Working Boys, Working Men

These boys have a good future ahead of them, able to do electrical and disassembly/reassembly work as well as farming duties.

There’s something to be said for having enough food for a year, by the way.

From Uncaring to Caring

First, the not so evil stuff.

Basically, homeless kids are shuffled from one place to another, but not allowed to work legit jobs.

Which means “compensated dating” for 11 year olds.

And – on the other side – innocent men being accused of rape by unemployed young men. Since the unjust, conformist Japanese legal system does not demand collaborating evidence for an accusation, no “innocent until proven guilty”, the innocent men pay up or be placed in jail, regardless of innocence.

And the solution the videographers offer is more government intervention. Since either there is no church there strong enough to do the job, or no interest among believers there to do the job of caring for the weak, the homeless, the poor, the elderly.

Over here, we need to step up our game. Or at least prepare for the day when our increasingly bankrupt welfare states toss in the towel.

And we need the rule of law, too. Not as men define it – to keep a pretty facade – but as God defines it.

Now, the really evil stuff.

Junko Furuta
18 January 1971 – 4 January 1989
May she rest in peace.

From the (long!) pinned comment.

—<Quote begins>—

During the 44 days of hell in which Junko had to suffer before succumbing to her injuries, there were hundreds, and I mean, hundreds of people who knew exactly what was happening to her, and had the opportunity to report the situation of living hell that was occurring in that room to the police. 

I repeat. If just one individual out of hundreds of individuals who were CLEARLY aware of what was going on called the police, just one, Junko could still be alive today. 

Some may appropriately ask- what do I mean by the fact that “hundreds of individuals who were clearly aware of what was going on”?

Although criminals ABCD has received spotlight as the main offenders, there are records which show that hundreds of beings (I wish not to call them “people”, or “human beings”) rotated and visited Criminal C’s room where Junko was locked in, and participated in taking advantage of her. 

And when these dozens of almost-adult men (although the word “boys” is often used to describe them, they were technically not really “boys”. Many of them were above 18 at the time as in the case of Criminal A Miyano, and it is indeed a stretch to call a fully-grown 18 year male as a “boy”) were later investigated by the police, they all said that they “partook” in the action as “everybody else was doing it”, and that they didn’t want to be the one who stood out and come to bad terms with Criminal A Miyano, who reportedly just ruled the particular neighborhood at the time with fear and his connections to the yakuza. They basically said the same as to why not a single one of them called the police. 

The parents of Criminal C clearly knew what was going on with Junko upstairs. For those of you who have seen the pictures of the neighborhood of Criminal C’s house online, all the houses are close together to one another, with Criminal C’s house being far from big, as the neighborhood itself was a low-income neighborhood with once again, small individual houses all closely located to one another (The parents, of course, made some clearly untrustworthy and downright nonsensical alibis as to why they did not call the police, and you can read them online. And with Junko passed away, there is no one who can refute them). Thus, when Junko was screaming when these evil psychopaths were burning up her legs, and putting in firework materials into places of her body.. I can’t even finish this sentence. It is absolute, absolute nonsense that the parents of Criminal C did not hear of this, as well as all of the neighbors around the house. 

But again, not one, single, police call. Not a single one, out of hundreds of beings who could have.

While such is an extreme example, throughout my ten years of living in Japan, there were so,so, and I mean, so many instances, where the action in which they take is in such stark contrast to the type of action in which most individuals around the world would take in a particular given situation. When we think of responding with the action type A in a given situation, most Japanese people will act with an action type B, so on and so forth. 

And so many occurrences of such giant mindf*ck is what perplexed me out of my mind during my 10 years of living in Japan. 

But then again, the first chapter of any microeconomics textbook states that human beings are “rational” beings, as in, making “rational” decisions based upon one’s subjective cognitive framework on what is considered to be rational. 

What the hundreds of r*pists who took advantage of Junko, Criminal C’s parents, and the dozens of neighbors did in this case was absolutely egregious, and morally wrong on so many levels. However, for them, they were doing what in their subjective mental framework was considered as “rational”, based on the prevailing collective psychology of the Japanese people.

