Monday, February 6, 2012
The President's social gospel dominionism

The man who occupies the Oval Office gave a very compelling message to attendees of the National Prayer Breakfast. He gave examples of how he prays. He talked about how the issues of the day should be solved from living "the truth of our faith not just with words, but with deeds." Much of what he said, if taken from a personal responsibility perspective, made a lot of sense. There is, however, the "but." The Scriptures call Christians to be doers of the word, not just hearers only, showing, as Romans 2:15 says, "the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness..." Here, the president's remarks show how social gospel dominionism twists the intent of God.

As with anything, a little bit of truth makes a better lie. There is a slight of hand played by proponents of the social gospel. It is a form of Dominionism--the establishing of Christian values and deeds by taking dominion over a society through government. There is a lot of benefit to having Christians running government--wisdom in making decisions, a moral value applied to policy, etc. For example, if we were to choose moral leaders who fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness, perhaps our nation would not have government subsidized abortion, tremendous debt funding immoral or, at the very least, unnecessary and wasteful programs within the federal, state and local budgets.
Dominionism through the social gospel intends to use government programs that force people--by the power of law and policy--to pay for the programs the government believes are moral. This is how "women's reproductive rights" becomes abortion, or the abomination of accepting homosexuality is forced upon the military. And it is all couched in Biblical language. The president said, "And when I talk about shared responsibility...,I think to myself, if I'm willing to give something up as somebody who's been extraordinarily blessed, and give up some of the tax breaks that I enjoy, I actually think that's going to make economic sense." Then he uses the "teaching" of Jesus to justify raising taxes.

He said, "But for me as a Christian, it also coincides with Jesus's teaching that "for unto whom much is given, much shall be required." It mirrors the Islamic belief that those who've been blessed have an obligation to use those blessings to help others, or the Jewish doctrine of moderation and consideration for others." The scripture reference here is so out of context that discerning Americans should reject the premise. Jesus did not teach that we should be required by the government to help others through our taxes. James 2:18 says, "I will show you my faith by my works." It doesn't say "the government will show you my faith through redistributing the wealth of my works." That's social gospel dominionism.

Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson