Statism. Globalism. Feminism. Environmentalism. Totalitarianism.
If the apostle Paul were asked to address these big, bad “isms,” along with their counterparts in Big Pharma, Big Ed, or Big Tech, he would likely answer that they are all part of a world system designed to enslave God’s people. Based on his letters to Ephesus and Colossae, it seems certain Paul had an awareness of the co-belligerence of heavenly powers and earthly rulers opposing Christ and his Church.
For instance, in Colossians 2:8, he writes, “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” While there is debate as to the exact meaning of “elemental spirits” (stoicheia), it is undeniable that Paul understands Christ ruling over all the heavenly powers, including those who were disarmed by his cross (see Col. 2:15).
Similarly, in Ephesians when Paul declares that all things have been put under Jesus’s feet (Eph. 1:21–22), he goes on to remind the church that they “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Indeed, there is a spiritual battle that persists today between those anointed by the Spirit and those spirits who resist the Lord and his anointed. Nevertheless, this battle is not devoid of earthly manifestations, for Ephesians 2:2 tells us that those who are dead in sin are “following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.”
Such is the condition of our world. Devoid of Christ, flesh and blood are under the rule and authority of evil powers. And the spirits who rule over flesh invent and introduce various ideologies to lead humanity astray. In this context, the gospel of Jesus Christ goes forward and the spiritual battle advances. Psalm 110 envisions the exalted Lord as sending forth his power to save (Ps. 110:2–3) and to judge (Ps. 110:5–7). And knowing that Christ has received the authority over all nations, Christians have every reason to have confidence of his victory.
Still, the consummation of the victory has not yet occurred. To borrow the imagery of Oscar Cullman, D-Day has commenced, but V-Day remains. And in between, Christians are bound to experience many dangers, toils, snares, and skirmishes. This was true in previous generations, but in modern times the scale of this warfare has “mass-ified.” The Leviathan has grown fat and has taken its place over and above the nations, so that now there are global ideologies and isms that threaten the world and the church that gathers throughout.
Totalitarianism, But Global
Over the last number of generations, various technologies have connected the entire world, so that mass transit, mass markets, and most importantly mass communication and mass media have reshaped the way nations relate to one another, as well as the way that citizens live within those counties and relate to one another. Space does not permit a full consideration of all the contributing factors, but the chief illustration of how the world has been unified and controlled by agencies beyond the state comes from 2020 and the lockdowns that started in China and engulfed the world.
With only a few national exceptions, the civilized world played the game of masking, social distancing, forced vaccination, and mandated lockdowns. And who had the authority to enforce such policies? We might answer that local, state, and federal officials took emergency measures to restrict travel, commerce, education, and worship, but beyond these elected officials were the organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) that gave instructions to the governing officials. Across the globe, these unelected officials gave commands that changed the way we lived in 2020 and since. And for those who were paying attention, we saw in fresh ways what Auron MacIntyre has described as the tyrannical rule of the “Total State.”
Indeed, coming out of the Cold War Americans—at least those over the age of 40—have been trained to spot communism. Likewise, America’s founding narrative includes the need to stand up to tyrants (like England’s King George III) when they overstepped their authority. Yet, as Auron McIntyre outlines in his book, The Total State, that founding narrative has made us blind to the ways that liberal democracies can—through softer forms of totalitarianism—impose their will on a people who look to the state for safety, security, and protection from sickness. And then, taking that willing submission to the state for granted, these same governing bodies have looked to globalist leaders like Klaus Schwab, head of the World Economic Forum, to reimagine what the world would look like.
Since 2020, emails have surfaced, and studies have proven, that many of these safety measures called for by the WHO and others were never expected to work. Yet, for those who implemented them, they were necessary so that something could be done instead of nothing. And more, as Michael Rectenwald (What is the Great Reset?), Marc Morano (The Great Reset), and others have argued, the COVID protocols were but experiments for resetting the whole world. By means of local governments putting into effect globalist ideas, and the media running a propaganda campaign to implement mass psychological formation, our well-connected world was brought one step (or many steps) closer to a kind of totalitarianism that SPECTRE (the James Bond antagonist) could only dream about.
And yet, far from being a dream, The Great Reset, Fifteen-Minute Cities, Project 2030, and Carbon Net Zero, are all globalist initiatives that spawn from a purely materialist view of the world and one that seeks to employ environmentalism as the change agent to regulate (de)population, redistribute wealth, and rearrange global powers. These and other initiatives are currently having a massive impact on political leaders and on the citizens under their charge, and that means that they will also have an impact on Christians and the churches that gather across the world.
A Modern Tower of Babel
If Thomas Hobbes’ metaphor of Leviathan describes the devouring nature of the sovereign, secular state, there is another word picture from the Bible that does the same. In Genesis 11, we find the Tower of Babel being constructed in order to let the men of Shinar make a name for themselves. Indeed, for purposes of security, glory, and even worship, the Tower is constructed with its top in the heavens. Or, at least, that was the plan until the Lord came down and stopped the construction.
Today, we do not know if or how or when Jesus Christ might put a stop to the globalist agendas that rival his Lordship. Yet, we do know that whatever men attempt to do today, they cannot dethrone Christ or replace him in the heavens. Even if Elon Musk builds a civilization on Mars, it will still be under Jesus’s feet, for all things in creation—all things on earth and all things in the heavens—belong to him. He has imperium over all the world, and that is a bedrock truth on which we can stand.
Nevertheless, standing on that unmovable foundation, we need to recognize the ways in which the nations rage—both the governors who refuse to fear God and the gods who tempt men to raise themselves to the heavens. Returning to Paul, he had an understanding of the powers and principalities and how they functioned on the earth. Likewise, he saw the human traditions and novel ideas that competed with Christ, and he called the saints to destroy all such ideologies. With the greatest force, he speaks of the spiritual warfare to which we are called.
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6 being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10:3–6)
Truly, this is our calling. And though the mass-ification of the world enlarges the battlefield, it does not change the mission. We are called to preach the gospel, teach sound doctrine, and oppose everything that opposes the truth of God’s Word. And in the twenty-first century that means knowing something about a host of ideologies that are coalescing to rebuild Babel. For truly in our day, the spirit of Babel is everywhere present, as men connected by mass communications and technologies like AI are able to plot together to overthrow the world.
Indeed, depopulation is but one ideology that reigns supreme today. And when it comes to climate change (and carbon emissions), family size (and abortion), social medicine (and euthanasia), city planning (and immigration), the elimination of life is a prerequisite feature. Indeed, when someone like Klaus Schwab and his sidekick, Yuval Hurari, plan for the future, they think in terms entirely devoid of God. Humanity is but the material means to their dystopian ends. And thus, their vision for the globe is one that must be opposed—in our preaching, teaching, writing, living, and sacrificing.
Today, wherever we live, we can see the tower being built on the Plains of Shinar, and thus, we must pray and preach and plan for ways to tear down the false ideologies that serve as molds for the bricks being added to this modern tower of Babel. These ideologies carry the names of feminism, environmentalism, racism, multiculturalism, humanism, and fill-in-the-blank-ism. Indeed, the spirits that oppose Christ continue to inspire and invent new errors, and we in the church must be ready to oppose them with the unchanging word of truth and wisdom that comes from above.
To that end, we turn in October to our theme, Christ Over All the Isms. In this month, we will explore where the attacks are coming from and how to respond to them. And Lord willing, by the month’s end these essays will help equip you to know how to see the globalist threats that surrounds us, all the while having greater confidence that Christ is and always will be over all.
Voting to the Glory God
One final note: this month will build on the last month, as it helps us to see why globalism, as mediated through the Democratic Party, is such a danger to the American people. Indeed, without denying the problems that have surfaced among the Republicans, especially related to maintaining a strong commitment to protecting the unborn, one trait that distinguishes the two parties is there different approaches to globalism. This month, we will see that reality more clearly. Last month’s essays, which are listed below with longforms first, provide adequate resources to consider many of the other factors related to voting and voting to the glory of God.
- Make Civics Great Again: A Pastoral Guide to Casting Ballots Wisely by Trent Hunter • Longform Essay • What exactly are we doing when we vote? And how should that affect how we vote?
- Politics, Conscience, and the Church: The Why, What, and How of Political Disagreement by Andy Naselli • Longform Essay • The reasons why we all can’t just get along . . . and a test case regarding abortion and voting.
- 3.45 “Make Civics Great Again: A Pastoral Guide to Casting Ballots Wisely” by Trent Hunter • Podcast Reading • What exactly are we doing when we vote? And how should that affect how we vote?
- 3.47 “Politics, Conscience, and the Church: The Why, What, and How of Political Disagreement” by Andy Naselli • Podcast Reading • The reasons why we all can’t just get along . . . and a test case regarding abortion and voting.