So at one point, out of despair, and out of a wish to understand (as in, really “understand”. Not the typical one paragraph answers that you see so often online, where these people think they know everything about Japan and can think they can just summarize everything in one paragraph, and consider themselves cool as of their ability to “summarize” such a complex phenomenon in one single paragraph or few bullet points), I spent months and months on end, writing my book, 

THE SECRETS OF THE JAPANESE MIND- Demystifying the Japanese psyche towards life, gender, love, sex and more. https://payhip.com/b/eBk45  

And initially created our Youtube Channel first in order to market the book, as this is literally the culmination of the decade of observation and research in which I have zealously conducted, and spent so much time working on.

I do personally feel deep discomfort on the fact that I still have to continue to market my book in a dark video such as this (Please Rest In Peace, Junko), so for those of the thankful subscribers who have read down to this point, please do not consider this as some sort of an explicit marketing pitch on our book, as it is not. 

But I most politely request for those of you guys who wish to support our channel to continue to create content such as the one of today’s video, and wish to truly understand, as in really understand why so many of the Japanese people take action B when we obviously would take the path of Action A in so many imaginable situations, please consider getting our book, as we are genuinely confident that it will definitely be worthy of your valuable time and capital. And being completely honest, as two people who have much debt to pay back as well as a family to take care of, your purchase of our book will not just be an instance where we consider it as mere “Oh, cool. Another person bought our book”. For a young couple with no savings such as ourselves who are sincerely wishing to continue venturing this path as an author and youtubers, you will literally be providing us with a life-line, in which we truly have so much gratitude for. 

Once again, thank you so much to all of you guys for supporting our channel. And please, remember Junko, and pray that her soul has gone to the best of places in heaven, and that such inhumane suffering in which she had to go through never to occur again to any other individual on earth.

—<Quote ends>—

Remember when Christ says that we are to disciple the nations, so God’s will be done on earth, as well as in heaven?

THIS is the kind of demonic kingdom God wants to overthrow.

And not just in Japan, either.

Also, note that while I’d heartily agree on having the Biblical law code enforced by the government of Japan, that really isn’t enough.

Remember all those hundreds of people — including Criminal C’s parents — who could hear Junko scream, and just didn’t care?

Or, perhaps, they were too much of a coward before the supposed Yakuza connections behind Criminal C. “So let the girl be raped and molested and tortured to death, so long as I am safe.”

Not even an anonymous call to the police. Nothing.

The parents just made stuff up, so they could avoid charges.

It’s not enough for the works of the law – the love of pretty images and a clean reputation – to exist.

The law itself must be written on our hearts, governing our actions, subjecting our lives to the commandments of God and the defence of His little ones.

Certainly this includes kidnapped people (kidnapping is a capital offence in God’s eyes, by the way).

But this also includes the need to protect the weak.

We must build a culture that does this… a culture, aworld, filled with the Holy Spirit. Because no one else is going to do it.

Certainly not the Marxists, who lives on lies and long to kill/impoverish/enslave as many as they can, while yelling about How Much They Love the People. “One Law for them, and a different law for Us.”

Right-wing humanists are just going to pound the table about the Race or the Aristocracy or the Establishment or the State. “One Law for them, and a different law for Us.”

We Christians are the ones who will have to change the world, for the better.

The Needless Inferiority Complex of a Man With No College Degree

I want God’s people to win.

I want God’s people to prosper, and to lead, and to grow.

I don’t care about their education, or their sex, or their race, or their nationality, or their starting wealth, or their age.

I want God’s people to win.

One way is provided below.
It’s old – 2012 – but the basics are sound.
Ask around, there are other ways as well.

(Gab (Christian Activist) or Odysee (Libertarian) or Vimeo (Corporate) or Rumble (Right) may be better, due to modern YouTube censorship.

But there are ways and means, if you want to combine that fat YT audience with a controversial message.)

I want God’s people to win, to be the head and not the tail…

…and God’s high and mighty enemies to lose.¹

---

From The Needless Inferiority Complex of a Man With No College Degree by Gary North

A site member posted this.

So, I find that as much as I have a passion to help my church grow, I notice that work is interfering with this desire. I decided to become a sunday school teacher, now they have me bringing in a bible lesson every wednesday night. The only problem is that I don’t have time to develop material and find something consistant to teach. I wish I can just quit my job and focus on church, however, my church doesn’t have a financial system in place for teachers. As a matter of fact, this very issue is one of the things I want to tackle in my bible classes. My goal is to change the mentalities of my members to understand that as a church we have a purpose and a victory.

Dispensationalism has filled our minds with that debilitating disease called Defeatism. This is why I went into the education field in my church. But I have no financial support, and my mind is so filled with what I have to teach that I can’t stand this job that I’m in right now. I feel like I’m wasting time. So I want to focus on education, on finance and theology, and I want to quit my job. What should I do?

I do have debt. I don’t have a wife. I don’t have any children. I don’t really have anything to sell. Unless I can sell my debt. My job is my only other thing, and I am willing to give that up if I can find something better. I have the heart to teach, but I don’t have the training that I need. I believe it doesn’t matter what your skill is, you still need to hone and sharpen it. But you’re right, I am a teacher because no one else wants to do it. I am willing to set everything aside including my standard of living to do it. I don’t want to just teach at a local Christian school, I want to educate the members in my church. I tried going back to school. A Christian College called Nyack College in New York City. But I owe student loans from 2006 that I have to pay back before I can go back to college. I started a payment plan, and it’s been three months on time. In 3-6 more months I will be able to go back to school.

But before we continue, what exactly do you mean by standard of living? I’m assuming you mean things like smart phones, entertainment, cable tv, etc…

//www.garynorth.com/members/forum/openthread.cfm?forum=1&ThreadID=27683#137055

I have seen men in his condition for 50 years. Here is how to get out of it.

1. Master your job. Become known for your ability. This was what the Communist Party required of its members in the heyday of the movement. Douglas Hyde’s book, Dedication and Leadership (1956), shows how crucial this was. Read the chapter on “The Story of Jim.” Then read his 1962 follow-up manual, Dedication and Leadership Techniques. It’s here.

2. Learn the basics of success. I have written a book on this. Read it here.

3. Prepare a series of Sunday school lessons for teenagers on success. Make these 25-minutes long. They ahould be in 12 parts: introduction, five lessons on theory, five on implementation, and a conclusion. Use www.Screencast-O-Matic.com to make them: 15-minute segments. Use an outline, Bible verses, and the presentation program Impress in this free software suite: www.OpenOffice.org. You must buy a cheap lapel microphone: http://bit.ly/ATR3350.

4. Set up a free channel on YouTube. Here’s how: //www.garynorth.com/public/department137.cfm. Produce the videos. Then upload them. At first, they may limit you to 15 minutes. Just do Part 1 and Part 2 of each video.

5. Set up a blog: www.WordPress.com. It’s free. Post your videos on your blog. Write articles on a regular basis.

6. When you are comfortable doing this, volunteer to teach at your church. Record every presentation with a camcorder. You can use your lapel mic and a cheap camcorder: Kodak PlayTouch. It has an external mic jack. Use a tripod. Upload these to your channel and your blog site.

7. As for college, do it my way: //www.garynorth.com/public/372.cfm

Mark Steyn is the best writer in the American conservative movement. He never went to college. Neither did Henry Hazlitt, the economist. Neither did Charles Spurgeon, the great preacher of the 19th century.

If you are really good, you don’t need a college degree to teach in church. If you aren’t really good, don’t teach.

—<Quote ends>—

Smash the guilds!

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1 God’s high and mighty enemies will be dealt with by God Himself… but on occasion, we will be called in, to provide lawful assistance. As witnesses, as prosecutors, or other lawful capacities.

The more Christians get serious about the Kingdom of God and His Law-Word – in the civil legal system, as surely as in the home, the heart, the community, the congregation of the saints – the more serious assistance we can give Christ as He rises to be the visible King of Heaven and Earth.

“On earth, as it is in heaven.” In time and the real world.

(And doesn’t it feel good to be a worthy, successful servant of God?)

God’s low and weak enemies tend to bring destruction on their own heads. But, because they have fewer delusions about being Above the Law, it’s more likely that they can be persuaded to get off the road to defeat and death, and onto the road to life and victory.

All will kneel before God, one way or another, in this life or the next.

But it’s a lot better to willingly repent in this life, and stick to God’s road: and the earlier this road is begun, the greater the rewards, in this life AND the next!

A New Enemy Arises: TikTok

It’s best seen as a kind of drug. I wouldn’t make a law against it, but I would keep it away from my loved ones — especially teen girls! — and advise against it when asked.

If even Facebook – a damaging but less viral platform – is hostile to girls, TikTok must be like the plague.

The original video.

Summary: If Christian kids have longer and stronger attention spans — and can follow longer logic chains — than their pagan peers, then they will win: as

• better citizens,
• better servants,
• better leaders,
• better opinion shapers,
• better scientists,
• better workers,
• and better entrepreneurs.

