Listen to the audio version of this article here.
So many Christians today have a pessimistic view of our present cultural moment and also the future’s prospects. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of concerning things going on in our world today - some of which are downright scary. You don’t need to look further than the latest drag queen story hour or coercion to take part in a society-wide medical experiment upon threat of losing your livelihood for clear examples that we live in some really troubling times with real troubling things going on. The fact that there’s a guy that looks like a James Bond villain apparently pulling the strings behind a lot of world leaders today is enough for many to become disillusioned and fearful of a dire end.
However, is this sort of radical pessimism even helpful? Are we really accomplishing much by only polluting the air with our complaining and never doing anything about it? Furthermore, is it even true that the future is doomed to some sort of apocalyptic decline into a hopeless godless dystopian nightmare with Christianity becoming a waning and weak fraction of its former glory? I thought that Jesus said something about Hell’s gates not prevailing…
Well, perhaps if you buy into the Pessimillenialist beliefs about the End Times, you may think so. And if you’re in that camp, I’d encourage you to go listen to some of the episodes on Eschatology and read some of the articles on the site for some food for thought. But even if you do believe in a pessimistic view of the End Times, the Bible nowhere tells us to throw up our hands and let the world burn down. The analogy of the Christian life is a soldier, a farmer and an athlete who is battle-ready, hard-working and training to win (see 2 Timothy 2). So, what I want to argue for in this episode are some hopeful strategies and perhaps convince some of you that hope for the future is not lost, and even that we may see the rise of a new Christendom - and we could be a part of that!
It might sound far-fetched but keep reading. I don’t think any of these points are peculiar to PostMillennialists and should be points that all Christians can agree upon. This episode is 7 Simple Steps to Take Over the World.
Now, some Christians may squirm at even the language of “taking over the world”. Doesn’t that seem kinda totalitarian? Shouldn’t we just leave that to the Dr. Evil villains of our day who run the WEF? Oops, I mean, that think we’ll own nothing, eat bugs and be happy. Are Christians even supposed to try to take over the world? Didn’t Jesus say that his Kingdom was not of this world?
Well, yes, he did say that his Kingdom was not of this world - but he didn’t say it was not IN this world. That Greek preposition “ek” simply denotes that Christ’s Kingdom does not get its power or source from this world. It is not of this world’s system and way of doing things. It does not derive its power from this world. That’s why he goes on to say that if it was, then his disciples would fight - that is, take things by force. That’s the world’s way of doing things. However, Christ’s Kingdom does not advance by force and coercion - unlike many tyrannical government policies today - but rather, it advances by regeneration and conversion. Ungodly kingdoms advance by coercion. Christ’s Kingdom advances by conversion. And Jesus said in Matthew 16:18 that there’s nothing that can stop that advance through the Church because he’s ultimately the One building it.
The core command to mankind from God right from the moment He created us in Genesis 1 is to “take dominion” of the whole world. It is woven into our purpose as human beings. We cannot escape it. The question is not whether humans will take dominion. It is rather who will be taking dominion - the Godly Seed, or Satan’s seed? And for whose kingdom - the Lamb or the Dragon? Jesus doesn’t leave us with the option of neutrality. Either you’re gathering with him or scattering, sheep or goat, with him or against him. There are no sidelines. If the Godly do not take dominion, the ungodly will take domination. Godly dominion leads to flourishing and fruitfulness as redeemed man tends the garden of God’s creation, cultivating it, and subduing it to His glory. Ungodly domination leads to futility and fruitlessness - with the curse of thorns and thistles and the land spewing them out. This is the fundamental antithesis we must understand that pervades every area of life.
For Christians, Christ has called us to make disciples of all nations in Matthew 28:18-20. Of nations. Not just of individuals (though that is important. The object of that verb in the verse is nations. We’re to disciple the nations. All of them. And to teach them to obey everything he has commanded. What else other than “taking over the world” is that? If the Church is successful at that Great Commission, it is a world taken over for the dominion of Christ.
For unbelievers, the Devil also seeks to set up a totalitizing false kingdom. Satan is not a creator, he’s a counterfeiter. He takes what God has created and commanded and twists it and makes counterfeits. That is why we have rival evil human institutions seeking total control. Satan seeks domination instead of dominion. Are we going to let him? Or are we going to step up and step into our godly calling? As someone once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Satan wants domination through coercion. Christians seek dominion through conversion. There’s a world of difference between the two.
It’s a big task. However, God has not left us without a plan. So, here are 7 simple, biblical steps for Christians to take over the world.
1. Have & Adopt Babies… Lots of them!
I know, I know. How dare I tell women to get married and have babies and experience the glory of motherhood! The audacity!
Anyways…
Many today look at our current situation and think it is a hopeless plight. All of our institutions and governments are flooded and overrun with secular leftists and liberals who are forcing their woke ideologies upon the masses. They own almost all of the mainstream media outlets and social media platforms, and thus can control the public narrative to an astonishing degree. It can seem like the majority of people around you sometimes are all progressive liberals as well, espousing similar pro-abortion, pro-LBGTQ, and pro-Godless views. Even popular preachers and Christian celebrities offer the pinch of incense to the woke culture of our day in an effort to placate the woke mob.
However, is it destined to always be this way?
According to University of London scholar Eric Kaufmann’s detailed study on global demographic trends in his book, “Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?”, we are in the early stages of nothing less than a demographic revolution. In Kaufmann’s words, “religious fundamentalists are on course to take over the world.” Why would he say such a thing?
One word. Babies. Conservatives and Christians are having them, and Secularists and Liberals are not.
For example, in 2002 the US, most non-religious women were only having about 1.5 children per couple, while the average conservative evangelical woman was having 2.5 kids. Right now, those kids would be all over 20 and part of the rising generation. The required replacement birth rate (that is, the rate you must keep up just to keep your population stable) is 2.1. Secularists are well below that number and don’t seem to be changing - especially as their abortion agenda becomes more radical - they’re literally killing their next generation. The data from the National Survey of Family Growth from 1982 to 2019 and the data from the Demographic Intelligence Family Survey from 2020 to 2022 both also confirm this widening gap between fertility rates in religious and non-religious Americans. According to Kaufmann’s calculations, if these numbers stay roughly the same (which they seem to be doing), you could see conservative evangelicals increase from 50% to 62.5% of the US population in a generation. At that rate, within two generations it would be 73.5% and, if those meagre rates remain constant, in 200 years you would have 99.4% of the population!
That’s the effect of compound interest. (I know, most of us zoned out in math class when they were teaching about that - but go look it up… see, your nerdy high school teacher was right - math is cool)
There’s an easy way to empirically prove this too. If we look at the Amish - their population doubles every twenty years and they could number in the millions in just a few decades. Mormons are similar as their growth has been 40% per decade, and at that rate, by 2080 there could be more than 267 million of them. If we factor in immigration - which tends to make Western countries more religiously conservative and not less (even though in the short term, first-generation immigrants may vote Liberal because of immigration policies), this trend of societies being predominantly made up of conservative religious folks doesn’t seem like its reversing anytime soon.
Now, contrast this with the fact that secularists are having less and less babies later and later in life, and according to the calculations, their population should begin a steady decline after 2030 to a mere 14-15% of the population in the US. Canada and Europe have similar projections. As Stephen Turkey of The Imaginative Conservative notes,
“This is because secular liberalism entails its own “demographic contradiction,” the affirmation of the sovereign individual devoid of the restraints of classical moral structures necessitates the freedom not to reproduce. The link between sex and procreation having been broken, modernist reproduction translates into mere personal preference. It thus turns out that the radical individualism so celebrated and revered by contemporary secular propagandists is in fact the agent by which their ideology implodes.”
Turns out that adopting a culture of death isn’t good for your long-term survival. Who would have thought!?
This makes sense biblically though. God has commanded us to “be fruitful and multiple, and fill the earth.” (Gen. 1:28) A command that many Christians don’t take seriously enough (of course barring those who have trouble or cannot get pregnant due to physical limitations). Why is this?
It seems to me like it would be because many Christians today think more like secularists than Christians. They’ve adopted our culture’s view of children as an inconvenience that will suck the joy out of life (especially if you spoil and don’t discipline them like most progressives). Proverbs 22:15 says that “folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it away.” Our secular culture looks at kids as a burden, but God says they are a blessing. Psalm 127:3 says,
“Behold, children are a blessing from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
Yet how odd is it for many Christians today to effectively say to God, yeah I like your blessings - but not this one, or not now, or I don’t want too much of this blessing? Does the way we talk and think about children as Christians betray the fact that we maybe don’t actually believe they are blessings?
