Jesus, the Anti-Pluralist

Pluralism, multicultural campaigns, multi-faith programs, and Coexist stickers are all concepts that aptly describe how many people think a nation should function. They believe the nation to be one big table where every religion and major ideology gets a seat at the table. Everyone works together for a common standard of “good” and then sings kumbaya. Sweet, isn't it? Except many Americans, and American Christians in particular, forget that the table is not round. The reality is it’s a rectangle with someone sitting at the head in a seat of authority. To further the analogy, this head-of-table is the one telling each religion when it’s their turn to speak. Currently, that authority is the religion of secularism.

Secularism is the current preferred religion of the West. It has its own set of values and beliefs, just like wokeism and atheism. It has been my experience that the three religions I’ve mentioned have some of the most radical fundamentalists currently alive. Many of those who adhere to these religions are firmly committed to totalitolerance.

As the mind numbing cancer of secularism shows its last attempts of survival, Chrisians must fight to remember the principle of the myth of neutrality. This is critical in every square of thought and life, but particularly important in the public square. What do I mean by the myth of neutrality ? The myth of neutrality is the ever-present battle for ultimates. In every society and nation, there will be a god above it, whose expression will be found in the rule of law and culture. In other words, it’s not whether but which; it’s not whether there will be an ultimate god or religion, but rather which type of god or religion will it be? Will it be the Lord Jesus Christ and his Law ruling or will it be the false god of the State with its bloodthirsty claws desiring to rule over all? Mankind is made to worship, obey, and live under a type- of law. Thus, Christians must be reminded and awakened to the truth of Christ and his Kingship over the nations. The ascended Lord is not interested in nations being partially discipled, where he has partial authority and shares his reign with hinduism, buddhism, statism, etc. He has all authority not only in the heavens but also on earth. Individuals, families, churches, and nations, are either for him or against him (Ps. 1; Prov. 14:34;Matt. 12:30). Neutrality is a myth.

The Empire of the Risen Son1

Theocracy is a dirty word for most people, and for many Christians as well, yet the Scriptures are abundantly clear on this point. The world is not up for grabs. We do not live in a democratic world. We are living in Christ’s theocracy (His rule and reign). When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father, he didn't do so to escape this world and hide behind Daddy God’s arms. No, according to Daniel 7:13-14 and Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus Christ victoriously rose to defeat sin, death, and Satan forever. Thus his ascension was his coronation session, the receiving of his inheritance (the world), the beginning of the theocracy or the empire of the risen son. Glory to God! If this bothers Christians, there ought to be a serious consideration of the main theme of Holy Scripture from beginning to end; which is the display of the cosmic Lordship of Jesus over all of life (Ps. 2; 72, 110).

The Kingdom has come, is coming and will come. It is all pervasive, all-encompassing, and it will grow until “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14). Christians are not going house to house knocking on people’s doors to convince them to get Jesus elected as the next president. We are going to all nations and all peoples declaring the rulership of Messiah, He has won, He is already King!

The Dangers of Gnostic Dualism and the Road Forward

There are many reasons why the cosmic Lordship of Jesus over the state, over nations, education, etc. has been limited to just the mind, heart, or church. One of the main reasons for this error is due to gnostic and platonic tendencies. Gnosticism was a very prevalent thought in Hellenistic societies due to its tie to Greek philosophical underpinnings. It might be the first known heresy to the church2; entire books of the New Testament were written to combat this issue at least in seed-form (Colossians, 1 John, etc.).

Gnostic thought, succinctly, is the unbiblical idea that God’s creation, this physical world, is necessarily bad. Thus, Christians ought to focus only upon the spiritual realm. This is dualism at its core. In essence dualism can be defined as a subset thought of gnosticism. Dualism represents the bifurcation of the spiritual and the fleshly. It divides the upper story and the lower story of reality. This type of thinking has led to the privatization of the faith.

In contrast, God said that his creation is very good (Gen. 1:31), our bodies are not just shells. We are not primarily souls with a meatbag holding us down, waiting for the day to shed it off to get to better and higher things. Creation has been cursed as a result of the fall, but as Christians we are to redeem these physical things. We are to be vice-regents, deputies, governors of God’s good creation and work to bring a heavenly or kingdom culture to every area of life, that his will may be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew  6:10).

The kingdom of God provides the believer a new framework for life. It is all-encompassing and responds to the foolishness of gnosticism. A proper understanding of the Kingdom of God de-privatizes our faith and gives Christ his proper acknowledgement as King. For the Christian there ought not be a single aspect of life that is not pursued first through a kingdom-lens. This explains why, as Jesus is laying out the blueprint for this new heaven-on-earth infiltrating kingdom-temple formed by living stones (1 Pet. 2:5), he tells his disciples to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matt. 6:33). To be kingdom-minded is to see church, family, government, vocation, business, our personal-welfare and the future as aspects that need to be brought under the Lordship of Christ. We are to advance His reign and rule on earth as it is in heaven (Gen. 1:26-28; Matt. 6:10). This adds eternal value and purpose to everything we are involved in (1 Cor. 15:58). Realizing that Christ is Lord over all of life leads the Christian to live a life impressed by the crown rights of King Jesus even down to his daily thoughts and seemingly mundane endeavors.

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1 This is the title for Steve Gregg’s great book on the Kingdom of God, I commend it to you.

2 See John Frame’s second chapter on Greek Philosophy in his masterful work A History of Western Philosophy and Theology and also Dr. P. Andrew Sandlin’s excellent and holistic refutation of this heretical movement in Creational Worldview: An Introduction.