We are in a war against an intensely hostile ruling class.

We must change, we must be better than they are, and we must win.

And our children must be even better than we are!

Grandchildren, too.

“Great big Christian families – and every child a thoughtful book reader, thinker, imagineer.”

Note that TikTok – as a domain name – is more visited now than Google.

“No need to censor Google, if people don’t care to learn something new in the first place.”

Don’t Trust the White Smocks: Psychiatric Edition

Quora: What incidents shook psychiatry to its foundations?

—<Quote begins>—

Luise Schulz · Worked at Own Business

In 1973, a study entitled “On Dwelling in Insane Places” shocked psychologists and psychiatrists around the world.

Nothing for them was as it once was. What made this study so remarkable ?

The Rosenhan experiment was conducted by a psychologist named David Rosenhan and has since been considered one of the most remarkable studies in the field.

The Stanford professor and his associates pretended to hallucinate in order to be admitted to psychiatric hospitals.

When they were admitted, the men behaved absolutely normally.

They told the hospital staff that they had recovered and no longer had any hallucinations.

But in the psychiatric wards they were simply not released and forced to admit that they were suffering from a mental illness.

On average, the team members had to stay in the “closed” for 19 days and were diagnosed with schizophrenia, except for one of them.

They were released on the condition that they take anti-psychotics.

Rosenhan had reassured his family before the experiment, telling them that yes, he could leave when enough was enough.

But they locked him up for two months.

One was released only if one admitted that the psychiatrists were right in what they said.

You had to admit that you were crazy, but you could say that you were better now.

The “patient” who had to stay the longest was kept for 52 days, although he said from the beginning that he no longer heard voices.

All of the pseudo-patients were diagnosed with schizophrenia “in remission” prior to their release.

Rosenhan felt that this indicated that mental health problems were not considered diseases that could be completely cured.

After all, having schizophrenia “in remission” does not mean that one is completely healthy.

It was enough for psychiatrists , if you heard voices once in your life , to label you as sick for the rest of your life .

Rosenhan made his study and its results public.

And the psychiatric guild naturally got very upset about it and rejected all the accusations.

They claimed that they themselves would never fall into his trap and could quite safely distinguish pseudopatients from real patients.

One of the psychiatric hospitals contacted Rosenham and asked him to send pseudo patients to their hospital without warning.

In their hospital, he said, such a thing could never happen, and they would be able to distinguish whether patients were faking their symptoms.

Rosenhan sent them a total of 193 patients, and the hospital identified 41 of them as pseudopatients.

But Rosenhan hadn’t sent any pseudopatients at all. All of them actually had serious mental health problems.

All of this triggered an earthquake. Psychiatry changed. And that’s fortunate.

But there is still a lot to do.

—<Quote begins>—

Whenever possible, distrust the experts.

At least, until they have proven that they are worthy of trust.

COVID-19: Slavery, Forever

So far as the World Health Organization is concerned, you will never be allowed to be free.

Ever.

No matter the declining cases.

No matter the declining lethality, or harm.

What’s important is that you stay afraid, stay masked, stay far from people, keep getting those vaccinations (and the pharma money flowing), and Obey Authority.

Preferably an international authority, beyond reach of the ballot, or any other sort of challenge.

“We are part of the White Smock Priesthood, after all. We command, you cringe and obey in fear, and all will be well.”

Slave lords are always looking for a new cover for another power-grab.

After all, as noted here, even Pharaoh with his rod and his staff was happy to play the shepherd, if it could get him more power over the Inferiors.

The Wolf… and Friends

There are dangerous wolves, who wish to tear at the flock.

And their agents within the congregation.

Perhaps those agents think that they are really wolves. Maybe they think they will be eaten last. Maybe they don’t see any problem with wolf-eating sheep joining the flock, because ‘love solves all problems.” Or maybe the more stupid enemies of God within the flock truly think that wolves are vegetarians, and don’t eat meat.

It isn’t going to matter, once the shepherd is gone and no one cares (or is too fearful, or deluded) to drive away the wolf.

Holiness and Liberty

As to the problems of an imitation holiness, we can turn to an excerpt from How Liberty is a Result of the Gospel by By Mark R. Rushdoony:

—<Quote begins>—

Despite the multitude of differences in the body of Christ there seems to be a universal agreement that a liberating forgiveness is an essential part of the gospel. The nature of that freedom in contemporary Christianity has tended to emphasize the inward, psychological freedom we have in Christ, but this inward reality is never without an outward manifestation. Forgiveness changes the believer, and his inward regeneration produces an outward dynamic that cannot be limited to the individual.

