors would have you believe. If one runs to Romans 13 as a standalone text, you’re left with an incomplete understanding of authority that leads to bad theology and unbiblical outcomes that cause harm.

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” (Romans 13:1-2)

Actually, one must begin with Matthew 22:17-20:

“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

This presupposes that some things DO NOT belong to Caesar (the state / government).

So, what things belong to Caesar as opposed to other authorities appointed by God?
Do your children belong to Caesar?
Does the Church belong to Caesar?
Does your body belong to Caesar?
Does your home belong to Caesar?
Does your food belong to Caesar?

During the COVID nonsense, many pastors and Christian leaders trotted out Romans 13 as their hard-and-fast “submit to the governing authorities” proof-text to coerce their fellow Christians to do what the government says (closing churches, social distancing, wearing masks, getting experimental shots, quarantining, etc.). Many manipulated others by saying that refusing to submit was “not loving thy neighbor.” Repent now, if you haven’t already.

This confusion about biblical authority extends beyond pandemic responses to the very heart of our civic duty. Having established what belongs to Caesar and what doesn’t, we face an even more pressing concern.

There is an important question Christians in America fail to grasp.
Will you cast your lot with life or death? Righteousness or sin?

Unfortunately, our choice on the ballot is not between Jesus or Satan. It’s more like Herod the Great or Cyrus the Great. The former murdered the firstborn throughout Bethlehem. The latter was a pagan king whom God used to shepherd God’s people back to Israel: “the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia…”(Ezra 1:1b)

A choice is set before every American Christian voter: a platform of life and order, or a platform of death and chaos.

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse…” (Deuteronomy 30:19a)

Not voting is equivalent to silence. If death is a choice on the ballot, then silence is evil when life is on the ballot as well. In fact, in America your vote belongs to Caesar… Render it!

Remember, God’s righteousness can be expressed through a single vote and can be accomplished through many votes.

A biblical case can be made that refusing to vote for the protection and promotion of human life violates the Sixth Commandment: “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Implicit in the prohibition of unlawfully taking a human life is the protection and promotion of human life.

Brian Tallman wrote, “Because God is the God of life, and because we are His children and those who walk in the same way in which He walks (1 John 2:6), we are necessarily those who work for the preservation, protection, and promotion of life. This command, then, is profoundly rooted in the nature of God. As John Calvin writes:

“We are accordingly commanded, if we find anything of use to us in saving our neighbors’ lives, faithfully to employ it; if there is anything that makes for their peace, to see to it; if anything harmful, to ward it off; if they are in any danger, to lend a helping hand.””(1)

It’s also our responsibility to steward this blessing God has ordained for American Christians who are eligible to vote.

Just as the early church’s confession “Jesus is Lord!” was a costly political statement that sent Christians to the lions, today’s Christians face their own moment of costly conviction. This is our moment to proclaim with our votes what the early church proclaimed with their lives – Jesus is Lord!

Proclaiming “Jesus is Lord!” costs something.

Related Podcast:

Revolution of Man Podcast Ep. 10 Election Predictions, Render unto Caesar, Preaching on Politics w/ Tyler Durham (Spotify) (Apple)

Please share your insights by commenting below this post.

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Now more than ever, worldview training is essential. It is not a Christian elective. I launched the Forge Room Foundation in order to equip Christians to understand our cultural moment and respond with a biblical worldview perspective.

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Clueless Christianity and the Liberal Trap

Clueless Christianity is weak and powerless. It cannot withstand the onslaught of darkness. Only through repentance and an unapologetic return to Biblical truth and faith can we withstand the coming storm. Pray that God raises up saints and sound doctrine against evil and falsehood in our time.
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The biggest problems for evangelicals are not that Satan and the world are against the church. Evangelicals’ biggest problems aren’t external – they’re internal. We’re clueless.

A clueless Christian is open to manipulation, false teaching, and heretical beliefs.

We must admit that most evangelical Christians struggle with Biblical literacy, self-centeredness, uncritical adoption of fads, ignorance of our cultural moment, questionable theology, and avoidance of confronting social issues scripturally. Add to this the recent American theology of “Christian escapism,” and you have a recipe for societal disaster. We wonder why our nation and the church are complete dumpster fires.

The Liberal Trap

Case in point, David French and other “liberal” Christians serve as water-boys for liberal elites (liberal Christianity is heresy, as I will point out later). French and his cohort (Russell Moore, Curtis Chang, Francis Collins, Tim Alberta, Andy Stanley, etc.) lean left and punch right. That is to say, they espouse leftist political and moral positions, wrap them in Christian language, then bash conservative Christians and admonish them to avoid politics altogether. Read their books. They are theological chaff under the pretense of sophistication.

They all superimpose a political framework on their theology, at the same time claiming they are trying to keep politics out of Christianity and the church by bashing conservative Christians through a straw man fallacy of the “right’s political idolatry.” They are so obsessed that when confronted for their folly, they shift tactics to ad hominem attacks, calling those who disagree or expose their falsehoods “Christian Nationalists.” I’d rather be called a “Christian Nationalist” (whatever that means) than actually be a “Christian Socialist.”

