Tag Archives: unity

John Armstrong’s “Your Church Is Too Small”

John Armstrongs Your Church Is Too Small

John Armstrong's "Your Church Is Too Small"

You’ve seen me write about “Why I am Converting to Catholicism” in one of my other posts, where  I basically explain that I am going to begin to work on unifying the Church instead of destroying it. Interestingly, that’s before I went to a luncheon at Biblical Seminary which hosted Wheaton College Graduate School adjunct professor and author John Armstrong. John was there to speak about what he had established in his book Your Church Is Too Small: Why Unity in Christ’s Mission Is Vital to the Future of the Church about the importance of Christian unity. So, obviously, I was intrigued.

John’s talk that day at the luncheon did not disappoint. He spoke of how Jesus prayed for the unity of his people (John 17), and, if we are going to argue over points of doctrine, John 17 is doctrine as well. I was left with the nagging question, Why have I never held Jesus’ prayer in John 17 on equal footing as, say, my views on the atonement, etc.? The fact is, I wasn’t, but John Armstrong does; and that was convicting to me. Thus, the obvious thing to do was to pick up my NOOKcolor and download the book. So, I did…

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The Antichrist Makes Unity Impossible [Part 3: The Antichrist and His Minions]

Pastor Evander Evangelical: “Do you know what the Euro is? You know, the money used for the European Union [EU]? Do you know what the EU is?”

Billy Sundayschool: “Yes.”

Rev:  ”Good, but if you aren’t aware the Euro and the EU are signs of the end times.”

Billy: “Why is uniting currency a problem?”

Pastor E.E.: “Well…ye of little faith!…because the Antichrist is coming to setup a one-world government, and the European Union is just a piece of this horrific, demonic puzzle! Not only do those pesky Euros make you think you’re spending less than you really are (i.e., exchange rate), but Satan pays his heating bill with them!”

Billy: “Wow, Pastor. This is the second time you saved me! To think, I almost listened to Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust because I didn’t know what it says when you play it backwards, and now this?! Next question, should I join the Freemasons?”

This (pretend but often true) Euro/EU argument may not be a convincing one to you (you must read intelligent blogs!), but, to many, this argument was incredibly convincing during the first appearance of the Euro that “we are living in the end times.” According to many, the unifying of the entire world, world economic stability, and socialized medicine (yes, I went there) are seen as tools of  the Antichrist. Favorite sources of ammunition for this argument are Daniel 7 and Revelation 12–the beast with multiple heads, etc. However, I would like to take issue with seeing world unity as part of the Antichrist’s plan.

Similarly in what we discussed about peace, it seems to me that the problem is not world unity but world unity established in opposition to that of the Lord of the Cosmos, that is, Jesus the Christ. The spirit of antichrist, such as with Nero (of whom Revelation is likely speaking), decides to setup a counter-world-kingdom in opposition to the Christ and his Church.

Christianity is essentially composed around this idea of unity and drawing all people into the community of Jesus. His kingdom will bring about true unity. We must not be against ideas of world peace or unity, but we should always be skeptical of anything that could stand in opposition to Jesus. Which begs the question, Is unity without Jesus even true unity? I would say, no.

What I’m really fighting against is the horror that is often shown by evangelicals anytime a politician/religious leader speaks about world peace or unity. We aren’t against those things, are we? We should be for those things, but we represent the true King and his kingdom.

Our eschatology directly influences what we are about now. If we think world unity is so evil, and we don’t want the devil to pull the wool over our eyes, we will implicitly for inequality, division, and so forth. I mean, division is the opposite of unity. We don’t want world unity, so we want division. I may be making too many generalities, but we must be for unity wherever that comes into play. We simply need to be watchful of anyone attempting to do this in opposition to Jesus, and, as fallible human beings, we will never be able to create something infallible like Jesus will. So, pray for world unity, pray for peace, but pray for discernment and wisdom.

Blog Series: The Antichrist and His Minions

I will be beginning a series of posts called “The Antichrist and His Minions.” The Antichrist is someone/thing that has been a topic of much attention by theologians over the years. Who is he? When will he come? Is he a human, demon, or principle? I am in favor of the “principle” position, that is, the Antichrist is an attitude that is not simply embodied by one particular person in the future but is embodied in many people, places, movements, etc. It is my belief that the literal interpretation of the Antichrist, which is favored  mostly by premillennial dispensationalists, actually promotes the spirit of antichrist instead of rejecting it. I have designated “his minions” to be such interpreters since such work alongside the spirit of antichrist when they promote these misconceptions. I would like to take a look at two specific topics, in which such people are the Antichrist’s minions, in the areas of (1) peace and (2) unity,. I will first repost my earlier post on the Antichrist titled, “Will the Antichrist be an actual person?”, and go from there. Thus, our series The Antichrist and His Minions will be as follows:

  1. Will the Antichrist be an actual person?
  2. Why the Antichrist makes Peace impossible, where I will approach this from the angle of Christian non-violence.
  3. Why the Antichrist makes Unity impossible, where I will approach this from the angle of Christian/world unity. 

There may be more as I develop these ideas, but let’s start here. I’m a firm believer that our eschatology directly influences our practical lives now. So, I’d like to know: What are some misconceptions of eschatology that you believe have/had poorly influenced your practical life or the lives of others you know?

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