Monday 27 August 2018

Bad religion

In our reading from Samuel we hear of how the prophet goes on God’s behalf to choose a new king. Samuel had been instrumental in Saul’s choosing, and he had high hopes for Saul, as the first King of Israel, but things didn’t work out between Saul and God the way he hoped and so Samuel is sent by God to anoint a new King. 

Samuel is sent to the family of a man named Jesse whose sons are brought before Samuel one at a time, starting with the oldest. Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before me,” but God had not chosen Eliab.   Seven of Jesse’s sons were brought to Samuel, but not one of them was chosen by God. Samuel doesn’t understand what’s going on. This was the place and the family he’d been sent to. He asks, “are all your sons here?” In turned out the youngest was not. It never crossed his father’s mind that David might be the one Samuel came to find.  David had seven older brothers who were all very capable, who from a human standpoint would be a much better choice. But God’s ways are not our ways. God often chooses the person we would not. God has a long history of choosing the most unlikely people to accomplish God’s will. 

This passage from first Samuel about a prophet hearing from God to go choose a new king, made me think of posts I was getting on my FB feed in 2016, during the American election.  I had a woman on Facebook who was quite convinced that Donald Trump had been chosen by God because of prophesies by certain church leaders. She would post links to these prophesies on my FB feed. Once in a while I tried to read them, but it was like trying to read a foreign language. In my opinion they were gobbly gook that made absolutely no sense. I deleted them and eventually unfriended the woman who was trying to use my FB feed to influence people to her point of view. 

As I was reading about the prophet Samuel hearing the word of God and then anointing first Saul and then David as King I started to think about those prophesies and the church movement behind them. I wanted to know where they came from and so this week I started to do some research. What I discovered floored me and since I think it is important for people to know what is going on in the world them, I’m sharing what I discovered with you. 

What I discovered was the New Apostolic Reformation movement that is often referred to as Dominionism. It was been born out of Pentecostal and Vineyard churches, but now supporting ministers can be found in a variety of denominations. One of the key differences between people in this camp and regular Pentecostals like my mother, is that my mother believed in premillenialism in that she believed Jesus would return and following that there would be a 1000 year reign of peace on Earth. Dominionist believe that Jesus cannot return until the church establishes a World Wide movement that will bring Peace to the Earth for a thousand years. Dominionists believe Christians need to take power and rule; but not just any Christians will do, they must be people chosen by a select group of self-appointed apostles. Leaders in this New Apostolic Reformation see the election of Donald Trump as a necessary step in bringing this future time of peace to the Earth.  Now at this point I’m not clear as to what roll they see Donald Trump as playing, but I think they see him as destroying current structures so that new ones can rise out of the ashes.  So to the best of my ability to understand what is going on they see Trump’s role as bringing about the Apocalypse that will then allow true Christians to gain control and usher in a new world order. I actually don’t think they are totally clear themselves what they believe, or that they agree with one another, which makes it hard to discern what it is this religious movement it about. One thing for sure is they do not call themselves dominionists.  That is a name given to them by others trying to make sense out of this movement. 

But generally speaking, Dominionist theology states that humans are commissioned to bring the entire world under the dominion of Christianity, by force, if necessary, and then hand over the Christianized world to Jesus when he comes again. 

Key to this new world order is the recognition of Apostles, who have been appointed by God to reveal Present Truth – meaning they will have mystical experiences and revelations from God that might supercede the word of God in the bible.  For these people the bible is no longer the measuring stick that it has been in the past, but the words that these Apostles speak will carry absolute authority whether their words agree with the bible or not. Leaders in this movement are working toward a multi level and world-wide movement based on cell groups operating through churches in every nation and continent on Earth through which they can share what they call Present Truth.  Some of the leaders in this movement claim to have had prophesies telling them that Donald Trump was chosen by God to be president of the United States.  They claim he is the President for the end times.  That time when life as we know it will be destroyed. This is why Trump could, as he claimed, shoot someone on main street and get away with it. They are not supporting him for what he will build, but for what he will tear down. 

One reason they will never turn away from supporting him, is because doing so would mean admitting that they did not hear from God and they can’t do that. To do so would be to lose their power and influence. They have been instrumental in getting their people in key positions in the government. Often in positions that they have a history of acting against.  For example, Betsy DeVos has not been a supporter of public education but she has been given responsibility for that area of government. Scott Pruitt has been named to the Environmenatal Protection Agency even though he has a history of working against environmental protections. 

