Why have I, for years now, made such a big deal about the pastors and ministries that refused to publicly confess their error, on Covid?

Think of the topic of the Christian, and the Government, as (2) different coins, each with their (2) sides.

Coin 1: The Government

• side 1a: what it cannot do

• side 1b: what it should do

Coin 2: The Christian

• side 2a: submission to Government

• side 2b: influencing the Government

These coins are intricately linked.

For example, 2a is a response, to what one believes about 1a.

Covid showed that many believed that Caesar could close churches (1a) and so they submitted (2a).

They were wrong.

Said another way, because they had 1a wrong, 2a was also of course wrong.

When some realized that they had 1a wrong, there was a resultant change in 2a. They realized the Government cannot close churches (1a) and so they stopped submitting (2a), (though some have refused to confess that they were wrong), and they just changed 2a anyway.

But here’s the thing, if you get one side of the coin wrong, then of necessity there must be corresponding error on the other side of the coin.

It’s impossible to have error on one side, but not the other. No, each side influences and informs the other side. Think of it like the Yin and Yang; if you mess with one, you mess with the other. Error on one side necessarily results in error on the other side.

And today, the Christian Nationalism debates are revealing that many, or most, who originally had 1a wrong, still have 1b wrong. And this is why initial confession was so important…

Those that were wrong about what the government cannot do (1a), were of necessity wrong about what it should do (1b).

So if you start with error on 1a, and if you then change to get 1a right, you must then move on to correct 1b, or you’ll remain in error.

(You see this when pastors and ministries, given enough time, start to say, and advocate for, contradictory positions.)

But wait, there’s more…

When you have 1b wrong (what government should do), you’ll necessarily have 2b (how Christians should be influencing government) wrong as well.

Pastors and ministries will teach Christians to influence government (2b) according to what they believe the government should be doing (1b).

For example, if you think the government should promote and protect pluralism (1b) then you’ll seek to influence that very thing (2b).

So it’s not merely a matter of whether or not Christians are politically engaged, or not.

No, it’s a matter of having a right view of the government, in totality. It is more than just, “Can the government close churches?” That is merely one of many interrelated and interconnected questions.

Said another way, the only thing worse than a Christian not being involved in government, is a Christian who is actively involved but propagating error as it relates to government. And thats exactly what we’ve had for the longest time.

I mean, imagine arguing that politically speaking, it is a good thing when a mosque is built in your neighborhood. And that is an actual teaching from a very prominent pastor/leader in TMS circles.

Doing nothing to promote the right is one thing, but laboring to promote the wrong is way worse.

This is a lot like the Bible’s paradigm for sanctification. Far too many leave out a step. What do I mean…?

Many Christians would say that the biblical prescription for sanctification is that we are to put off the old man, and we are to put on the new man. And that is true, but it is only partly true.

Note what Ephesians 4 actually says:

“…lay aside, in reference to your former conduct, the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,

and to be renewed in the spirit of your mind,

and to put on the new man…”

Yes, the biblical process of change includes terminating the wrong action, and then doing the correct action. But it is much more than that!

A simple example, if I yell at my wife in anger, I have sinned. And so I need to not yell at my wife, and I need to speak kindly to her. But that is superficial change.

But Scripture points to more than merely changing behavior (dont yell at my wife, rather speak kindly at my wife), it includes identifying the erroneous thinking that produced the wrong action, and then replacing that wrong thinking with the right thinking (ie be renewed in the spirit of your mind).

If I yelled at my wife, it was because I was worshiping an idol. I was either getting something I did not want (thereby depriving me of what I did want), or I was not getting what I wanted. Either way, there was idolatry involved on my part. There were much deeper issues than just my mode of communication. Either way, merely stopping doing what I was doing, and doing the right thing is not biblical change.

And so it is with Christians and Government.

If you responded wrongly to Covid, ie 2a, thats because you had both sides of Coin 1 wrong.

If you changed 1a, and thereby got 2a right, but you didn’t go back and fix 1b, then you did not actually go through the biblical process of change.

We need to move well beyond merely drawing a line in the sand, and telling the government, “you shall not pass.”

Our job is fill out the other side of the coin too, and rightly tell the government, “thus saith the Lord.” And thankfully, we have that in crystal clear terms, all across the Bible. Maybe we should start with Psalm 2?

Sadly most of the people who doggedly closed their churches, are now just as doggedly propagating anti-Christian pluralism, in direct contradiction to Scripture. Some of them pivoted, and they got 2a right, but far too many merely took the path of least resistance, and opened, rather than actually reexamining their entire political theology. And that will not stand for much longer…