{"id":15906,"date":"2024-10-02T04:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T08:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/?p=15906"},"modified":"2024-11-04T15:31:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T20:31:48","slug":"september-intermission-from-voting-to-vetting-all-the-isms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/christoverall.com\/article\/concise\/september-intermission-from-voting-to-vetting-all-the-isms\/","title":{"rendered":"September Intermission: From Voting to Vetting All the Isms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Statism. Globalism. Feminism. Environmentalism. Totalitarianism.<\/p>\n

If the apostle Paul were asked to address these big, bad \u201cisms,\u201d 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

For instance, in Colossians 2:8, he writes, \u201cSee 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.\u201d While there is debate as to the exact meaning of \u201celemental spirits\u201d (stoicheia<\/em>), 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).<\/p>\n

Similarly, in Ephesians when Paul declares that all things have been put under Jesus\u2019s feet (Eph. 1:21\u201322), he goes on to remind the church that they \u201cwrestle 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\u201d (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 \u201cfollowing the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u20133) and to judge (Ps. 110:5\u20137). And knowing that Christ has received the authority over all nations, Christians have every reason to have confidence of his victory.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cmass-ified.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

\"Macintosh<\/p>\n

Totalitarianism, But Global<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u201cTotal State.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, coming out of the Cold War Americans\u2014at least those over the age of 40\u2014have been trained to spot communism. Likewise, America\u2019s founding narrative includes the need to stand up to tyrants (like England\u2019s King George III) when they overstepped their authority. Yet, as Auron McIntyre outlines in his book, The Total State<\/em><\/a>, that founding narrative has made us blind to the ways that liberal democracies can\u2014through softer forms of totalitarianism\u2014impose 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.<\/p>\n

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?<\/em><\/a>), Marc Morano (The Great Reset<\/em><\/a>),<\/em> 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<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

And yet, far from being a dream, The Great Reset<\/a>, Fifteen-Minute Cities<\/a>, Project 2030<\/a>, and Carbon Net Zero<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n

A Modern Tower of Babel<\/h2>\n

If Thomas Hobbes\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s feet, for all things in creation\u2014all things on earth and <\/em>all things in the heavens\u2014belong to him. He has imperium over all the world, and that is a bedrock truth on which we can stand.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, standing on that unmovable foundation, we need to recognize the ways in which the nations rage\u2014both 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.<\/p>\n

3<\/sup> For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4<\/sup> For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5<\/sup> We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6<\/sup> being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. (2 Corinthians 10:3\u20136)<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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<\/a> are able to plot together to overthrow the world.<\/p>\n

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\u2014in our preaching, teaching, writing, living, and sacrificing.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

To that end, we turn in October to our theme, Christ Over All the Isms. <\/em>In this month, we will explore where the attacks are coming from and how to respond to them. And Lord willing, by the month\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Voting to the Glory God<\/h2>\n

\"Macintosh 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n