- How Shall We Then Pray for Civil Authorities: Peace, Conversion, and…Curses? by Ardel Caneday • Concise Article • The Apostle Paul instructs Christian to pray for “kings and all who are in high positions,” but what ought we pray?
- 3.46 “Shepherds for Sale” by Megan Basham, David Schrock, Trent Hunter • Podcast Interview • Listen in as Megan Basham joins David Schrock and Trent Hunter to discuss her new book Shepherds for Sale, as well as the state of evangelicalism.
- How Religion Could Break Up Democrats’ Trusty Voting Blocs by Mark Coppenger • Concise Article • The building blocks of Christianity may prove stronger in the end.
- The Courage to Vote: The Moral Mandate to Vote by Levi Secord • Concise Article • When you turn 18 in the United States, you take on the privileges, responsibilities, and obligations of being part of the government—even if only a sliver.
- A Comparison of the 2024 Republican and Democratic Party Platforms by David Closson • Concise Article • How do the Republican and Democratic platforms stack up on the issues of life, religious freedom, and sexuality?
- One Issue Voting: Revisited by Stephen Wellum • Concise Article • Is it overly simplistic to vote for a candidate based on one issue alone?
- How Shall We Then Vote? The Christian Conscience and the 2024 Presidential Election by Michael Carlino • Concise Article • How ought the Christian vote or not vote in the 2024 election, and what role does our conscience play?
- 3.48 “Bully Pulpit and Christ Over All Talk Politics” by Andrew Walker, Erik Reed, Stephen Wellum, David Schrock • Interview • Listen in as Andrew Walker and Erik Reed from the Bully Pulpit Podcast talk with Stephen Wellum and David Schrock from Christ Over All about politics.
- Studying our Times for Faithful Action: A Call to Stand Against the World by Joe Boot • Concise Article • When the culture draws a line in the sand and tells you to go no further in following Christ, what will you do, Christian?
- The Hypocritical Duplicity of “Evangelicals for Harris” by Darrell B. Harrison • Concise Article • Are evangelicals really for Harris? Despite what some may say, this combination simply does not exist.
- What Does the SBC See in DC? And What Should DC See in Us? by Jon Whitehead • Concise Article • The world is watching the SBC. And as it looks at Washington DC and the SBC, does it see something different?
- The King Hezekiah Mentality: How To Hold Our Elected Officials Accountable by John Avery • Concise Article • Do your elected officials care only for “peace and security” in their own day, or are they willing to make wise decisions for the future, even if it’s costly?
- 3.49 “Politics, Conscience, and the Church: The Why, What, and How of Political Disagreement” by Andy Naselli, David Schrock, Stephen Wellum • Interview • Listen in as Andy Naselli joins David Schrock and Stephen Wellum to discuss his longform essay “Politics, Conscience, and the Church: The Why, What, and How of Political Disagreement.”
- Voting as Christians: The Creation Order Political Scorecard by Colin Smothers • Concise Article • Every political party lays out a vision of the common good. And some parties score more points than others because they reflect the created order.
- Living in a Precarious (and Post-Constitutional) Political Age by Brad Green • Concise Article • How do Christians move forward when government is not committed to constitutional order or constraints?
- 3.50 “Theological Roundtable on the Upcoming Election” by Stephen Wellum, David Schrock, Trent Hunter, Jared Bridges • Interview • Listen in as Stephen Wellum, David Schrock, Trent Hunter, and Jerod Bridges discuss the upcoming election from a theological perspective.
Christ Over All News and Notes
Let me highlight three things as we wrap up.
First, we want to offer a resounding “Thank You!” to all who celebrated our birthday month with us. In God’s kindness and your generosity, we raised more than $6,500 for the month. This will help us finish the year strong and sets us on a good pathway for 2025. If you did not give and would like to you, you can do that here. Additionally, if you or your church would like to partner with us in 2025, please reach out to us at Christisoverall@gmail.com. We’d love to talk to you about working together to proclaim the Lordship of Christ.
Second, if you’d like to hear the messages from Steve Wellum, Ardel Caneday, Brad Green and others, you can find them online here. These messages were given at Christ the King Church, at the Till Kingdom Come conference. They offer counsel on engaging politics and voting in the light of Christ. Please listen and share.
Finally, 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.”
That’s it for this month. 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.