Remember, Curtis Chang told Christians the “shot” was a gospel issue and anyone who didn’t get it was breaking God’s command to love our neighbors (1). Chang and others who said that sinned against God’s church. I highly recommend they repent.

Herbert Marcuse must be rejoicing in Hell as these men and their followers impose a form of “Repressive Tolerance” wrapped in a Christian veneer on the church at large.

Note: Every Christian should read Herbert Marcuse’s “Repressive Tolerance” to understand our cultural moment and mood. We are living in the logic of Marcuse. Link below this post.

These men are not shepherds of God’s flock nor are they shepherds for sale. They are mere hirelings of modern Marcusian Liberal Christianity masquerading as pious pastors and thought leaders.

They wave banners revealing their true nature that read, “To Save Conservatism From Itself, I Am Voting for Harris” (David French actually wrote a New York Times piece by that title) leading undiscerning believers toward the outer darkness.

Meanwhile, a mobile abortion and vasectomy van is parked at the DNC national convention offering free abortion drugs to women and vasectomies to men (2). Yet, they can’t tell you what a woman is. Their signs use code-speak like “Reproductive Healthcare” which everyone knows means, kill the baby in the mother’s womb. “Healthcare” for the unborn means death.

What French and his ilk are promoting is not historical biblical Christianity, but another religion altogether.

J. Gresham Machen nailed it in 1923, in his book, “Christianity and Liberalism“:
“What the liberal theologian has retained after abandoning Christian doctrine is not Christianity at all, but an entirely different religion… Christianity is founded upon the Bible. Liberalism is founded upon the shifting emotions of sinful men.

Clueless Christianity manifests in several ways:

Biblical Illiteracy Crisis

Problem: Our biblical ignorance lets wolves use out-of-context verses to peddle false doctrines.
Solution: Repent of your spiritual sloth, believe the Gospel, and study your Bible.

Self-Centered Worship

Problem: We demand entertainment instead of worship, therapy instead of repentance. We psychologize sin and apply therapy rather than repentance and believing the gospel.
Solution: Repent of your selfishness and trivializing sin. Find a church that preaches God’s Word unadulterated, not some watered-down rubbish.

Following Fads

Problem: Pastors chase pop-culture trends, and use big data and “best practices” to attract the lost.
Solution: Repent of your unbiblical techniques of “doing church.” (What the heck does “doing church” mean anyway? It’s theological nonsense). Get your ecclesiological (doctrine of the church) house in order. Study God’s design, purpose, and destiny for His Church. Remember, what you win people with is what you win people to.

Cultural Ignorance

Problem: Ignorance of our cultural moment leaves the church vulnerable to destructive undercurrents.
Solution: Repent of your apathy. Preach God’s Word as it intersects with the actual lives of your congregation, not as if in a vacuum.

Theological Confusion

Problem: Problematic positions on scripture’s authority, inerrancy, the Gospel’s sufficiency, sexual and ethnic identity, and politics have left many in the church confused.
Solution: Repent of your apostasy and heretical theology. Recover biblical categories, anthropology, and sociology.

Social Issue Avoidance

Problem: By avoiding critical moral issues, we allow bad ideas and policies to harm our neighbors.
Solution: Repent of your cowardice. Speak truth to error and against destructive ideologies, theories, and policies.

Christian Escapism

Finally, many believe that Jesus would never allow His Church to suffer trials and tribulations, despite 2,000 years of evidence to the contrary. Are modern Christians somehow exempt from God’s judgment on broader society or persecution?

Problem: This mindset is unbiblical and leaves us unprepared for the challenges of today. Furthermore, the escapist mentality can lead to apathy, inaction, pride, and a lack of care for future generations. “Get people saved and wait” is not Biblical.
Solution: Repent and focus on being faithful to Christ in every moment today so that when He returns, he will find you faithful. Remember, God called us to be faithful in every moment of our assigned station in this life as if Christ’s return could happen at any time.

In conclusion, Evangelicals are invariably 15 to 20 years behind the culture. In a foolish attempt at relevance, evangelicals jump on the cultural bandwagon just as everyone else is getting off. Meanwhile, many hirelings enrich themselves by peddling their books and programs, leading many sheep astray while shaming actual shepherds.

Clueless Christianity is weak and powerless. It cannot withstand the onslaught of darkness. Only through repentance and an unapologetic return to Biblical truth and faith can we withstand the coming storm. Pray that God raises up saints and sound doctrine against evil and falsehood in our time.

It’s time to repent and fight for truth or lose the nation God gave us and men died for.

I leave you with another quote from Machen to contemplate:
The type of religion which rejoices in the pious sound of traditional phrases, regardless of their meanings, or shrinks from ‘controversial’ matters, will never stand amid the shocks of life. In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.

