Today my wife and I stopped at the grocery, and there were a couple of young women (early 20s) in front of the store at a table, spread with material, and promoting a particular Christian ministry. Now, we were of course thrilled to see Christians reaching out with the gospel message, but one thing I noticed was the emphasis on patriotism. After skimming over the materials, I asked if they knew the primary mission of Christians - and they gave the proper response of the primary mission being to preach the Word and make disciples. I then said that it was important to not confuse the Christian faith with patriotism - that the two were not synonymous. Bad move on my part.
This statement immediately rankled the one young lady, who vehemently stated they were indeed connected, and that to be a good Christian one must be patriotic because, after all, this is a Christian nation. Well, you can imagine what I said next: “No, it is not a Christian nation; it was founded on Christian principles but we long ago left any semblance of a nation following Christ, let alone following God.” The young lady then continued getting more angry, explaining to me the history of the U.S. and the founding fathers’ beliefs, etc. I explained to her that I was well-versed in such history but the fact still remains that we are not a Christian nation. The conversation continued in this vein for about 15 minutes as they were packing to leave, with them trying to tell me I didn’t know my history, that I didn’t understand the Bible, etc.
Their primary goal seemed to be to demonstrate the need for Christians to be involved in the political realm, which I didn’t disagree with. My point was that patriotism and the Christian faith were separate, but that our worldviews should shape what patriotism we do have. I even noted that I believe God gave this nation the president it deserves because we as a nation have turned our back on God, but that still doesn’t equate Christianity with patriotism. When I pointed out that Muslims are patriotic in their nations, I was told that was not a good argument because theirs were not Christian nations! I pointed out that when you say patriotism equals Christianity then you have a problem with other faiths being patriotic. I also stated that even unbelievers can be patriotic.
There were several moments in the conversation which disturbed me. First, no matter how many times I stated that I was very familiar with the history of the USA, etc, she kept telling me I didn’t know it. Second, when I tried to explain that the Bible does not tell us we are to be patriotic, I was ignored as she continued to press her case for patriotism. When I stated that the USA was not God’s chosen people as was Israel, I was told that “Christ founded America”! I asked her if she had a revelation about that and she decided the “proof” was a story about how General Washington had all sorts of guns fired at him, and the bullets made holes all over his coat but never hit him because God protected him. I explained that, even if that was true, it is not proof that Christ founded this nation. The final, most disturbing, incident was during a discussion of the choices we had for electing a president; the angry young lady (the other, slightly older one for the most part kept her composure) made a statement about Romney and him not being a Christian, and she began to explain to me why he isn’t a Christian. At that point I said that I was well aware of what Mormons teach, having been one myself before becoming a Christian almost 40 years ago. She replied that she pitied me for having been a Mormon! I stated there was nothing to pity, since I am a believer now and have been for decades, yet she still said she pitied me. I didn’t say it at the time, but my wife and I later wondered if she pitied everyone who was a pagan before coming to Christ (i.e, every Christian).
The overall bearing of the one young lady was sad, because she was very rude, condescending, and even attacking me as part of the problem with our country because, in her view, I was obviously doing nothing to fight the destruction of our society. Of course she wouldn’t listen to me tell her that she had no idea as to my political involvements, etc, nor would she accept it when I told her I was probably one of the most patriotic people she would every meet. Her mind was made up simply because I said that Christianity did not equal patriotism!
I tried to explain to these ladies that the secular world attacks Christians because they (the world) believe Christians are trying to force a theocracy on us. The one young lady spit out the “proof text” of 2 Chronicles 7:14, so I stated the context of that passage and asked if they were familiar with the dominion theology or the New Apostolic Reformation with their teachings about “christianizing” the world. The one said she never heard of dominion theology and didn’t want to know anything about it. I told her she should learn about it so as to not be giving it tacit support by claiming Christians have to be patriotic!
I have to confess that being on the receiving end of such rude behavior I did respond in a more stern than usual way, and even raised my voice. I have no excuse and should know better. Sometimes my impatience with false teachings and rude behavior gets the best of me and I allow the flesh to respond, leading me to be quite curt. If these young ladies happen to read this article (I gave them my card), then I ask their forgiveness for my curtness.
Because some of the stuff on their table appeared to be appealing to youth by worldly means, I decided to examine the web site posted on the banner in front of their table.
I was very disappointed by what I found. Oh, they are doing good in the political aspect in that they want young people to learn what the U.S. Constitution says, but the guy running this organization, Bradlee Dean, implies the government is behind the recent mass shootings as a way to establish gun control - typical conspiracy theory.
Their music style (I consider it cacophony) is hard rock. I have no way of judging the lyrics of the “songs” since I didn’t find them printed, but I will never be convinced that this worldly music is pleasing to God. And when you use the world’s ways to win people, that is what you win them to.
Several of the articles on the blogs associated with the organization referred to the Old Testament for all their teaching about the U.S.A. and governments. One of the articles on the “Junkyard Prophet’s blog” (and I only looked over a few on the whole site) was very disturbing in that it seems to be definitely teaching “reconstructionist” theology:
It’s those same people who preach that the "End Times" are coming, and have no desire to reform society to morality and the Ten Commandments. They look for the easy way out and don't understand "For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” (1 Peter 2:15). Just food for thought.
Okay, tell me where it says in Scripture that we have the mission to “reform society to morality and the Ten Commandments”! That certainly is not the meaning of the 1 Peter passage the writer abused. Yet this was indeed the message we heard over and over again by these young ladies.
When looking to see their mission focus, I found this:
What We Do: You Can Run But You Cannot Hide Intl. is a non-profit organization that specializes in reaching America's next generation through principles of morality, true freedom, and personal responsibility. Our mission is to equip our next generation with the Christian values that made America great through a unique avenue of music and educational event forums in colleges, schools, churches, festivals, and arenas....
Bradlee Dean: Bradlee Dean is the founder and executive director of the non-profit ministry, You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International that has reached over 500,000 students in colleges and high schools across the country. His message is to reconcile this generation to Judeo/Christian principles found in the U.S. Constitution.
Again, this ministry is about teaching values which will “Christianize” America. While teaching values is right and proper, it should be done in the context of a Christian living the Christian worldview and not as a way to “reform society” or “reconcil[ing] this generation] to any perceived “Judeo/Christian principles found in the U.S. Constitution.”
The main thing I want to point out here is that these young women, sincere believers that they are, have been brainwashed into thinking that if one is not patriotic (and by THEIR definition), then one is not a good Christian. And they have been falsely taught that we are to “reform society” and its morals. There is a lot of this type of false teaching in the Church today but, ladies and gentlemen, this teaching is simply not true!
While this ministry may have some solid teachings in reference to the gospel and salvation, they left orthodoxy the moment they decided to teach reconstructionism. Perhaps instead of promoting themselves as a Christian ministry, they should promote themselves as a Christian political activist group.
