October 7th 1801 a letter was drafted to Thomas Jefferson from a group of concerned citizens in the U.S. The letter asked for the complete separation of Church and State. This letter led to a clause to be created (one written some time before it was adopted) called the establishment clause which says “Congress shall make no laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the exercising thereof...” Now who was this group of concerned citizens? Atheists, Muslims, liberal Christians, secularists...no. It was a group of conservative Baptists in Danburrey Connecticut. They asked for this clause because they, as Anabaptists were finding it difficult to practice their faith in a “Christian nation”, because communities at that time could prohibit the exercise of religion, in this case the biggest threat to the established Christian community was Baptists and their belief in baptism through immersion for believers. Evangelical Christians celebrated the clause when it was written because it brought faith in Jesus back to being a choice and it was shortly after the establishment of this clause that the nation saw, not a decline in faith in Christ, but the largest revivals the world has seen since the time of Acts. The time that became a time of great religious freedom for every faith, became the time when more people in modern history accepted Jesus as their saviour.
Fast forward to today and our tune has changed. Today, in the western world we are seeing a massive decline in the number of people accepting Jesus Christ. %60 of youth leave the Church and their faith in Jesus when they become adults. Today we have seen a rise in an idea called dominionism. It is an idea that shapes any of our most prominent Christian leaders. The idea has become popular through a notion that God's plan for the Church today is to take dominion over the seven areas (mountains or spheres) of influence in the world today. Many of the proponents of this idea claim that God has given a new prophecy that says that before Christ can come again the Church must take dominion. This is not in the Bible. Dominionism says that Christians should be in control of government and culture and be able to force holiness through government and coerce it through entertainment.
A dominionist attitude says that the Government must uphold Christian values, that companies and media must do the same. A dominionist attitude is one that says Christian values must be legislated. Christian faith must be coerced through law and all other faiths must be silenced and those practising those faiths should be excluded from our communities, schools, and neighbourhoods so that we can make sure that we maintain a Christian message to make sure citizens have only one option...faith in Jesus.
Now of course we want all people to come to faith in Christ, to repent of sin, and to live a Godly life. But the Bible never calls us to do this through legislation. In fact, Jesus never once petitioned the Roman government. Instead he called his disciples to make disciples by....teaching everything he commanded.
Dominionism is weak evangelism. It takes the responsibility that belongs to believers and puts it on governments and business. Recently, Starbucks introduced cups for Christmas that were simply red cups. Many Christians got upset that Starbucks wasn't portraying the true meaning of Christmas through these cups...Who did Jesus command to go and make disciples, to tell the truth of Jesus Christ...Starbucks...or the Church?
The Christian faith must be one that is chosen out of a genuine acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Saviour and out of a real and present move of the Holy Spirit. Our call is to make disciples of all nations and to speak the truth of Jesus Christ to those who do not know him. The current dominionist thinking says I will only allow Christians in my government, schools, neighbourhoods, etc. I will not allow those of other faiths to build places of worship or practice their faith in my community. By saying that we are saying that “No, we will not make disciples of all nations... we won't even talk to them.” Instead we will create laws against them in hopes that one day, through, having no other legal options they will accept faith in Jesus Christ.
Let me show you the difference:
A Dominionist sees a group of Muslim students praying in a public school or public place. Their response would be to 1. write a letter to the School demanding it be stopped (no Biblical precedence), 2. start a social media campaign outlining the need to restrict muslims from praying in public places (no Biblical precedence). 3. Pray against the students praying (Matthew 5:44)....
An Evangelical Christian sees a group of Muslim Students praying in a public school or public place and they... 1. Pray to God for those students (God is a bit more powerful than the School officials)(Acts 4:21). 2. Wait till the people are done praying and talk to them (Acts 17). 3. Ask them about their faith and Share the Gospel with them boldly (Acts 17). 4. Build an ongoing relationship with them so that they can speak Jesus into their lives on a regular basis (Matthew 9). All the while the evangelical Christian knows that he/she may get a negative or even violent response. Jesus even warned us, that if we are to be disciple making, Gospel sharing Christians that people will act this way towards us, but that we continue on in faith any ways doing what he called us to do in the way he called us to do it.
It's easy to get distracted, but out goal, above all else is to make disciples of all nations, Baptising them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach everything he commanded. We cannot let fear, culture, prejudices, or anything else get in the way. Instead, we go boldly into the darkest places among the people who are lost so that we can share Jesus with them. And when they hear the truth in love they will respond freely, showing that their love of Christ (if they so choose) is genuine.