God’s forgiveness is not a change of sentiment or attitude. It is a judicial, a legal, act. It means that God’s indictment of man, His judgment of death on him, has been dropped. Man is no longer liable for this death penalty because it was paid in full by Christ on the cross.

Forgiveness by God does not change man’s nature, but his relationship to God’s justice. He is no longer a condemned man, living on death row. Forgiveness gives man a future orientation, because he is freed from sin and death to a new life.

The unregenerate have no such freedom, because they seek not freedom from sin but in sin. They desire freedom from the consequences of their sin, but not from sin itself. Throughout history, paganism has had little to do with changing the individual or even worshipping a superior being, but rather with satiating the anger of the gods. Sacrifices were typically a bargaining chip: “I have given you this, please let me go my way unmolested!”

This was the attraction of Baalism to the Hebrews, and why, once they were immersed in it, they could not give it up. The baalim were a multitude of baals, lords or powers that supposedly provided fertility, which was inclusive of all progress, health, prosperity, and success. They were afraid to offend any of the baalim lest they suffer. They also treated Jehovah as one of their baalim, so they went through the motions of the temple rituals and prescribed sacrifices on the assumption that such nominal faithfulness would cause God also to keep them in good favor. Instead of freedom, such superstition kept the Hebrews in bondage to their fears and a multitude of mythological deities whose anger they felt had to be constantly assuaged. Their apostasy caused them to be dominated by fear of these baalim and the demands of their priests.

—<Quote ends>—

Once believers — and in time, the world — understands that you can’t pay off God with rituals, but only repentance, righteousness, justice, love, and compassion (all as defined by God) can please God, then there will be liberty throughout the world.

Only Christ could pay for the price of our evil sins. So, only in Christ is there forgiveness, and life.

Biblical Spirituality vs. Gnostic Spirituality

The church, as a congregation, should be the centre of all sorts of good things.

But — looking at Christ as He shared the supper — the focus should be on a shared fellowship meal, with bread and wine (and possibly a good deal more!), and the preaching of the Word. And a song before the meeting is dissolved.

If business deals and courting for marriage and hiring agents (looking for superior workers) and yelling babies are also around, I suggest that it may be permitted, so long as it does not distract from the Word and the fellowship. The church as a centre of kingdom-building is a good thing.

Mandatory plug for Perks Disciple the Nations and The Christian Passover: Agape Feast or Ritual Abuse? here.

Now, on to the anonymous article Biblical Spirituality vs. Gnostic Spirituality from Faith for All of Life (Nov/Dec 2013):

—<Quote begins>—

A few weeks ago my wife listened to a preacher on the radio who was criticizing his listeners for their motives for coming to church. “I know why most of you are here,” he said. “Some are here to find a spouse. Others are here to find business partners or investors. Or reliable employees. Or a job. Some are hoping to get some financial help. Few are here for the right reason.”

This statement is important, for it is characteristic of the attitude of many pastors in this nation. And since attitudes are always created by deeply held beliefs, it gives some very important insight into the theology of the modern church.

We need to start with the observation that, indeed, the motives of many modern church-goers are far from deep devotion to Christ and His gospel. Selfishness reigns in the modern churches, and most church members do expect the church to cater to their personal needs, problems, and desires, without any sacrifice on their part, any service to others, any greater vision or value scale than their own well-being and self-fulfillment. It is not something new, and not something unknown or unusual. That pastor’s church is not an exception to the rule. And yes, if his target is really the obvious selfishness of his listeners, he does have a point.

Small Theology Equals Small Faith

But not a complete point. For the rule that the roots determine the fruits is valid here, and therefore a preacher needs to understand that he always gets what he preaches. If selfishness reigns in his church, it is because selfishness reigns in his preaching, and in the theology that preaching conveys to his listeners. Those who are selfish must be quite comfortable with his preaching if they are still in his church. And their selfishness is most probably encouraged by the fact that most of our modern preaching is based on the theology of individual salvation as the ultimate good. The gospel is stripped of its Kingdom message and reduced to a gospel of individual salvation. Thus, God is reduced to a small deity concerned only with the salvation-and the well-being-of its followers. God doesn’t have a greater objective on earth than the salvation of individual souls, which makes Him entirely subservient to man and man’s needs and objectives.

