For the last month, Christ Over All has considered a host of ideologies that are currently pervading culture, threatening the church, and bringing destruction upon the image of God. In order, some of the ideologies we considered include Totalitarianism, Malthusianism (the gospel of Depopulation), Marxism, Environmentalism, Statism, Radical Individualism, Hinduism, Transgenderism, Globalism, Feminism, and more.
Recognizing the ways that these -isms and their various prophets have invited the world to sin, we sought to expose them and overturn them. Using the tools of truth, Scripture, and philosophical argument, we aimed to “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
Indeed, following the lead of the Apostle Paul, who wrote 2 Corinthians to expose and overturn false apostles and their errant ideas, we took aim to slay Leviathan. And along the way, we found help by interviewing Aaron MacIntyre and Glenn Sunshine. Respectively, Aaron’s book entitled The Total State helps us see how late-stage democracy has turned tyrannical, while Glenn’s book, Slaying Leviathan, teaches Christians how to resist tyranny when it springs to life. In our modern world, we must have a growing appreciation for the large-scale efforts of giant corporations and demonic states to destroy our faith, and we must know how to respond appropriately. These two books will help, as will the resources from October.
Christ Over All the Isms
As the New Testament reminds us, the work of Satan has not gone away since Christ sat down in heaven. Rather, as Revelation 12 reminds us, Satan’s defenestration from heaven—his being thrown down—has resulted in his active attack on the church on earth. As Levi Secord wrote for us, “The Serpent recruits the state to do his bidding and to attack God’s people.” And when he does, the demonic state becomes tyrannical, and must be opposed in prayer and with the Word of God. Continuing, he writes,
Scripture and history alert us to the dangers of a government unhitched from its master [i.e., the Lord]. Big government is always the enemy of God’s people. The state is one of Satan’s favorite tools and one of the church’s main enemies. Christians must understand both the potential good and evil of the state. Therefore, it is God-honoring and wise to seek biblical limits upon the state lest it become a monstrous beast.
In American’s founding, the architects of the United States, influenced by Christian ideas, understood this principle—that sinful men, given unchecked power, will always turn tyrannical. This is a natural consequence of humanity’s fallen nature. And thus, a limited state is the Christian ideal. And in the eighteenth century, America set the trajectory to that end.
That said, over the course of time, the principle of limited government has been lost. As 1930s New Deals and 1960s Great Societies enlarged government, the limited state is only now theoretical. Even more, there are even some so-called “conservatives” who would happily take less-than-conservative action to assume power and correct the system—with or without shrinking its size, I wonder?
We can debate whether such a revolutionary approach to enforcing conservative principles is possible, but for now I simply want to acknowledge the point that in our modern world, massified by technology, communications, transit, and global associations, the Beast of government is larger than ever, and its tentacles touch all aspects of life. Just recall the Covid protocols.
Widening our view, Christians have always had to navigate the challenges imposed by the state, but more than ever, faithfulness to God means that churches and their pastors must be aware of the influences that are coming into the church. The Total State, with its technological touch points, pressures us at every turn, so that now sanctification includes more than personal piety; it includes knowing how to reject false ideologies which seek to attach themselves to Christianity. Enneagram, anyone?
Sadly, many shepherds have conjoined Christian doctrine with new age teaching, creation care, and projects of social justice that dress up Marxist ideas with biblical garb. Accordingly, we need to be able to spot the phonies and destroy—yes, “destroy,” as Paul says—any idea that is not subject to Christ. That’s what we aimed to do in October, and you can find a host of resources below (the two longforms lead the list).
- What Evangelicals Must Learn from the Last Decades of American Politics • Stephen Wellum • 10.1.24 • What has the evangelical church gotten wrong in the past decades, and where ought we go in light of where we are?
- Slaying Feminism: Ending the Impossible Quest for Sexual Interchangeability • Doug Ponder • 10.28.24 • Striving for male and female equality in every way is destroying us—and there’s a better way.