The Psalm goes on in verses 4-5,
“Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”
I think that many Christians today don’t see the blessing that children are because they don’t know what they are for. This Psalm says they are like arrows in a warrior’s hands. They are for war, and in case you haven’t noticed yet, we’re in a culture war! That’s why the Psalm calls the man who has a full quiver of kids blessed! Why? Because he’s got in his family a little resistance army for the Kingdom that will multiply his effectiveness far more than he and his wife could by themselves. He can sharpen them to be fired out into the battle and reach further than his arm could.
Thus, it makes sense how simple, everyday, faithful Christians, having kids is actually one of the primary drivers that may end up turning the culture of our decaying society around! We tend to look for the extravagant and spectacular to see how God is at work. Yet He often works in the mundane and the unnoticed. Notice also that the text says, “the children of one’s YOUTH.” Yet our culture encourages us to delay having children later and later, squandering our most fertile years to spend it on building some other guy’s kingdom. This is one of my own great regrets in life that I didn’t learn earlier! In all of this as well, it exposes how undervalued the role of a mother is today for the Kingdom’s advance. The multiplication of godly seed is one of the ways God has ordained to grow His Kingdom.
But of course, this is also contingent on Christians discipling their kids to actually stay in the faith when they grow up. However, even with the radical efforts to secularize kids through schools and media, etc. Kaufmann thinks it is actually highly unlikely to reverse these trends. Why? Because, the more conservative and vibrant the religious conviction of Evangelicals and other conservative religious people, the more likely their next generation will not leave the faith. But is he right in this assessment?
This leads us to our next point.
2. Christian Education and Discipleship
While there are positive trends in the birth rates, there are also simultaneously concerning trends regarding de-conversion.
Rick Szuecs, writing for Christianity today in an article from August 2022 notes,
“…while the fertility rate among religious women has been stable, society has still become less religious on the whole, meaning the overall number of births to religious mothers has trended downwards.
…Despite a widening fertility gap, the ongoing trend of young Americans becoming more secular more than offsets the fertility advantage enjoyed by people of faith. Religious birth rates simply are not high enough to offset losses from the move to irreligion.”
According to 2014 Pew survey data, de-conversion in America is causing a 16% loss over the course of a generation. This together with the accompanying decrease in birth rate means that religious communities could trend to shrink by about 25% each generation, and within three generations could shrink to about half their current size. To offset this, the average birth rate would have to be higher than 2.44 - which means most Christian families would need to have at least 3 kids.
However, of course, the solution is also that Christian parents need to put a high priority on intentionally discipling their kids in the faith. Of particular danger are public schools. The majority of what is taught in public schools today is unabashedly anti-Christian and aimed at de-constructing a child’s Christian faith and replacing it with a secularist worldview. There’s a reason why the secularists and Marxists took hold of the institutions of learning. They know they’re not having kids of their own, so they have to steal and convert ours. If kids are arrows, weapons that God has given us for the battle to take godly dominion - then who in their right mind hands over their weapons to the enemy?
Yet many Christians uncritically send their kids to pagans to be educated and discipled for 30-40 hours a week during their most productive waking hours plus extra-curricular activities and sports, then they come home tired, unable to concentrate and maybe do devotions for 15 minutes - on a good day! Is it any wonder then, as Dr. Voddie Baucham says, that if you send your kids to Caesar that they come back as Romans? Christians need to seriously consider how they might faithfully impart a Christian education for their kids - because there is no neutrality. Either they’re being discipled for Christ’s Kingdom or Satan’s. Ephesians 6:4 commands fathers to nurture children in the discipline and instruction of the LORD. Whether that looks like Christian schools or homeschooling, we must put a high priority on this if we are to see the advance of the Kingdom. Secular education explicitly rejects that foundation. Some parents object that they’re sending their kids to public school as missionaries, yet they’re not even sure if their young kids are even saved yet - so how can they be missionaries? Furthermore, that’s the frontline of the battle - we shouldn’t be putting our kids on the frontline - that’s the place for mature Christians who are wanting to take godly dominion in those spheres not for the kids we are charged to protect.
One only need take a look at the sex ed curriculum being used in schools. If you are in Canada, take a look at the website, exposingsogi123.com and browse some of the depraved books which are currently being used to teach children in public school. Recently, in Oakville, Ontario, a BlogTO article (definitely not a conservative media source) showed images and video of a biologically male transgendered teacher who showed up to teach a shop class with massive prosthetic breasts dressed with a tight top and bicycle shorts. These sorts of stories are sadly not uncommon these days, and while not every public school may have such extreme examples, pretty much every public school these days are teaching from a godless and anti-Christian worldview of Darwinian, naturalistic, evolutionary philosophy.
For those of us who do not yet have kids, commit to reproducing yourself by making, at minimum, 2 to 3 disciples over your lifetime. That’s not a huge goal and is totally achievable for the average Christian. But, yet again - the factor of compound interest can be a great advantage over time. If each disciple makes 2 to 3 disciples, it’s only a matter of a few generations before that cultural impact is significantly felt. God’s command for us to make disciples is one of the tools of dominion. Yet so many Christians today cannot even name one disciple they have made, or worse yet, they’ve been in church their whole life and still feel ill-equipped. They’re like the congregation that the author of Hebrews was frustrated with when he wrote,
“About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Hebrews 5:11-14)
It is a big problem if you’ve been in the faith for a long time and still are not prepared to be a teacher and disciple someone else. It’s natural for a baby to feed on and crave milk. However, if that child grows up and is still only drinking milk, we’d have some serious concerns. Yet spiritually speaking - this is exactly where some Christians are. Notice what the passage says about the mature. They have had their discernment trained by constant practice in distinguishing good and evil. How do we distinguish good and evil? By the standard of God’s Word. So, if you’re still stuck on milk and can’t distinguish good and evil, still falling prey to every wind of doctrine and not ready to teach and disciple someone - then it’s time to shed the diapers and put on your big boy pants. Because it is not by accident that directly after this passage comes the warning about apostasy!
For the Christian who is stuck in spiritual infancy and not moving on to becoming a mature disciple-maker, there is a real danger of apostasy and proving that you were never in the faith to begin with. There’s a reason why the unfaithful servants of Jesus’s parables are cast into outer darkness. About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain… but maybe for another time.
The point here is that Christian education for parents of their children and discipleship for all Christians are tools of godly dominion that we must make use of.
3. Restore the Family & Manhood
There is a reason why Satan attacks the family and sexuality. It is because he knows how fundamental and powerful it is. The family is the basic building block of all societies. Where there are strong, godly families, you will have strong godly societies. Where there are weak, faithless families, you’ll have the types of weak societies we’ve been suffering with.
Families are the training grounds for the next generation. They are a microcosmos of the world. In the family, children are prepared for living in the broader society. Living under the rod of discipline in the home will prepare the child for living under the sword of the State when he/she grows up. This is why rates of criminality are highly connected with broken families, along with rates of educational and financial success. Fathers in particular play a very important role in this.
In Canada, in 2021, there were about 1.83 million single-parent homes, up from 1.56 million in 2010. According to data from fathers.com, children from fatherless homes are more likely to be poor, become involved in drug and alcohol abuse, drop out of school, suffer from health and emotional problems, boys are more likely to get involved in crime and girls more likely to become pregnant as teens. 85% of the youth in prison in Canada come from fatherless homes and 63% of suicides in youth were without a father in the home. According to the book, Fatherless Generation by John Sowers, 71% of pregnant teenagers, 85% of youth who exhibit behaviour disorders, 90% of homeless and runaway children and 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes and it has been noted elsewhere that one of the most critical factors for determining if children will stay in the faith into adulthood is the religious practice of the father. Fathers are a powerful means of securing the success of the next generation, which is why men are a prime target for the Enemy.
This is why we must be unapologetically and relentlessly after the men in our churches. I’m probably not the only one who has looked around in church and wondered, “where are all the men?” Yet many Evangelical churches today are so effeminate that no self-respecting man would ever step foot in them. Many are often led by women, contrary to God’s Word and design, and many of the male leaders in some churches look and act like they should be in a K-pop boy band. Our culture emasculates men, calling their masculinity “toxic”. Feminism has done more damage to men than can be told here, with the irony of women complaining about men not stepping up after they’ve effectively cut their legs out from under them for years.
Many young men today are yearning for some voice that will give them a positive view of their masculinity and teach them how to steward it well. These fatherless orphans are yearning for father figures and so find virtual role models on the internet - disembodied leaders they idolize from a distance. This is why there has been the rise of the “red pill” movement and prominent figures like Joe Rogan and Jordan Peterson who actually defend men’s masculinity and expound its goodness. Yet they do so from a non-Christian worldview. There is a vast tsunami of fatherless boys looking for fathers to show them how to be men.
