The driving forces behind this development have always been the doctrines of Secular Humanism. While many of us have forgotten its tenets and younger men in the ministry have never read its manifestos, we need to honestly appraise the measure of their success. Since we first read them 26 years ago, the evidence will confirm that they have sustained Evolution, destroyed morality, asserted a lawless freedom of choice and set forth a globalist agenda that has undermined the founding principles of our nation. The advancement of this philosophy has successfully driven a wedge between the people and God so that government has taken His rightful place. God has been driven so far out of the American public marketplace that we now meet people here who have no idea Who Jesus Christ is.
The relentless pursuit of Secular Humanism and the evolution of cradle-to-grave government have gone together hand in hand to demonstrate perfectly what it means to be a cult. Of all the errors of doctrine you can name among them, there are two threads common to them all: 1) The exaltation and deification of man; his intelligence, his self-sufficiency, needing nothing greater than himself; 2) The denial, diminishing and/or humanizing of God, and the rejection of the supernatural. Government institutions have evolved and grown to provide the organization and structure necessary to support an increasingly godless society, and government became all things to all the people. First, there was the ingathering of control over labor and industry that took place back in the late sixties. While we cannot set the exact date, a line was definitely crossed where more than half of all the citizens of the United States, in one way or another, became employees of the government. Government contracts for hard industry dwarfed those from private enterprise, and working people suddenly found themselves greatly beholden to political decisions made from City Hall to the White House. Even big labor found itself indebted to systematic subsidies which cultivated a dependence upon strong centralized government. Remember well the public horror and outcry when government was shut down for just a few days.
Secondly, there was the exponential growth of the welfare system for both citizens and non-citizens that increased the number of government dependents significantly and developed a voting base that would perpetuate and expand the system, its bureaucracy and thereby government control over the lives of more people than the days of the Great Depression or after World War II.. Thus the “cradle to grave” concept of government has mushroomed at a phenomenal rate over the past forty years; and the eyes of the people have become transfixed upon government leaders, making God and the Church non-essential elements in their lives.
Perhaps the most distressing development in this exaltation of government has been the deifying of its leaders. Whereas historic Christianity brought our nation a clear set of absolute moral principles, which have caused this nation to thrive, we see now a cult of government that follows the patterns of mythology like those of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Contrary to Christianity, the gods of mythology were infamous for their corruption and immorality; but, being gods, they could not be held accountable for their “sins.” Failing to recognize the similarities to our government leaders, we shall undoubtedly go the ways of Rome and Greece as well.
Since the anointing of Saul over Israel, we have been warned by God Himself how costly human government would be, but like Israel we have been willing to pay the price to be like all the heathen nations. The Church now faces a critical challenge for the hearts of the people to turn from the unfulfilled promises of men to the God Who is ever faithful to His Word and the Truth of the Gospel.
Pastors and Bible-preaching churches must first hold no false expectations that government is going to be our helper or problem-solver to turn this nation back to the Bible and to God. For all that we have heard over recent decades of Christian alliances and coalitions to elect conservative government leaders, it ought to be clear by now that much of that effort has gone for nought. While I would not deny godly men the right to run for political office, we must admit that except for a few tax collectors and soldiers, there is neither statesman nor politician recorded in the New Testament as a servant of Christ. Furthermore, in keeping with the proper grasp of separation of Church and State, Jesus Himself made the clear distinction of the things of God being rendered to Him, and the things of government being rendered therewith. On the other hand, what Scripture does teach us is that all of God’s prophets confronted the sins of the public leaders of their day; and, since John the Baptist, they challenged them to turn from their sins and yield to Christ.
Secondly, it should be clear that a great many of the freedoms assured us by the founding fathers are under attack; and preaching the Gospel, personal evangelism and sending missionaries will become increasingly more difficult and challenged by governmental authorities more than ever before. The cult of government is growing in power and acceptance by the people. Nevertheless, we must never lose sight of the apostolic admonition that we”ought to obey God rather than man” no matter what the cost. However, a growing number seem to have forgotten that principle and, in the process of retreating from confrontational ministries, have abdicated rights and freedoms that no government has the power to take away.
It will be the task of Christians on the threshold of the next Millennium to balance a proper (though temporary) citizenship here, while being faithful to Christ and His service. Where our loyalties will surely come into conflict, we should seek redress through every means provided by law to preserve our rights to fulfill the Great Commission. However, we cannot realistically expect a competing cult to support our message of turning from false gods, including the god of government, to trust in the True and Living God.
Dr. Charles L. Dear
Moderator IBFNA
February 1999