restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations

                

Club Med Christianity

 David Alan Black 

The parallel between government and church has always intrigued me. It was therefore with great interest that I read this essay by Christopher Ortiz that an online friend emailed me today. It seems to me that all governments are based upon the premise that power can make people good, or healthy, or educated, or whatever. History is full of examples. I am quite sure that even dictators like Hitler and Mussolini thought they were creating happiness for their people through power.

For many of us who believe in the Old Constitution, Christianity alone is both the definition and the means of virtue. There is nothing that government can do to make people good. Our civilization is based upon this Christian understanding, but we have long since gone our own separate way. We cannot expect the world to understand this, because the world cares nothing about biblical doctrine. But for years now the orthodox, evangelical church has done no better.

In America it is not only the socialist system that has broken down (it is only ruthless power that keeps it going); capitalism has gone bust as well. Wealth and pride and lechery and many other things associated with capitalism have become status symbols among evangelicals. Yet if socialist principles cannot create a perfect society, how much less can capitalist principles? Both socialism and capitalism are based upon the false assumption that men can create perfect societies. Both appeal to the flesh. Both are equally egotistical. So by their very nature they are bound to fail. Both liberals and conservatives are leading our culture over a cliff, though it may take a bit longer with the conservatives in power.

As Bible-believing Christians, we need to recognize that the biggest chasm in America today is not between Democrats and Republicans, or between liberals and conservatives, but between those who have bowed to the living God, and those who have not. Do not think that merely because a Christian is elected to public office or is appointed to an important office, this will provide salvation for our society. Both the new humanism and the new evangelicalism have no concept of the true truth. Historic Christianity, biblical Christianity, believes that the Gospel is not a truth, it is the fundamental truth of all of life. Adherence to any other belief system is unfaithfulness to the Gospel; it is spiritual adultery toward the divine Bridegroom.

If wives should show honor and loyalty to their earthly husbands, how much more should Christians show honor and loyalty to their spiritual Husband? But how do we do this? Not with flying flags, nor with shouts of Hallelujah. We do this by opposing the infiltration of humanistic ideas into both our theology and our praxis. We do this by proclaiming “No King But King Jesus” in both our politics and our churches. And we do this by rejecting the Club Med, super-church mentality that Mr. Ortiz so eloquently exposes in his essay.

May 4, 2005

David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com. If you would like to know more about becoming a follower of King Jesus, please feel free to write Dave.

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