This should not be so. We must recover a focus on training men in Biblical manhood (and women in Biblical womanhood - I’m not dismissing the role of women also, but rather focusing on addressing the men for now) - because it definitely won’t happen by accident. As the men go, so goes the family. And as the family goes, so goes society. And as societies go, so goes the world.
So, what can we do to reclaim godly manhood and build strong families?
Well, firstly, reject the femin-Nazis who tell you that masculinity is inherently “toxic” and that the problem is the patriarchy. The word “patriarchy” simply means “father-rule”. It’s part of God’s design - men were made to rule with godly wisdom, leadership, and sacrifice. Men rule in the home, in societies and nations. Patriarchy is inevitable - it is only a question of whether it will be godly or ungodly. The problem is not patriarchy, its passivity. Men, actively look for embodied father-figures if yours was absent or ungodly. This means becoming an active member in a church and submitting to godly local elders. We cannot know how to wield and steward authority without being under authority first. Look for godly men who model biblical manhood and fatherhood - don’t hang out only with peers who are just as clueless. Commit to actively studying the Word and reading books which will help you grow in your knowledge of what God’s Word teaches about men and the family. Then, look for a band of brothers to help you live it out.
Paul commands men in 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” This means that there is a way to act like a man, and a way not to. The sooner we learn how the Bible defines manhood, the sooner this powerful tool of dominion can be used for God’s purposes and not squandered to useless pursuits.
While I don’t have time in this episode to flesh out all of the ways we can start to restore godly families and manhood, here are some good resources to check out:
It’s Good to Be A Man by Michael Foster - hard-hitting, refreshing, and much-needed pointed words to men.
Family Driven Faith by Dr. Voddie Baucham - a great primer on what godly family life should look like
Raising Boys to be Men by Aaron Gouveia - a good book on some of what it takes to raise boys to be men and not extend boyhood indefinitely
A Guide to Biblical Manhood by Randy Stinson - a classic read on the topic
Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle - another classic short, must-read filled with biblical and practical insights
4. Go on the offensive
Much of Evangelical religion has been effeminized and declawed such that it isn’t even seen as a threat to the secularists anymore. And why would it? The soft hipster guys in jeans so tight you need butter to slip them on, with V-necks that go deeper than their theology, going on singing repetitive Jesus-is-my-boyfriend songs while trying so hard to be relevant and accepted by the world don’t really threaten anyone… Not to mention the overall obsession over “niceness” - because heaven forbid we ever speak forthrightly enough about God’s truth that we might offend someone!
Niceness is nowhere in the Bible. Go look for it. You won’t find it. You’ll find actually biblical concepts though - like gentleness, self-control, kindness, graciousness, meekness, etc. But our modern version of “niceness” that prioritizes never offending anyone, compromises to avoid any type of confrontation and is marked by passivity is not biblical. Christianity has some teeth on it. And as John Calvin once said, even a dog knows to bark when his master is being attacked. Yes, we’re not advocating for being a jerk or mean or tactless or distasteful. But, Jesus in John 15 promised that if we’re actually his followers, the world will hate us because it first hated him.
When I was training in martial arts, one of the core lessons was to learn to take a hit and not flinch or back down. In a fight, that’s one of the major deciding factors. People who have not trained will often lose precious moments being stunned that they just got hit because they’ve never been hit. Whereas a person who has trained in even basic combat knows how to suck it up and press through to victory. We’re in a battle, you’re probably going to get hit. A lot. We’ve got to get over our insecurities of seeking the approval of man at the expense of forfeiting the only “well done, good and faithful servant” that matters.
The Bible does not give us a passive faith or an always defensive posture.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 that,
“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.”
Them thar’s fightin’ words!!
Though the weapons of the Christian’s warfare are not like the world’s weapons, they are divinely powerful! We don’t just politely tap on strongholds or timidly nod at arguments and opinions raised against the knowledge of God. We destroy them. How? By taking every thought captive… you ever seen someone being taken captive? It’s not a peaceful ordeal. Whose thoughts are being taken captive? Well, firstly our own. Whatever thoughts we have that are from an unbiblical worldview must be subdued and brought into obedience to Christ. We must have self-mastery first. However, this is not meant just to stay between your ears! It must move out into the public realm also, for a faith that stays only as one’s private devotion is of no threat to the Enemy of our souls.