How would such theology purge selfishness from the hearts of that pastor’s listeners, if it’s actually making God subservient to their needs? If God is ultimately concerned with man and man’s needs, then why shouldn’t men be concerned with man and man’s needs? The difference between a focus on man’s eternal well-being and man’s temporal well-being is a difference in emphasis, not in principle, therefore the excuse that it’s about salvation, not about prosperity, is irrelevant here. Man is still the center. Only a focus on the sovereignty of God and on Christ’s Kingdom can give a difference in principle; but such focus is lacking in the preaching of modern churches. If the pastor presents a God who is focused on man, it’s only natural that he’ll get men who are focused on themselves.

All this being said, we need to acknowledge that despite the truncated gospel he is delivering to his listeners, a gospel focused on man and not on God and His Kingdom, this pastor’s church is still achieving a certain success. That success is obvious in the fact that the church still has some “power of attraction,” to use J. H. Bavinck’s phrase from his An Introduction to the Science of Missions.¹ Even in its most truncated form, when all references to the Kingdom and the comprehensive authority of Jesus Christ over all life (1 Cor. 15:25-28) are removed from the preaching, the name of Jesus Christ still produces some cultural change in the life of the church, even if it’s not complete. Those who are baptized and members of the church have a better practical and work ethic than those in the world; they are more reliable as partners and employees; they are more faithful as spouses and friends. They are also more likely, compared to the rest of the population, to spend less of their income and therefore have more savings to invest. And as investors, they are less likely to be driven by greed and more likely to respect the needs of their debtors.

Faith has consequences, and even the least informed faith in Christ produces a culture superior to the surrounding pagan culture. This has been the reason why in predominantly Muslim nations like Syria, Egypt, or Lebanon, Christian minorities are disproportionally represented in the business and intellectual leadership of their countries.

It is this superior culture that drives those outside the church to join the church. Jesus said in John 13:35 that the world would know that we are His disciples by the fact that we love each other. However, such love is not hidden, immaterial, invisible. It does produce visible fruit, for from John 15:8 we prove to be His disciples by bearing fruit, that is, by the visible manifestation of God’s love in us.

What is the visible manifestation of that love? It is the fulfillment of the law (Rom. 13:10). That is, our fulfillment of the law in every area of our lives, from our personal conduct to our economic and political endeavors, will show the world that we are Christ’s disciples, and thus will draw the unbelievers to Him. Deuteronomy 4:5-8 confirms this conclusion: it is the law of God with its justice and righteousness that brings the nations to God. A culture built on the precepts of the law, a culture exhibiting God’s love and justice, will always attract people, even when they dislike its religious foundations.

A Theology of Covenant

It is, of course, normal and understandable if people come to Christ and His church because they have certain needs that they believe Christ and the church can meet. The Sovereign God shows His grace to His elect by choosing His relationship with them to be formed not as a slaveholder’s power over them-the way the Gentiles form their relationships with socially or physically inferior people-but as a covenant, that is, a set of obligations and promises. He doesn’t have to give any promises, for He is God; but He still promises blessings for obedience, and the blessings He promises are that man’s legitimate needs will be met abundantly.

This is why the Biblical covenants are defined as “the covenants of promise” (Eph. 2:12). Deuteronomy 28:1-15 exhorts Israel to obey God, and a number of cultural, economic, material, health, and other blessings are promised. This is why Jesus could call the weary and the burdened to come to Him and receive His rest (Matt. 11:28). And He also promises those who have left their earthly possessions to follow Him, that they will receive back a hundredfold in this world (cultural blessings), plus eternal life in the world to come. God takes us back as sons, not as slaves, even when we deserve nothing more than being slaves without any promise for any blessings.

The legitimacy of seeking cultural blessings when coming to Christ is then established by Biblical teaching. It is part of the covenantal and comprehensive nature of God’s salvation. These blessings are not unconditional, of course. But they are real: material, relational, economic, political, judicial. God’s covenant is not a spiritualized gnostic reality where the rubber never meets the road, and where spiritual truths never produce visible fruit. A church with even a little knowledge or understanding, faithful only to a certain extent to the requirements of the gospel according to the measure of its knowledge, will still exhibit a small measure of those blessings. And thus it will become a center of attraction for the local community. This is true evangelism, as opposed to the gnostic evangelism of only words and no visible transformation of lives and culture.

