The Need For Consensus

June 3, 2008

Brothers Dwelling Together In Unity…

Christianity Using scripture from Genesis 1:28 (take dominion) and Matthew 28:18-20 (make disciples of all nations) American Vision has a new initiative called Mandate 28. It seeks a thousand year vision that will create Christian “Servanthood Dominion” over God’s creation by teaching Christians to be salt and light and by educating them in Christian History, Apologetics, Ethics, and Eschatology.

Good vision.

Following an announcement that our freedom to worship God might (soon) be jeopardized, Brandon Vallorani writes, “How did we get into this mess? Rather than setting the standards for society, transforming lives, and creating culture, Christians have forgotten their call to be salt and light. We’ve allowed atheists and humanists to take control of education, government, arts, and sciences. Unlike our forefathers, we no longer have a vision for taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and taking dominion of every sphere of life for His Glory.”

He calls on Christians to become the “best scientists, artists, musicians, attorneys, politicians, ministers, doctors, mechanics, pilots, etc. We want Christians to set the highest standards of quality in their fields and ultimately earn the opportunity to share the Gospel with and disciple the unbelievers around them.”

The Apostle Paul reminded Christians that few of them were wise, mighty, or noble. He wrote that God chooses the weak, the foolish, and the base to confound the worldly wise. Christians able to provide the “highest standards of quality” must be developed. The base material is often inferior. God has allowed me to participate with His chosen people for over four and a half decades. During that time my personal experience with preferring Christian workers has been dismal. I have been condemned, cheated, frustrated, sold inferior goods, robbed, lied to, and ignored.

I have seen several high quality, durable ministries fail to leave a definitive mark on our culture. Faith at Work, now long gone, was instrumental in my conversion. Kathryn Kuhlman, Bob Mumford, Oral Roberts, and Pat Robertson were all prominent in Charismatic circles. Claims of healing were rampant. Shivers, slayings in the Spirit, speaking in tongues, and spiritual gifting were earnestly sought. Ultimately, it all came to naught. D. James Kennedy was an outstanding proponent of the Christian Gospel. Pastor Chuck Baldwin who is now the Constitution Party’s presidential candidate is steady at writing and preaching. American Vision is excellent. Mark Rushdoony and Chris Ortiz are doing great work. There are others. Unfortunately, most of the popular national Christian ministries that are addressing our culture and many of the writers either preach and write for the choir or fail to provide specific directions. Few minds are changed and the key people who need to be persuaded remain useless. Colorado Right to Life confronted James Dobson for a few weeks but that confrontation fizzled.

Reformed Christianity gave birth to several generations of rebellious children. The Christianity we are experiencing today is a product of that rebellion. A neo-reformation is sorely needed.

There are too many Lone Rangers. Attempts to redeem civilization need to begin by seeking unity with other leaders. If we are unable to get a substantial cross section of Christendom to embrace sound doctrine, hope of impacting the culture is futile.

When Martin Luther posted his 95 Thesis concerning the sale of indulgences by the Catholic Church he began a process of Reform in which the best Christian minds constructed a theology that gained almost universal acceptance in the Protestant Church.

The doctrines established by these venerable men can be found in the Westminster Confessions and in the tenets of the Synod of Dort. These are the doctrines and this is the theology that Protestants must embrace if they expect God to return His blessing to their endeavor.

Leaders must be specific when they speak about change. Urging laypersons to be salt and light sounds very spiritual but until salt and light is translated into obedience to God’s Law the words are meaningless.

Christians carry the message, God transforms lives. When a life is transformed God seeks obedience. Obedience is sanctification. Without obedience the transformation is invisible and the moral values of the social order remain unchanged.

Yes, we are to bring the Good News to the world but what happens after the harvest is what determines the efficacy of the Gospel. God seeks an obedient people. We are washed in the Blood, our sins are forgiven and the Law no longer condemns but the standards of behavior have not changed. The power to obey has been bolstered by the coming of the Holy Spirit and we are expected to become sons of God and obey Him as did His Son, our Savior.

Some of the essential doctrines of the Christian Faith that are widely accepted are the authority of Scripture, the Deity of Christ, the sinfulness of men and their need of salvation, the propitiation of Christ, His bodily resurrection from the dead, and salvation by grace through faith. These are excellent and essential doctrines that deserve and enjoy widespread acceptance, but they are inadequate.

“God has chosen” the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. All through Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, God does the choosing. Never do the creatures choose the Creator! Christians are a special people chosen by God to extend His dominion through obedience to His Law. The doctrine of “Choseness” is essential to establishing the proper role of Christians in the world.

Christians must aver God as sovereign. Arminianism was condemned at the Synod at Dort because it is a humanistic doctrine that robs God of His proper role in the church. The idea that God gives us free will, that Christ died for all, and that the Lord of the Universe must sit on His throne and wait for his created beings to make a decision to acknowledge Him must be replaced with the obvious imperative that God is the author of desire and when one of His creatures prostrates himself at His feet he is doing so because God has chosen to allow him to do so. God seeks and rewards obedient followers but He is in control and will use his creation and those made in His likeness as He wills.

We need leaders who are Evangelical, we need Charismatics, we need Reformed Christians, and we need Christian Lone Rangers; all need to rally around the sound Reformed doctrines that are the only way to successfully capture the culture for Christ.