What has this got to do with us in Canada, you ask? This New Apostolic Reformation movement is the fastest growing church movement in the world – particularly in third world countries. But this movement’s influence goes beyond the churches directly affiliated with them. People could be attending a Pentecostal, Baptist, Alliance, Catholic or a church of any other denomination where the leadership is affiliated with the New Apostolic Reformation and the people who worship in the church may not know it. One of the churches here in town could have a connection. 

Some leaders in this movement call for parents to send their teenagers to Kansas City where a man named Mike Bickle claims to have prophesies and visions that come from God. The teens and young adults who go there are prevented from have anything to do with people on the outside. They are told to prepare themselves to be Martyrs in God’s army.  One young man was subjected to 7 hours of interrogation for reading the words of a Christian leader outside of their movement when he began to have questions. Where young people in the past were trained to engage in missionary movements focused on saving souls or meeting people’s spiritual, emotional, and physical needs, these young people go out with the mandate to work towards supporting bids for political power by people endorsed by this movement. Here are just a few of the American politicians said to have a connection with this group. Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Mike Hucklebee Sam Brownback, and Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz is on record of accepting Mike Bickle’s endorsement.

I watched a video clip of Mike Bickle. His words were not biblical, but he claimed they came from God. They were about what God was going to do with the Jews. Bickle said God would first send fishermen for the Jews and then hunters for the ones who did not turn to Jesus. He said these hunters would kill 2/3rds of the Jews living at the time.  

Dominionist churches use a lot of military imagery. It has been reported that they have been active in infiltrating the American military. Dominionist leader Bill Gothard set up paramilitary camps for children. Michael Farris is recruiting home schoolers for CIA type training.  Presumably they envision a day when they may be forced to take or keep power through violence. In fact, some of them have said as much. 

Now I’m not opposed to the idea of a Christian nation, a nation that builds on the teachings of Jesus would be something lovely and grace filled and a place where justice and mercy meet, but what these people would build would be more akin to what fundamentalist Muslims would build. It would be more akin to what the Taliban would do than what I believe Jesus would do. There would be no room for diversity. No room for grace. No room for deviation from what they see as right and true. Prisons would be full of people who have an ideology or a lifestyle different from what they believe right.  Their political opponents would end up in prison or dead. You might well see a return of the inquisitions of the past.

I know that what I am telling you sounds very far out. Perhaps that is why this movement and its impact on politics has gotten very little media attention.  As I read about the New Apostalic Reformation I realized I have recently participated in a worship services led by people who have been influenced by this movement.  If people are talking about or you are asked to sing about the latter rain, Joel’s army, restoring the age of apostles, you are likely in a church that has been influenced by this movement.  Somewhere, recently, I was in a worship service where we sang about restoring the age of apostles and I wondered what the song was about. 

Some of you want to keep politics and religion separate. I can appreciate that desire, but should we be silent when it is the church that is shaping the political landscape. What I can’t do is stick my head in the sand when I see what bad religion is doing in the name of Jesus. Too me it would be irresponsible not to make people aware of the forces that are shaping their lives without them knowing it. 

I don’t think Jesus calls Christians to help bring in the end times. In the past the church understood its mission as seeking to bring salvation to those who had lost their way and healing to those who had been wounded by the world. But dominionist Christians see their role as establishing an earthly kingdom by taking political control. Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world and his call has always been for the church to draw people to him, so that in him they can discover the goodness and mercy of God. 

In our reading from Mark, Jesus talks about the Kingdom starting with the smallest of seeds and when it puts out its branches the birds of the air make nests in its shade. What a beautiful image. It stands in opposition to those who believe they can bring in the kingdom through violence. In the book of Romans, Paul says the Kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Righteousness and peace and joy will never be brought to birth by using violence to establish a new world order. 

What can we do? We can make ourselves aware, which is what I’ve done this week. It is easier to resist evil when we know what face it wears. Then we can remain faithful to the mandate Jesus has given us of drawing broken and wounded people to the love of God. The kingdom Jesus came to tell us about is not of this world, and it will never be brought into being by the use of deception and power politics. The Kingdom of God cannot be built on hate, for God is love. We are called to walk in love and seek justice not just for ourselves and for others like us, but for people of all faiths. We are called to reach beyond those things that divide us to join hands with all people of good will to build a world where justice doesn’t depend on the color of your skin or where you come from or how you worship God. If we were to do this, then the kingdom of God would come near. 

We were commanded to love with a love that reaches wide.  In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that when the end comes and we are judged, it won’t be on how well we held onto the truth, but on how well we loved. 

Blessed be the name of our God and of Jesus Christ who came that we might be part of God’s kingdom or peace, where the birds of the air will find shade, and the lion and the lamb lay down together. Amen

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