The above-mentioned pastor’s church, then, is on the right track, at least marginally, if it has become such a center of attraction. If a person comes to the church to find a spouse, business partners, or employees or employers, such person is acknowledging that the spiritual principles of the gospel taught at that church have produced some cultural fruit. That should be an encouragement to a pastor who understands the covenant of God and its operation through ethical rules and judicial sanctions in history. “The Word become flesh” is the operational paradigm of Christ’s redemption; “obedience produces cultural fruit” is the application of that paradigm in the life of the individual, of the church, and of a Christian society in general. Our faith is spiritual, but it only proves itself to be true faith by the fruit it produces (James 2:14-26).

Faith Without Body

The pastor’s criticism to his listeners, therefore, is not Biblical, as far as their motives to join the church are concerned. He is driven in his criticism by a Gnostic view of the gospel. He wants his listeners to come to church driven by some Gnostic, naked, body-less faith that is either unable to recognize the fruit of the gospel in the flesh or unwilling to recognize it and give glory to God for it. He wants the members of his flock to strip themselves of all material and cultural concerns and goals-even those that are Biblically legitimate-and become some kind of fleshless beings.

Even if he doesn’t say it openly, he has adopted the heretical dualistic view of reality where the spiritual aspect of man is good by default and the material aspect of man is bad by default, and therefore material concerns necessarily follow from an evil heart. (The Biblical doctrine is that man is depraved in both his body and spirit, and therefore redeemed in both his body and spirit.) Criticizing his people for coming to church because they were attracted by the superior culture in the church is denigrating the effect and the fruit of the gospel, because it is “too materialistic.” But the gospel does have material effects, it leads to “all things being subject to Christ” (1 Cor. 15:1-28). And therefore, this pastor is driven by a theology that bars him from seeing that comprehensive nature of the gospel in the life of his church; he wants mystical spirituality to replace the legitimate needs and wants of man as creature.

Now, granted, if the people who come to Christ in his church stay in their selfishness and always keep their material concerns above their commitment to Jesus Christ and His Kingdom, this admittedly is a problem. But then again, that problem is at least partially, if not completely, created by the same Gnostic worldview of that same pastor. When the comprehensive nature of Christ’s gospel is not preached, the focus remains entirely on man and his needs. If his listeners have nothing more than their personal salvation in view, if they are not recruited to build the civilization of the Kingdom of God, they will never have a cause more worthy than themselves.

Toward a Kingdom Theology

The solution to his problem, then, and to the problems of the church in general, must be found in abandoning the Gnostic worldview that plagues our pulpits today, and in adopting the comprehensive, Kingdom-oriented, culture-changing worldview of the gospel. The problem of our churches is not that people come to Christ driven by material concerns: this is not a problem, this is a blessing, and a sign of our success, however small it is.

The problem of our churches today is a theology, and preaching that follows from it, that is not strong enough on building the culture of the Kingdom of God to draw even more people to Christ. Those who are drawn, and remain, are made idle by the simple expectation to be taken to heaven, for there is nothing more that they can do on earth besides attending church every Sunday. We want to make our churches to be even better centers of attraction, exhibiting an even more superior civilization than the world, offering Biblical solutions to all the problems the modern world faces, and outperforming the non-Christian cultures in everything, as a testimony of the superiority of our faith. When our theology and our preaching is changed to Christian Reconstruction, we’ll see more people coming to the church, and we’ll see more of those remaining change from self-fulfillment to service to God, for now they will have a cause bigger than themselves. This is where that pastor’s problems can find their solutions.

In other words, faith has consequences. And changing our faith from Gnosticism to Biblical covenantalism and Christian Reconstruction will inevitably have consequences.

A Reformed missionary to his native Bulgaria for over 10 years, Bojidar preaches and teaches the doctrines of the Reformation and a comprehensive Biblical worldview. He and his team have translated over 30,000 pages of Christian literature about the application of the Law of God in every area of man’s life and society, and published those translations online for free. He currently lives in Houston with his wife Maggie and his three children.

1. J.H. Bavinck, An Introduction to the Science of Missions (Philadelphia, PA: The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Co., 1960), 28.

Topics: Theology, Church, The, Biblical Law, Christian Reconstruction, Philosophy

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Drag Queens

A fascinating question.