- The Childless Utopia • P. Andrew Sandlin • 10.4.24 • The world of postmodern dreams is one without children. Christians cannot succumb to this mindset, and must continually commit to a biblical view of children and family.
- Preparing for Pandemic 2.0 with Help from a Dead Prime Minister • Aaron O’Kelley • 10.3.24 • Pandemic 2.0 happens. How do you respond? With some guidance from an old friend named Abraham Kuyper.
- Destructive of these Ends: The Demonic State According to Revelation 13 • Levi Secord • 10.7.24 • Christians are given a general command to submit to the state, but what is faithfulness when a state becomes a beast?
- Romans 13: Submission, Not Unquestioning Obedience • Ardel Caneday • 10.8.24 • What does submission to the government look like when the government has gone off the rails?
- The Antihuman Insanity of Net-Zero Climate Policy: How Climate Catastrophist Energy and Farming Policies Threaten Human Thriving • E. Calvin Beisner • 10.10.24 • What are the effects of net zero climate goals on society at large?
- Statism, Totalitarianism and the Sovereignty of God • Joe Boot • 10.11.24 • Statism–where civil government exerts substantial, centralized control over much of society–is one of the greatest threats to churches in the West today.
- Autonomous Man: Battling the Tyranny of Selfism • Nate Schill • 10.14.24 • What happens when the self is king?
- Idols of Power: When Government is God • Herb Schlossberg • 10.16.24 • What happens when the cry of every citizen to the state is “Our Father, in the seat of government, hallowed be thy name…”?
- Schaeffer Contra Statism: A Biblical Analysis of the Past for the Present • Michael A. Wilkinson • 10.18.24 • Around fifty years ago, a type of prophet predicted where our society would be today. These are his words.
- Transgenderism and Homosexuality: Hindu Monism’s Philosophical Triumph • Vishal Mangalwadi • 10.21.24 • There is an unusual relationship in the West between Hinduism, homosexuality, and transgenderism.
- Nationalism, Globalism, and American Nationality • John D. Wilsey • 10.23.24 • When cosmopolitan Globalism is on the Left, and ambiguous forms of Nationalism are on the Right, what path ought the Christian citizen take?
- Theodore Roosevelt: the Toppling of Statues, the Death of Patriotism, and Fervid Americanism • John D. Wilsey • 10.25.24 • With globalism on the rise and patriotism at a low, Theodore Roosevelt would like to have some words . . .
- How Crowds Work Leaders, How Leaders Work Crowds • Trent Hunter • 10.30.24 • It’s a two way street, and it leads to death. But not every one.
- Encore: A New Testament Scholar Explains What Should Be the Two Key Voting Concerns for Christians • Robert A. J. Gagnon • 11.1.24 • Two idols strike at the heart of God’s creational design than others. And these idols are worth opposing with all our might.
- Encore: Voting for the Greater Good – A Biblical Perspective • Robert A. J. Gagnon • 11.2.24 • In the midst of two unappealing options, why not choose the one that brings about the greater good for society?
- Encore: The Extremist Track Record of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on Promoting LGBTQ Immorality and Abortion • Robert A. J. Gagnon • 11.3.24 • A deep dive into the track record for Harris/Walz and Trump/Vance on LGBTQ+ and abortion.
The Kingdom of God
Now in November, we turn the corner to fix our eyes on Christ, the true king and only-wise God. Indeed, if the man-made and demonically-inspired ideologies of our day attempt to establish their rule on earth, then all of them—together, separately, or even in conflict with one another—raise their fists in defiance of the Lord and his anointed.
In Psalm 2, we read, “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed.” These two verses encapsulate the inherent hostility of the nations that refuse to honor God as king and creator. And remarkably, they even described the Jerusalem leaders, when they refused to honor Christ. As the early Christians sought to understand the opposition which Peter and John experienced when they preached the Lordship of Christ in the days after Pentecost, they cited Psalm 2:1–2 (in Acts 4:25–26).