 

“So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”
(Isaiah 59:19 KJV)

Citations, sources and links:

(1) https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2021/09/08/curtis-chang-former-pastor-vaccine-exemption-sot-ebof-vpx.cnn

(2) https://www.npr.org/2024/08/20/nx-s1-5081386/planned-parenthood-mobile-clinic-abortion-vasectomies-dnc

Herbert Marcuse “Repressive Tolerance” (1969) https://www.marcuse.org/herbert/publications/1960s/1965-repressive-tolerance-fulltext.html

David French: “To Save Conservatism From Itself, I Am Voting for Harris” (NYT 2024) https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/11/opinion/harris-trump-conservatives-abortion.html

J. Gresham Machen “Christianity and Liberalism” (1923) https://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Liberalism-J-Gresham-Machen/dp/1642894915

Essay: “THE CHRISTIAN DUTY IN POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT” by Lance Cashion (2023)

Please share your insights by commenting below this post.

FORGE ROOM FOUNDATION
Now more than ever, worldview training is essential. It is not a Christian elective. I launched the Forge Room Foundation in order to equip Christians to understand our cultural moment and respond with a biblical worldview perspective.

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From Debate Stage to Spiritual Awakening: Human Dignity and Politics – A Christian Response

Last night’s debate revealed deeply troubling issues.
What’s really happening?
How are we supposed to think about it as Christians?
What are we supposed to do?

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Last night’s debate revealed deeply troubling issues.

Links between Biden’s cognitive issues, his performance, and our understanding of raw political power are rising to the surface. These events demand a biblically-informed response from Christians.

What’s really happening?
How are we supposed to think about it as Christians?
What are we supposed to do?

Elder Abuse and Human Dignity

First, last night we saw what we all knew to be true put on display for the world to see. We observed what can only be described as elder abuse. I am serious. I disagree with pretty much all of President Biden’s political positions.

Regardless of Biden’s political and ethical failings, he remains an image-bearer of God. As such, his life has value, worth, and dignity. That is true regardless of how I feel about him as a politician. As a Christian, I must remind people that he is made in God’s image; his life and dignity must be defended (period).

While Biden provided many cringy moments, we should be deeply disturbed and righteously angry that someone is propping him up and manipulating him for political purposes. That is abusive and evil.

It is abundantly clear that President Biden is experiencing cognitive and physical decline.

I have spent enough time with people experiencing various stages of cognitive decline to know. One need not be a physician to understand this. How we respond is important.

Biden’s own team and family deliberately humiliated him. I believe that what the leaders in the Democratic Party and his own family are doing to him is cruel. The man is obviously struggling, but his handlers keep putting him out there. While this begs the question of who’s running the country, let’s set that aside and not lose sight of the main issue from a biblical perspective. Joseph Biden is a human being created in the image of God with dignity. His life has value regardless of his status, ethics, or abilities.

I believe he is the victim of elder abuse.

That needs to be investigated and properly dealt with by law enforcement authorities. I’d go as far as to suggest that if Donald Trump is elected President, one of his first executive actions should be to open an elder abuse investigation into the mistreatment of Joseph Biden. On a side note, I think Trump should be commended for his self-control during the debate.

It is clearly evident that the people closest to Joe Biden (including family members) do not love him or care for his dignity. How do I know this? Because you don’t allow people to treat human beings with disabilities in such a cruel manner. This biblical command doesn’t change due to personal or political partiality. This is where worldview perspectives on human dignity and politics intersect.

Worldview Perspective on The Politics of the Moment

Second, from a political perspective, last night was President Biden’s removal ceremony. While this may be considered speculation by some, let’s see what happens.

Cannibalism is the Marxist’s version of a “transfer of power.” By this I mean they sacrifice and eat their own on the altar of power. We just don’t recognize it because it’s occurring in America. The old ways of replacing the head of the socialist party through firing squad, poisoning, etc., have evolved for the American context.

Keep in mind that within the Marxian materialistic worldview, human beings are simply cogs in the machine of the state. When a cog is no longer useful, it is removed and tossed aside. Sometimes the cog is eulogized as a “man of the revolution.”

In the coming days, we’ll observe the party attack Biden and ostracize him.

A new cog or darling of the party will emerge. Notice all of this is occurring after the primary when Biden could have been replaced but it was prevented, AND this first debate was strangely early by request of the Democratic Party… enough time to replace Biden before the election?

It sucks all the air out of the room from Trump as corporate media places 100% of their attention on the drama of replacing Biden. Who will be the next party head? Whoever it is better have eyes on the back of their head because they are just another cog in the political machinery.

We indeed live in strange and interesting days.

How are we to think and respond from a Christian worldview?

Repent and Fear God (as churches and nation): We are reaping the fruits of the seeds of godlessness, evil, and disobedience that we’ve sown over the past several decades as a nation. God gives people over to a debased mind and unbridled destructive passions when they turn their backs on Him and His revealed truth (Romans 1:18-35). We must humble ourselves and turn back to Him.

Pray (proceeds from repentance): We need to pray for God’s mercy as a nation. Otherwise, the consequences of the deeds of our past will continue to destroy what is left of America.

Wake Up: The church in America has been asleep and/or apostate for too long. She needs to repent and return to the Lord immediately. Then, we need to equip ourselves to love one another and fight the many real dragons that are terrorizing our families and communities. Those dragons are cowardice, apostasy, and abuse in the church, and corruption and dark ideologies influencing the church and culture.