And let’s not forget the last part of that passage which makes many of our modern sensibilities squirm - Paul also says that we are ready to punish every disobedience when their obedience is complete. We’ve got to wrestle with these things and not just pass over them. Paul, in a letter in which he rebukes the Corinthian Christians quite thoroughly, while he is destroying strongholds and arguments, and taking captive every thought, says that there is the need to punish disobedience. Discipline is necessary. The primary context of these words are in the church - Paul is writing to a Corinthian church which had some really messed up issues to deal with. This destruction of strongholds and arguments, and taking captive and subduing thoughts must first begin in the Church with corresponding and appropriate biblical church discipline for the sake of the purity of Christ’s Bride. As 1 Peter 4:17 says, judgment must begin in the household of God. So, we must firstly go on the offensive against our sins and within the Church. But we must also go on the offensive outside of the Church, like Paul in Acts 17 - provoked in our spirits because the city is full of idols.
I think too often Christians today have adopted the postcard Jesus who looks like a shampoo commercial model with a lamb draped over his shoulders - gentle Jesus, meek and mild - yet forgotten that that’s not the whole of the story. We’re also brought face to face with the Jesus who fashioned a cord of whips and single-handedly drove out money-changers and merchants, who called religious hypocrites names that would make Martin Luther’s pope-insults seem mild, and who in Revelation comes in a robe dipped in the blood of his enemies. We also follow that Christ, and we’d better figure out how to reconcile the two because God’s Word is unashamed about it.
We must ignore the trolls and mock the Baals. Let me explain the first bit…
If you speak out in public, you’re gonna have some trolls - both online and in real life. Now, you could respond and waste a lot of time getting your pearls dirty in the pig sty. Or you could simply not give them the time of day. Proverbs 26:4 & 5 says,
Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
So, which is it? To answer or not? This is not a typo in the Bible, it’s a principle of how to engage with foolishness - and our response will depend on the situation. On the one hand, “answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself” means, don’t stoop to a fool’s level of engagement lest he beat you with experience. Don’t copy his folly and start a comment war of ignorant name-calling and ad hominems. In that sense, you can ignore the fool. On the other hand, “answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes” means that we are to expose just how foolish his thinking is by assuming, for the sake of argument, his premise and take it to its logical end - otherwise he might take your silence to mean he’s right. This can sometimes best be done through satire or well-placed sarcasm. It’s related to the next bit…
Mock the Baals. We all are familiar with the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. There is a place for mocking and satire, and when done well, it can be very effective - as we’ve all seen from the Babylon Bee. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah mocks the false god mercilessly - maybe he’s stuck on the can guys - yell louder. There are some things to which we should respond with careful argumentation and pointed refutations. However, there are some things which are just ridiculous and should be ridiculed. For example, “Oh, you really think it's a good idea to give the government unchecked power to steal money and resources by threat of the sword and trust them to redistribute it fairly… because you know, we can really trust politicians, right? Ya, that socialism stuff sounds great and I’m sure there are tons of examples of it succeeding in history that don’t end in the death and suffering of millions.”
Now, it takes a sanctified life, a biblical worldview and godly wisdom to know the difference between what should be mocked and what needs to be refuted, or sometimes a bit of both, but it is something that we should mature into - otherwise, we forfeit a powerful tool. A little humour also goes a long way to exposing wrong ideas, disarming the force of vacuous rhetoric and defusing a situation. So don’t forget your sense of humour and remember that we’re also to be marked by joyfulness.
To go on the offensive, we must be brave. This is not the time for cowardly Christians but for courageous ones. Modifying what pastor Doug Wilson has said, the cowardly Christians will come later and write the biographies of the courageous ones and laud them for their courage. God’s word repeatedly admonishes us to be courageous because of our sinful disposition to cowardice (e.g. Josh. 1:9; Deut. 31:6; 2 Tim. 1:7; Psa. 27:14; Prov. 28:1). It is no mistake that in Revelation 21:8 that the cowardly are first in the list of those whose end is the lake of fire. Cowardliness should not mark the people of God. Yet so many Christians today are afraid to speak publicly and clearly about their faith. By the Spirit of God, go on the offensive, speak out, be bold, be clear. Personally, I want to speak so clearly that people know exactly why they either hate or love what I said. Mince your meat not your words.
Don’t get caught playing the “nuance” game that so many Evanjellyfish pastors want to play to be liked by the world. When they’re asked about issues like homosexuality or the exclusivity of Christ in public media, they hum and haw, pretending like there isn’t a straightforward answer.