As Acts 8:12 puts it, the gospel of the apostles was the “gospel of the kingdom.” It was a testimony that Jesus Christ is Lord and that he is the Son who received the right to sit on God’s holy hill (Ps. 2:6). He has been given the right to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and now he is asking the father for those nations (Ps. 2:7–9). Indeed, the kingdom is growing today, because King Jesus is sending out his Word and his Spirit. As Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 indicate, Jesus, in the same breath, is saving and judging. He is crushing his enemies who refuse to bow the knee and he is converting his enemies by making them his friends.
This two-fold mission has been ongoing, ever since Christ ascended on high. As Peter says of Christ in Acts 10:42–43, “42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Faithfulness means Christ’s Lordship to judge all flesh (John 17:2), while extending salvation to all who trust in his name (Rom. 10:9). Still, in light of Psalm 2, such a message is not simply a individualistic invitation to receive Christ. It is a message that proclaims Christ’s rule over the nations, such that their potentates must bow the knee. Consider: Psalm 2 is not simply a message to sinful individuals (though that applies too), but primarily, verses 10–12 are aimed at kings and rulers.
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
By its targeted audience, we see both that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. This means that for those who acknowledge his rule and receive his grace, his kingdom offers forgiveness of sins. At the same time, however, his heavenly rule also has something to say to those seeking power in our own day.
As we learn of the election results this week, we must remember that these rulers who are given a place of power in our land are still under the Lordship of Christ. And thus, we who know the true king must continue to proclaim his Lordship to those in power. Whatever happens on earth, we have the obligation to preach Christ’s lordship and to call all positions of authority to honor Christ and submit to his rule. Yes, the church must continue to assemble as God’s chosen and set apart saints. Those saints also have the commission to warn earthly powers of the coming judgment. For this is the message of the gospel, a word of salvation and judgment.
Equally, as we consider the kingdom of God this month, we will focus on what his rule means in this age and the age to come. Stepping away from the current events of September and October, we will ground ourselves in the eternal truths of God’s kingdom, and by so doing we will, we pray, build up our faith, solidify our hope, and magnify our love for God, his people, and the world.
Truly, as we combat the darkness, we must not forget the light of Christ. And so, all month, we will consider what it means that Christ is king, and what it means for his kingdom to come, on earth as it is in heaven.
Christ Over All News and Notes
As I close, let me highlight three things.
First, we have begun to hammer out our plans for 2025, and the next six months are as follows.
- December 2024: Handel’s Messiah: A Biblical Reflection
- January 2025: The Image of God: In Scripture and Society
- February 2025: Whatever Happened to Sin?
- March 2025: The Ethics and Religious Liberties Conundrum
- April 2025: The Cross in the Old Testament
- May 2025: Speech: Sacred, Salty, and Sarcastic
If you have an interest or essay to run in any of these months, please reach out to us. We have begun putting together the earlier months, but we are always happy to receive submissions and/or ideas.
Second, we want to continue to say ‘Thank You’ to all who support this ministry. We could not provide the resources here without your help. And as we plan for the new year, and you do the same, if you would be interested in partnering with us for 2025, we would love to talk to you. We are looking to find churches and individuals who see the importance of our work and become monthly givers. If you are interested in learning more about that, please reach out to us Christisoverall[at]gmail.com. Additionally, if you would like to make a one-time gift, you can do so here.
Third, we invite you to join us in January at the Founders Conference. This year, Christ Over All will not be hosting an event at the Evangelical Theological Society, as our attendance will be spotty. But we will be attending the Founders Conference in Cape Coral, Florida from January 23–25. If you are planning to attend, we’d love to see you there, as we spend a few days with our friends at Founders, considering the theme “Revive Us, O Lord.”
Until next time, let us all remember that Christ is Lord and all things are under his feet, so in all things let us exalt Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria!