In conclusion, revival rides on the rising tides of repentance, faith, and prayer. The power of the Christian worldview must be unleashed as we recover GRIT in the Church in America. We need humble hearts and prayerful hands now. We need Guts, Resilience, Integrity, and Tenacity moving forward.

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Now more than ever, worldview training is essential. It is not a Christian elective. I launched the Forge Room Foundation in order to equip Christians to understand our cultural moment and respond with a biblical worldview perspective.

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He Gets Us? Don’t Take the Bait!

HE GETS US? DON'T TAKE THE BAIT!

Think biblically and employ the theological resources provided in scripture. Use discernment and logic when viewing all media, including emotionally manipulative Super Bowl commercials that claim to convey a biblical message.
ALL Christians must develop theological precision and clarity.
It’s time for Christians to think critically from a biblical worldview perspective.

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Thesis: The entire He Gets Us enterprise is nothing more than repackaged liberal theology wrapped in identity politics.

I believe the message conveyed by the He Gets Us Super Bowl commercial must be analyzed. It was viewed by millions of people. (You can view it here). It is a composition of images of people washing the feet of other people to a rendition of a song by INXS entitled, “Never Tear Us Apart.” The video ends with the message, “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet.

I’m going to analyze and critique the He Gets Us commercial as well as their overall messaging from a biblical worldview perspective, identify a few significant theological problems, and suggest biblical solutions.

At the conclusion of this article, you can watch an alternative to the He Gets Us commercial called, “He Saves Us” by Jamie Bambrick. Compare them for yourself, use what you have learned, and decide which one is closer to biblical Christianity.

While I think there are significant problems with the commercial, I believe the conversations and even controversy surrounding it are a good thing. This is a teachable moment for Christians and should be seen as an opportunity to wrestle with ideas and exercise discernment and wisdom. Someone might say, “How can public debate among Christians over a sixty second commercial be a good thing for the church? This is a huge waste of time and damages the witness of the church to a lost world.”

Dealing with issues in the public sphere is rooted in scripture and Christian tradition. Jesus confronted the hypocrisy and sin of the Pharisees on numerous occasions. Paul confronted the error of religious and political leaders as well. The creeds and confessions throughout church history were responses to heretical ideas, controversies, and false teaching. Keep in mind, that heresy and false teaching are not always blatantly obvious. One must use wisdom, discernment, and good theology to reveal them. Many Christian sounding sentiments and slogans, are in fact not biblical at all.

“He (the serpent) said to the woman, “Did God actually say…?”” (Genesis 3:1b)

Falsehood and heresy are far more damaging to the Christian witness than open debate and confrontation of bad theology and bad ideas.

If dealing with bad ideas publicly wasn’t a waste of time for Jesus, Paul, the church fathers, and reformers then it is not a waste of time for Christians of any era, including our own. This conversation and debate is good for the church.

The people who created the He Gets Us commercial are using bad hermeneutics that distort Jesus Christ and biblical faith.

Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles and methods of interpreting the text of the Bible. 2 Timothy 2:15 commands believers to be involved in hermeneutics: “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who . . . correctly handles the word of truth.” The purpose of biblical hermeneutics is to help us to know how to properly interpret, understand, and apply the Bible.”(1)  Poor interpretation of scripture will result in a distorted understanding and faulty application.

Someone may be thinking that I’m being too technical and all this theological jargon is confusing and creates division.

For a Christian, theology is more than just the study of God or knowing things about God. At the core of Christian theology is knowing God Himself.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30)

The question is, “How can we know God?” We personally know God primarily through Scripture (His special revelation to man about Himself and the world we inhabit).

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

We can know a few things about God through His general revelation via the created order as well.

“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.”
(Psalm 19:1-2)

The poor hermeneutics and bad theology employed by He Gets Us leads people away from orthodoxy (right belief) into heterodoxy (heresy). Misinterpretation will lead to misunderstanding and misapplication of scripture. This needs to be confronted, stopped, and corrected.

Missing from the He Gets Us campaign is a biblical hermeneutic and understanding of the difference between exegesis and eisegesis.

The lens we use when approaching scripture and culture will have massive ramifications on our theology and how we live.

First, Christians must understand the hermeneutic used by He Gets Us. This can be found on their website:

“We look at the biography of Jesus through a modern lens to find new relevance in often overlooked moments and themes from his life.”(2)

That statement is problematic and tells us everything we need to know. He Gets Us chose to interpret scripture using a non-biblical framework. This means that everything, including their conclusions, will shift away from the Bible. 

Second, Christians must adhere to a biblical interpretation found in the Bible itself. The Bible is the lens through which we understand Christ and culture. Interpreting scripture and the life and ministry of Jesus Christ through a ‘modern lens’ is not biblical. In fact it’s a poor hermeneutical approach. It will eventually lead one away from biblical truth into falsehood and destruction.

“For the Christian, the Bible is not merely a book to be looked at, it is also a lens to be looked through.”(3)

Third, Christians must understand the difference between exegesis and eisegesis. Can we make the Bible say whatever we want it to say? Am I at liberty to infuse my own meaning and experience into the biblical text? What is the standard? Is man the standard? Or is God’s word the standard?

Exegesis is the exposition or explanation of a text based on a careful, objective analysis. The word exegesis literally means “to lead out of.” That means that the interpreter is led to his conclusions by following the text. The opposite approach to Scripture is eisegesis, which is the interpretation of a passage based on a subjective, non-analytical reading. The word eisegesis literally means “to lead into,” which means the interpreter injects his own ideas into the text, making it mean whatever he wants.”(4)

Someone will say that getting into the weeds of theological interpretation methods gets in the way of winning people to Christ with a winsome message.

However, truth contained in the message is vastly more important than winsomeness of the message.

The He Gets Us marketers and consultants miss the point and miss the mark. In doing so, they confuse Christians and non-Christians alike. When a so-called “Christian” commercial confuses Christians, you know there is a problem.

If so-called “Christians” resort to misrepresenting scripture and manipulating emotions as a means of making Jesus more appealing, they are employing falsehood to bring about righteousness. That is at best unbiblical and at worst, evil.

“How can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.” (Romans 3:7-8 NLT)

Christians should use the Bible as the lens through which to see and understand culture, not the other way around.

The He Gets Us commercial attempts to answer the worldview question: “What is wrong with the world and how do we fix it?”

Watch the commercial carefully and investigate their website. You’ll discover they locate the problem with the world outside the individual human heart and reframe it as ‘ideological differences’ that lead to disunity. The He Gets Us solution to the problem is for people to perform humble “acts of kindness.” In other words, be nice and accommodating.

The He Gets Us website states: “We began to imagine a world where ideological others were willing to set their differences aside and wash one another’s feet. How would that look? How would our contentious world change if we washed one another’s feet, not literally, but figuratively? Figurative foot washing can be as simple as giving a compliment to a co-worker or paying for a stranger’s lunch. It can also be as difficult as not responding to someone who’s criticizing you or reaching out to an estranged family member. Acts of kindness done out of humility and respect for another person could be considered the equivalent of foot washing.”(5)

Remember, the video ends with the words, “Jesus didn’t teach hate. He washed feet.” Yes, Jesus did wash the feet of the disciples. That is true! But, that’s not the point. He Gets Us admit that washing feet isn’t the point on their multi-million dollar website. What is the point? (I’ll get this later). This lack of clarity and lack of theological precision begs the question…

What do you mean by that?

What do they mean when they say, “Jesus didn’t teach hate?” What did Jesus teach? What do the He Gets Us folks mean by ‘hate’? They don’t provide clear biblical definitions for anything. Again, they are making the text mean whatever they want and asking you to believe them!

The word of God does tell us what the Lord hates:

“There are six things that the Lord hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.”
(Proverbs 6:16-19)

“Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” (Revelation 2:6)

“You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the Lord your God hates.” (Deuteronomy 16:22)

“You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.” (Deuteronomy 12:31)

“For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” (Malachi 2:16)

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9)

Biblically, the problem with the world is sin. The solution is salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23)

The source of sin is located in the individual human heart. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn says it best, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either – but right through every human heart – and through all human hearts.”

Acts of kindness are not salvific nor transformative. Only God’s grace through Christ’s death and resurrection save sinners.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Transformed redeemed people transform their cultural environments because they live in obedience to all that Christ commands. Furthermore, “washing feet” is a demonstration of the humility and obedience of Christ (even unto death on a Roman cross), modeled for His disciples who would be transformed through faith upon His resurrection. Christians serve others by serving Christ because we’re saved by Him.

“… But emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:7-8)

Again, the entire He Gets Us enterprise is nothing more than repackaged liberal theology wrapped in identity politics. It’s not really designed to share the Gospel of the Kingdom, the forgiveness of sin, and salvation in Christ alone.

It is designed to divide the church along political lines by taking a swipe at biblical Christianity. He Gets Us is identity politics dressed up in Christian drag. They are not really interested in loving God and leading people to Christ, they have a set of political priorities.

Both the commercial and website convey messages rooted in identity politics.

“Identity politics is politics based on a particular identity, such as race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, caste, and social class…
Identity politics is further described as:
(a) ethnicity as a contemporary form of politics;
(b) a form of critical pedagogy that links social structure with the insights of poststructuralism regarding the nature of subjectivity, while incorporating a Marxist commitment to politics ; and
(c) general efforts by status based movements to foster and explore the cultural identity of members. By the mid-1990s, references to identity politics as violent ethnic conflict, and nationalism more generally…”(6)

According to their website, the He Gets Us folks were attempting to convey the following message, with an upcoming election year that will be filled with division and derision, we decided to focus on one of the most important directives given by Jesus – “Love Your Neighbor.”

On the surface, this all might sound ‘good’ and Christ-like. However, liberal theology always sacrifices the greatest commandment on the alter of the second. In other words, loving the God of the universe is sacrificed on the alter of loving your neighbor. Man becomes the center, not God.