These hired-hands try to find some palatable “third way” (though there is none), over-qualifying their nuanced approach so that no one knows what on earth they’ve just said, but they’ve used some trendy catchphrases to carve a mushy third way to avoid the ire of the secularists, yet they end up still not being liked anyways and also compromising. If you’re following a pastor or Christian leader who can’t give a straight answer to gay questions, you should stop following them. Because when the rubber hits the road and the going gets tough, they’re not going to lead with conviction and clarity. Your job isn’t to be liked, or be “nice” by the world’s standards, it’s to be faithful. If I’m gonna be hated anyways by the world, it might as well be for the truth. There’s no third way - there’s the narrow way and wide way. Only one leads to life.
No sports team or army wins by playing defence all the time. If we’re going to take godly dominion, we have to go on the offensive as well. But remember that our weapons are not carnal… but they are dangerous to the kingdom of darkness because they are divinely powerful. The old saying, the best defence is a good offence has a lot of truth to it. And I believe that we’re in this cultural moment because for so many years the church has neglected to play offence.
5. Put your time & money where your convictions are
Related to the last point, here are some practical ways we can go on the offensive apart from just speaking.
In rapid succession without a whole lot of explanation and in no particular order, here are a few thoughts:
Stop supporting woke media brainwashing. Use your time for better pursuits. Start a blog, write a book, paint something, create, invent, network, plant a church, start a business, get married and have some kids. How weak is it that Christians today will compromise the future just for some entertainment today? That’s the type of thing that people without a mission do, not soldiers on the battlefield. Why are we giving money to movies and TV that promote woke agendas? Are we really so weak and undisciplined that we’ll sell our birthright for a TV series that promotes abominations, glorifies sexual misconduct, portrays all men as weak and passive betas, disregards the sanctity of life, and praises the inversion of God’s design for the genders? Now, don’t get me wrong. I recently watched the new Top Gun and it was glorious! There is a place for legitimate leisure time and activities as part of our rhythms of rest and Sabbath. But, Godly dominion won’t come to undisciplined people. Only if we’re faithful in the little will we be entrusted with much. God is not mocked.
Related to the previous point, Christians don't want to pay to support Christian content yet will give their money to depraved companies like Disney to brainwash their kids. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve heard Christians complain about how terrible Christian media content is or mourn the lack of great Christian art, yet they won’t spend a dime on it and expect it to be given for free because of Christian charity. Are you kidding me? Put your money where your mouth is. Support Christian media - especially the guys who are attempting to do it with excellence and not tell cheesy Christian stories where everyone gets saved and grandma resurrects after some kid owns a poorly portrayed atheist antagonist character to save the day. Instead of always asking your Christian business-owner friend, or artist friend, etc. for a deal - how about if Christians were known to pay more to other Christians to support and encourage their businesses to flourish?
Support Christian education and schooling. It ain’t cheap. Ask any parent who’s looked into sending their kids to private Christian school and then considered how much their left kidney could fetch on the black market. Support Christian worldview training ministries like the Ezra Institute, Founders Ministries, Sovereign Nations, etc. that put on conferences and produce free media content to help equip others with a Biblical worldview to tackle today’s cultural issues.
Volunteer at Christian parachurch causes (e.g. pro-life, Christians who care, etc). As best as you can, try to put your talents and skills to use in Christian businesses. If there’s a job opportunity to work for a Christian employer, take it - perhaps even over a better paying secular one, and then work to make it the best out there!
If you’re a Christian creative, use your creativity to help the culture ask questions about life, that show the beauty of God’s design, that expose the darkness and lies, that challenge us to imagine a world where His will is done on earth as it is in heaven. Network with other Christian creatives instead of thinking like they’re stealing your piece of the pie. Celebrate and promote fellow Christian creatives that are doing it well. Reshare their content - social media advertising ain’t cheap and that ad revenue would just go to fund their woke agendas. So, if you can help Christian creatives save a buck with some organic growth, do that.
Be involved in your communities - like school boards, writing MPs and lower-level government officials like city councillors. Go vote your convictions in federal, provincial and local elections and stop compromising.
These are some practical ways that you can put your time, money and talents where your convictions lay. Compromise is the mother of all regrets. Let your convictions be shaped by God’s Word, then live and die by your convictions.
