11\/14\/19<\/p>\n
Far too apparent in American culture now, as it has been also in the past, is the growing traction of a false gospel throughout the West and has evangelical Christendom well within its reach. This false gospel has come against the church and against our culture in the form of environmental and cultural activism, or as I would put it, knowledge and science\u2014falsely so-called. The problem I have seen, as an observer of these things is twofold: First, proclaiming Christians who commit themselves to some sort of activism do so with worldly justification; second, and of greater import, is the fact that I am an observer of these things at all. The type of person and activism being discussed and condemned here, is the kind of person who proclaims faith in Christ, and the kind of activism which doesn\u2019t. What I mean is activism that is centered on something other than Christ and the advancement of His kingdom is simply sin made to look appealing to the eyes and stomach. It has the appearance of life-giving, knowledge-granting fruit.<\/p>\n
When Jesus says, “seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:25-34), thoroughly dispels the idea that worldly gain and worldly anxiety about the needs of the flesh are a good and righteous way of living. In fact, He contrasts the needs of the flesh with the righteousness of God and His kingdom. Sowing seeds of worldly treasures reaps worry and anxiety. Sowing seeds of the Kingdom reaps the needs of the flesh that the world agonizes over. I would even go so far as to say, that when one seeks first the righteousness of God, and the kingdom of God, a person realizes the things they once ulcered over (money, food, clothes, etc.) have already been added to them. Not because they have more than they once did, but because they can echo the sentiments of Paul as he lies in chains, saying,<\/p>\n
“Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:11-13<\/p>\n
The apostle Paul often told the churches of those who walk as enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things (Philippians 3:18-21). Their god is their stomach. They glory in their shame. These are the same people of whom Isaiah spoke, saying<\/p>\n
“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)<\/p>\n
This is where I imagine a person squinting, trying to find the connection between evil and shame, and any grandiose planet-saving idealism (and all its subsets). Here\u2019s where our definitions and standards bring to bear. Justification matters. There\u2019s a difference between a person who gives to the poor for praise, and one who gives in secret to the glory of God. Only one of these things is good, by God\u2019s standards, anyway (Matthew 6:1-8). And this is what I mean that one of the problems of activism is that I can observe it. Righteous deeds practiced before men aren\u2019t righteous at all. They may be deeds, they may fill the stomach, but it\u2019s a false god, a false gospel. Saving the world is a futile endeavor when it\u2019s already been done. You can\u2019t do it better, so you shouldn\u2019t try. If you care about the environment, the animals, the poor, the downtrodden, and the oppressed: stand on the foundation of Christ, and build the temple. Christ didn\u2019t come to clean up Gehenna, he came to raise the dead, heal the sick, the blind, the lame, and the deaf, to show the world that he also could raise dead men\u2019s hearts, make broken ones whole, set free the spiritually bound, blind, and broken to see past the physical needs of the flesh, and to see the glory of God, and experience forgiveness of sin and peace with God through Christ. Dead men aren\u2019t raised when we ban plastic straws. That type of problem will be solved when dead men raise to life in Christ, and they seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.<\/p>\n
Jesus made an acute point that I\u2019ll feel free to steal to say this: wisdom is vindicated by her children, and the children of this wisdom, falsely so-called, are illegitimate, and by no means do they vindicate her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
11\/14\/19 Far too apparent in American culture now, as it has been also in the past, is the growing traction of a false gospel throughout the West and has evangelical Christendom well within its reach. This false gospel has come against the church and against our culture in the form of environmental and cultural activism, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":692,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/wisdom-and-her-illegitimate-children-part-ii\/","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":0},"title":"\u201cWisdom\u201d and Her Illegitimate Children: Part II","author":"Derek Ball","date":"June 8, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201dKnowledge\u201d Falsely So-Called The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7 does not say, \u201cThe fear of the World is the beginning of knowledge.\u201d Yet all the wisdom of that very world, the very world who reject God in their understanding, whose thinking is futile and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":153,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/poverty-in-the-pulpit\/","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":1},"title":"Poverty in the Pulpit","author":"Derek Ball","date":"October 30, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction Desperate times call for desperate measures, and even more faithful preachers. This is an open letter to pastors in general, and for the few that shepherd me and mine in particular. A few qualifiers are in order: First, this has been a long time coming, and I have reached\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"christianity\"","block_context":{"text":"christianity","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/tag\/christianity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":817,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/state-of-the-church-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":2},"title":"State of the Church 2021","author":"Derek Ball","date":"January 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Much like the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. last week, the American evangelical church has been ransacked while the gatekeepers and shepherds stand idly by, welcoming in any transient on their way to hell. While this is not a bad policy (welcoming hell-bound souls), their intention was never to come\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Christian Reconstruction\"","block_context":{"text":"Christian Reconstruction","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/tag\/christian-reconstruction\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":151,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/the-new-religion-christian-identity\/","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":3},"title":"The New Religion & Christian Identity","author":"Derek Ball","date":"August 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A cultural ideology has infiltrated the church, and its not so much an ideology as it is a religion. It is the worship of the self. Rub a golden idol for long enough and you will see yourself looking back at you. The rise of this self-identity worship within the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":128,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/dissociation-for-moral-superiority\/","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":4},"title":"Dissociation for Moral Superiority","author":"Derek Ball","date":"June 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"There are two angels standing on the shoulders of America at the moment, and they're both devils. On one side (I won't specify right or left, since both of these come straight from the left in reality) we have the political woke, and on the other, an idol carved into\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"black lives matter\"","block_context":{"text":"black lives matter","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/tag\/black-lives-matter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":102,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/derekball\/a-christian-response-to-covid-19\/","url_meta":{"origin":11,"position":5},"title":"In Response to COVID-19","author":"Derek Ball","date":"June 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Introduction Many individuals, families, pastors, and governments are struggling to respond properly to Covid-19 and all its effects\u2013economic, political, social, and otherwise. 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