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37–40)

Biblically, it is impossible to truly love your neighbor without loving God first (agape love). Love of God is the post on which love of others hangs.

When viewing the He Gets Us commercials, website, and interviews with creators in their totality, identity politics is exposed as the primary driver of their program. As such, one must recognize that Marxian political theory in the form of Critical Social Theory is the shaping force behind identity politics. Whether the He Gets Us people realize it or not, they are promoting a non-biblical worldview.

One of the easiest ways to recognize liberal theology is by identifying what is ignored, rejected, and emphasized.

God and His commands are ignored or de-emphasized. Christ as Savior and Lord is rejected. And man’s experience is emphasized.

David Wells said, “The liberal approach sees experience – whether of ourselves, of the natural world, of political reality, or of society or within the church – as providing the stuff out of which theology is made. It therefore always incorporates modernity into its (liberal) theology, not simply as an external pole of reference for that theology, but as its internal substance.” In other words, liberal theology is man-centered built around man’s experience. As such, man is the standard and measure of all things.

Truth, is then relocated from God’s revealed word, to man’s relativistic experiential whims.

Reductionism

The mission and message of Jesus Christ is reduced to moralism and a therapeutic social program with a political agenda. This reductionism is antithetical to biblical faith and sound theology. Furthermore, it can’t be recognized as biblical Christianity. It is something else.

He Gets Us is heretical propaganda that punches right. It is a poorly constructed ‘artful’ meme shaped more by Herbert Marcuse’s “Repressive Tolerance”(7) than by the Bible. It is the power dynamic applied within Christian theology. In other words, it’s just repackaged liberal theology. There is nothing new under the sun. Heresy is still heresy regardless of its therapeutic individualistic self-expressive wrapper.

Someone will say, “Heretical? Isn’t that a little harsh?” Perhaps it grates against the modern therapeutic sensibilities of liberal ‘Christians’, but my tone isn’t important. The content and truth of what I’m saying is. Because the truth of the Gospel and God’s word are what are being challenged by the He Gets Us folks.

He Gets Us is distorting the biblical historical Lord Jesus Christ and promoting a liberal political ideology with a touch of good old fashion gnosticism. The the “oppressor versus oppressed” power dynamic is portrayed visually in the commercial. When you see the power dynamic within theology, you are seeing Cultural Marxism being applied, albeit in an artful way meant to elicit an emotional response.

They’re basically saying:
“We just want people to see Jesus in a new way.”
“We want people who’ve been oppressed by the church to learn about the real Jesus that most Christians don’t know.”

My response is as follows:

As thinking and discerning Christians, we must keep in mind that something new about Jesus is most likely not true. The Bible says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings…” (Hebrews 13:8-9a)

In addition, when someone attempts to convince you that they possess hidden knowledge about the Bible or truth in general, they are committing a gnostic heresy. Well-meaning Christians fall for this all the time, just like first century Christians fell for gnosticism.

R.V. Young said, “The Gnostics’ teaching places the origin of evil, of pain and suffering, in the conditions of the material creation; salvation involves overcoming ignorance and escaping these external conditions by finding divinity within. . . . The Gnostic finds the beginning of the path to salvation in the realization that the world is a great imposture, a prison of pain and frustration. His escape lies in recovering the intrinsic good within himself…”

“Gnostics claim to possess an elevated knowledge, a “higher truth” known only to a certain few. Gnosticism comes from the Greek word gnosis which means “to know.” Gnostics claim to possess a higher knowledge, not from the Bible, but acquired on some mystical higher plane of existence. Gnostics see themselves as a privileged class elevated above everybody else by their higher, deeper knowledge of God.”(8)

“O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.” (1 Timothy 6:20-21)

Finally, don’t fall victim to He Gets Usappeal to emotion” logical fallacy. “Appeal to emotion fallacy occurs when someone tries to convince another person by evoking their feelings rather than providing evidence. With the appeal to emotion fallacy, people accept a claim as true because they react emotionally to it. As a result, they focus on factors irrelevant to the question at hand, ignoring facts and logical reasoning.”(9) To put it another way, objective truth is jettisoned by allowing subjective emotions to determine truth.

Again, don’t take the bait.

Gresham Machen was correct when he said that liberal Christianity isn’t a variation of Christianity, but an entirely different religion.

The solution is simple. Think biblically and employ the theological resources provided in scripture.

Use discernment and logic when viewing all media, including emotionally manipulative Super Bowl commercials that claim to convey a biblical message.

ALL Christians must develop theological precision and clarity. It’s time for Christians to think critically.

At the end of the day, the He Gets Us message trades a clear call for repentance from sin and faith in Christ for a feel-good social gospel with a political agenda. Nowhere in their content will you find a crying out to God for mercy and forgiveness – only an emotional appeal to people to conform to a moralistic form of identity politics.

Ask yourself these questions:
Who is the biblical historical Jesus Christ?
What did He come to accomplish?
What did He commission His ekklesia (church) to do?
What does He expect from us individually and as a church?

Here’s the message to the He Gets Us folks and all Christians.