6. Take positions of cultural transformation
Following on that, we should be thinking strategically. The secular Left has transformed society - not by accident - but by gradual and strategic action. It was part of the Marxist strategy that’s called “the long march through the institutions”. They took the institutions of cultural production and transformation:
Education
Entertainment & Arts
Law & Politics
Businesses & Corporations
Communication & Social Media
We need Christians in all of these fields, and even more, Christians who will start parallel and competing institutions where the existing ones are beyond redemption or where it would be far more costly and impractical to change them than start new ones. Unlike the blue-haired Marxists holding mostly peaceful protests wanting to burn everything down, Christians are not revolutionaries. But we can boycott and build our own institutions to construct a counter-culture. This will not happen overnight, it may take generations, but if we don’t start sometime, we’re guaranteed it will never happen. The best time to plant an apple tree was 10 years ago. The second best time is today. Institutions that run from a self-consciously Christian worldview to glorify God will receive His blessing if they are faithful. Don’t despise the day of small beginnings.
These institutions of cultural transformation have the cumulative effect of transforming what Charles Taylor called “the social immaginary” - that is, the plausibility structure within a society which determines what the majority of its citizens will find believable. While God’s Kingdom will continue to grow regardless, Christendom grows fastest in a culture that has been primed to receive it. We should both take positions of cultural transformation, as well as train up and encourage the next generation to do so with an eye on the big goal of seeking God’s Kingdom expanse in all areas of life.
The secularists didn’t become the controlling power by accident. Neither will we. Indeed, Jesus noted that “the sons of this world are more shrewd in their dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.” (Luke 16:8)
7. Reject Pietism and Seek the Kingdom
Lastly, the final simple step to take over the world for Christ is to reject pietism and seek the Kingdom.
What is pietism?
It is not to be mixed up with piety - which is our growth in personal holiness and spiritual disciplines. This is good and commanded by Scripture.
Pietism is the belief that our faith has no place in the public square. That the Bible only speaks to matters of private devotion and the Sunday worship service, and maybe some charity - but not a whole lot else. It has been called “Churchianity” by Dr. Joseph Boot, and is the predominant religion of many North American Christians today. It is a religiosity that is primarily concerned with the “feels”, emotionalism and goosebumps. It is sentimentality over having a personal relationship with Jesus that is inwardly focused and therapeutic rather than outwardly focused and transformational. It believes that there is some sort of neutral public sphere where we can meet pagans on common ground in areas like politics, law, education, entertainment, etc. Its slogans of “keep religion out of politics” and “you can’t legislate morality” come from the forked tongue of that sly serpent while the secular cultists religiously legislate their morality in this devious bait-and-switch.
Yet the Bible’s description of the Kingdom of Christ knows no such bounds.
Luke 1:33 says that Jesus Christ’s Kingdom will have no end and Isaiah 9:7 says that,
“Of the INCREASE of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
Do we actually believe this? It says that Christ’s government will have unending increase - that’s growth! That’s exactly what Jesus illustrates of his parables of the Kingdom’s growth in Matthew 13 which is like a mustard seed that becomes the biggest tree in the garden and like leaven that leavens the entire lump of dough. Note that God puts his stamp of guarantee on this - it says that the zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. This is not something that we do by human means and our own striving.
Don’t get me wrong. Though some of the practical things I’ve shared about birth rates, education, restoring the family, going on the offensive, supporting Christian initiatives and taking positions of cultural transformation are important - the workmen will labour in vain unless the LORD builds the house. But we have this guarantee, that the LORD is building the house, he’s building His Church to advance successfully against Hell’s gates. Thus, we can labour heartily for the LORD, knowing that our labour will never be in vain.
Also, though these steps are simple, they aren’t necessarily easy. Although I am ultimately optimistic in my eschatology, I am realistic in my expectations that it is quite possible that we’re heading into a period where things could get pretty rough and if the WEF ideologues gets their way, we could see another round of Marxist destruction unleashed on humanity. However, every single Marxist revolution in history soon toppled because the seeds of its own destruction are ingrained in the ideology because of the error of all anti-Christian philosophies that go against God’s design for this world. It’s only a matter of time and how much damage it will do before it falls. However, are Christians going to be ready to rebuild the ruins as we always have? The 7 things we’ve discussed here are some of the biblical tools God has given us to labour for godly dominion. And as we labour according to His will and design, we can be confident that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (Has. 2:14)
From the words of Psalm 72,
“May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!… May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! …Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and amen!”
If you've found this content helpful, please share it and consider donating to support the work. Thanks!
Comments