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3)

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Don’t take the He Gets Us bait… The truth is, Jesus Christ saves us! Jesus Christ is Lord of All.

Below: The Christian Super Bowl Ad They SHOULD Have Made | He Saves Us by Jamie Bambrick

Please share your insights by commenting below this post.

Now more than ever, worldview training is essential. It is not a Christian elective. I launched the Forge Room Foundation in order to equip Christians to understand our cultural moment and respond with a biblical worldview perspective.

Learn more and give here…

Rethinking the Public Square and Marching Back Through the Institutions

The existence of the public square bears witness to God’s common grace. Recovering the public square will provide Christians an opportunity to contend for the faith and witness to the world the powerful coherence of the Christian worldview and its correspondence to reality.

1960’s radical Marxist activist Rudi Dutschke coined the phrase, “the long march through the institutions.”

He along with other Frankfurt School types believed in the infiltration and subversion of western institutions. Entertainment, government, education, media, the church and the family make up the cultural fabric of the West, particularly, America. The ‘long march’ was intended to destroy western culture from within and replace it with a Marxian vision and social program. We are living in a Marxist America with a fascist twist.

Don’t believe me? Ask yourself these questions:
Who are you not allowed publicly to criticize?
What are you afraid to say that might cost you your job or get you ‘cancelled’?
What so-called “facts” reported by the media three years ago turned out blatantly false?
Why do some issues receive a lot of attention while other important issues seem to be overlooked?

Some estimate 90% of U.S. media is controlled by just six companies (1). If the past three years has taught us anything, it is the power of propaganda. I do not believe they are secretly colluding to push an agenda. However, there is a clear convergence of shared interests, philosophies, and political ideologies. Many CEOs and elites emerged from similar academic institutions and generations. They share similar worldviews. Therefore, interests will converge without deliberate collusion. Therefore, while there appears to be a variety of media choices, only a handful of conglomerates control the information we receive.

What began in the academies of higher education in the 1960s was popularized through entertainment and promoted by the media. It didn’t take long for government to succumb to Marxist ideas and put them into practice. Sixty years later, the United States of America is exporting a distinctly American form of Cultural Marxism to other nations through the US Government and Corporations. In many cases, US aid to other countries is tied to promotion of an ideology. Media and entertainment further promote the ideology.

Think about how effective the “long march through the institutions” has been in America?
Most claim, “This could never happen in America!”

Most Americans are not Marxists… Yet.

At the rate of indoctrination in our education systems from university down to elementary, we are at the threshold of a generational break away from historical American culture. The old guard is dying off and the new guard is taking its position of cultural influence and power. The younger generations are coming of age in an era where an expert class of elites exert tremendous control over society. Furthermore, there is a mood of unending crisis, uncertainty, and weakening of longstanding institutions.

Gone are the days where American society was shaped by biblical mores, moral formation, civic virtue and shared history. The worldview of the emerging generation is shaped by Critical Social Theories like Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Third and Fourth Wave Feminism, Gender Theory, Queer Theory and Transhumanism. DEI, ESG, and SEL are the modes of indoctrination through corporations, the education system, and government institutions. The emerging generations’ allegiances are alien to the established American ethos. That ethos has been rejected and hated. They see the world divided into two groups – oppressors and the oppressed. As such, material resources, and cultural and political power are controlled by the privileged at the expense of the powerless in a zero sum game. Thus, creating a permanent victim class along intersectional lines.

Does this new dominant worldview correspond to the contours of reality? Is it coherent? The answer is ‘no’ because the Marxian worldview is built on falsehood and self-refuting presuppositions. It implodes… the human casualties number in the hundreds of millions dead.

Marxists of all eras always lie… “They lie like dead flies on a window sill.” (Douglas Wilson). As David Horowitz pointed out quoting a SDS radical student, “The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.” In other words, the cause of a political action – whether civil rights or women’s rights – is never the real cause; women, blacks and other ‘victims’ are only instruments in the larger cause, which is power.”

Marxists always use minority groups as cannon fodder to attain power. They don’t really care about people of color, or gays, or transgenders, or women, or the poor… All those groups are manipulated, agitated, and weaponized. Once a group has depleted its usefulness, it is tossed aside or destroyed. Look how this mode has divided all sectors of society.

A quick survey of modern history has demonstrated from the French Revolution forward, that those at the top of the Marxist food chain get fat while everyone else starves to death. They are not really interested in equity, equality, diversity, peace, climate, or justice, in their original forms. Those are simply tried and true bait n’ switch tactics where words have been redefined to push the ideology (revolution). Instead, they cause division to obtain more economic, political, and cultural power. Like locusts, Marxists devour and destroy everything in their path. Name one institution in America that has not been infiltrated by ‘woke’ ideology. ‘Woke’ is American Marxism.

Is there such a thing as a ‘Woke Church?’ Perhaps in the imagination of some relevance-seeking authors. Selling books and speaking honorariums pay well.

No sir. There is only One Church and it ain’t woke. It was founded before the foundations of the world and purchased by the blood of Christ. No amount of bad theology, heretical hermeneutics, or shoddy sociology will ever be able to transform Christ and His Word into an American social program draped in Christian garb.

Christians and the Church need to re-think our approach to culture and theology. The clown show and chaos we’re experiencing is a result of Christians not taking culture seriously. The Church hasn’t been pushed out of the public square, we have abandoned it. Marxists didn’t win the ‘Culture War’. To win a war, you must defeat an opponent. There wasn’t a war. Christians simply decided to go home and abandon the institutions to the secular cult masquerading as enlightened. Midwits don’t have the moral fortitude of a blade of grass (no offense to St. Augustin or Bermuda). The problem is pulpits have been preaching pablum, promoting pragmatism, pushing entertainment programs, and over-zealous personal piety instead of robust public theology for nearly 100 years – all undergirded by an eschatology of Christian escapism.

The Church is an institution that Marxist woke-topians are relishing. They have been quite effective so far. A good compass points north, a good church points Christ-ward and truth-ward. Not all “churches” are Christ-centered and biblical. Don’t let a name like, “North Point Church” fool you. 

Rethinking the Public Square

The public square of the free exchange of ideas is a distinctly Christian social contribution. Even stupid and destructive ideas like Cultural Marxism can be allowed. But, they must be allowed to be critiqued, refuted, and buried on the trash heap of bad ideas. When Christians witness poor stewardship, disorder, or injustice within any sector of society, we have the duty to take dominion over it and work to cultivate goodness and human flourishing. The public square is not owned by anyone. Although many are attempting to own it (social media censorship). On the contrary, the public square is to be stewarded well for the good of all… even those with stupid ideas. Why? Because Christians love God and people created in His image, even people with dumb ideas. I mean, who among us has never had a dumb idea?

Christians must rethink the value and dignity of the Public Square. Because the public square is inhabited by people who may not understand God created them in His image with intrinsic value and worth. The existence of the public square bears witness to God’s common grace. Allow discourse of all types. Yes, there will be folks who share disdainful and even dangerous ideas. There is nothing new under the sun. However, recovering the open public square will provide Christians an opportunity to contend for the faith and witness to the world the powerful coherence of the Christian worldview and its correspondence to reality.

Engagement in the public square requires a public theology which includes proper institutional stewardship.

The Long March Back Through the Institutions

Entertainment, government, education, media, the church, and the family make up the cultural fabric of America. Except for small enclaves, those institutions have been decimated by Cultural Marxism. Christians rightly view the family as the center of culture creation. A mother and father will raise children who will create culture and shape society. Therefore, worldview training begins in the home. As the younger generations move into areas of cultural influence, they bring their worldviews with them. As the parents move into elder years, their children will take the cultural reigns and shape the world for their own children. Therefore, Christians must think generationally. Our enterprise is much bigger than a single lifetime, after all, we operate from an eternal perspective with an ever-present expression.

We must recover our public theology and follow Christ’s calling into all cultural domains. Cultural abandonment has proven deadly and unbiblical. Does this mean we take over cultural domains by force? Of course not. We have a ministry of faith in action. God is responsible for results. William Wilberforce didn’t end the African slave trade in England. God ended it by using Wilberforce and others willing to be obedient.

Over the next few decades, Christians must begin a long march back through the ruins of our institutions of higher education, arts, entertainment, media, and the church under the banner of Christ (who is Lord over all). We unleash the power of the Christian worldview and a deep love for those who inhabit those domains. Why? Because God loves people (John 3:16).

When biblically informed and spirit filled Christ-followers follow Christ into every sphere and corner of human existence, we are demonstrating that Colossians 1:15-20 and the words of Abraham Kuyper are true:

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!

Every Christian contributes a little leaven from Heaven into human culture. We are ordinary people serving an extraordinary God.

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” – Matthew 13:33

The parable sets forth the working of the Church of Christ on the world, but not in the same way as that of the Mustard Seed… Here the working is from within. It (leaven) can turn the flour into human food–this symbolism is traceable in the leavened loaves that were offered on the day of Pentecost (Leviticus 23:17)–can permeate the manners, feelings, and opinions of non-Christian societies until they become blessings and not curses to mankind. In the new feelings, gradually diffused, of Christendom as to slavery, prostitution, gladiatorial games–in the new reverence for childhood and womanhood, for poverty and sickness–we may trace the working of the leaven.” (2)

Based on your proximity – Where can you use your influence for the Kingdom?

1. Where can you speak truth into the public square? (Do you need to create a public square?)
– What will you contribute to the discourse?
– When will you accomplish this?

2. Beginning with your family, what institution do you have an affinity towards or a burden for?
Education, arts and entertainment, media, government, etc. are legitimate domains for Christian influence and stewardship.
– Where will you contribute your influence and care?
– When will you begin?

Pray for God’s power will be unleashed in the places and spaces where you live. Ask Him to use your gifts, talents, resources, and influence to expand His Kingdom until the knowledge of Him reaches the ends of the earth.

Reflection and Encouragement:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:7-12)

1. https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/communication/media-stocks/big-6/

2. https://biblehub.com/commentaries/ellicott/matthew/13.htm

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