Collectivism in the Churches

NOTE: The following is protected by federal copyright law and is an excerpt from the book Marxianity written by Brannon Howse and is not to be published online. The footnotes that document the content in this article are found in the book Marxianity or the eBook.

So, why is it that people like Tim Keller and J. D. Greear are so taken by the idea of bringing non-believers into the church? An astute observer of the church growth movement in the past few decades, Robert Klenck offers this insight:

[quote] In this movement, it is imperative that unbelievers are brought into the church. Otherwise, the process of continual change cannot begin. There must be an antithesis, unbelievers, present to oppose the thesis, believers, in order to move toward a consensus, compromise, and to move the believers away from their moral absolutism, resistance to change. If all members of the church stand firm on the word of God and its final authority, and all doctrine and tradition, then the church cannot and will not change. This is common faith. Soon we will see why these change agents are pushing so hard for change to occur in the church. [end quote]

The presence of non-believers is necessary to bring about the desired change in the church. When the inevitable conflict arises, it is the Christians who will compromise because it will be “their duty” to “act in love” and accept the other viewpoint. That way, they will set aside theology and the Word of God for the sake of group consensus.

The first step, though, is to redefine the purpose and mission of the church. And so we see the rise of churches focusing on social justice to point out that the purpose of the church for many has become to eradicate poverty and the lack of education, and other similar causes. The church becomes a social service center that would make community organizers—like those trained in the model of Saul Alinsky—very happy. By teaching people an unbiblical purpose and function of the church, they render the church impotent. The New Testament Church no longer remains an obstacle to socialism. In fact, it becomes a willing participant in the advance of socialism.

Instead of fulfilling the Great Commission, the church focuses on creating the kingdom of God on earth, but this is nothing other than the Neo-evangelical version of dominion theology. Leaders who believe in this desire to do away with evils in the world, such as poverty and illiteracy, also believe that then, all of a sudden, the kingdom of God will be among us.

Yet, that’s not at all what the Bible teaches. In John 18:36, Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my disciples would fight to keep me from being turned over to the Jews.” And in Daniel 2, the Old Testament prophet declares that “God brings His kingdom. We don’t build His kingdom” (my paraphrases).

Obviously, the revised focus of the church plays right into the hands of the globalists. When the church agrees “to set aside our doctrinal differences” and “not be divisive,” we can all join together to solve the world’s problems. But the wolf in sheep’s clothing is that this is really a form of collective salvation, not a salvation through which individuals come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

This collective salvation, though, is exactly what John D. Rockefeller aspired to years ago. He declared his vision this way:

[quote] Would that I had the power to bring to your minds the vision as it unfolds before me. I see all denominational emphasis set aside. I see the church molding the thought of the world as it has never done before, leading an all great movement as it should; I see it literally establishing the kingdom of God on earth. [end quote]

In his book Collectivism in the Churches, Edgar Bundy explains that this is also what Fabian socialist and father of the social gospel movement, Walter Rauschenbusch, wanted to achieve—to transform churches and bring the kingdom of God on earth through social justice, dominion theology. Bundy explains:

[quote] We have seen how Walter Rauschenbusch and the leaders of the social action movements in the churches decided to do away with Christian individualism and turn to outright collectivism using the church as their instrument. Religion was only a means toward achieving socialism, and like all other false prophets who have infiltrated religion through the centuries, Rauschenbusch used a front or disguise. This disguise, as we have seen, was the kingdom of God. The kingdom was not pictured as a spiritual society into which men and women had to be born as individuals through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ his savior, but as a collectivist society which would be brought about by eradication of poverty, redistribution of wealth, and economic justice. [end quote]

The problem is that this vision for world unity is not what the Bible teaches. Scripture is clear that there will be a one world economy and one world government led by a religious system. But prior to Christ’s return, the only one world system that will ever be in force will be overseen by the antichrist. A false dominant church, according to Revelation 17:1, will help prepare the way, and we see the genesis of that church in the merging of Christianity and Marxism. A false dominant church is the cover for the intrusion of a one world socialist government.

The shocking truth is that this same plan Edgar Bundy says was the goal Walter Rauschenbusch is also what evangelical superstar Rick Warren is working on. And other prominent leaders are falling in step with him. For instance, note what John Piper has to say in this excerpt from one of his videos:

[quote] But let me mention the peace plan, pursuing reconciliation, equipping servant leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, educating the next generation. Now what I want to say is, who could not love those five commitments? [end quote]

“Who could not love those five commitments?” Maybe Piper thinks that’s a rhetorical question, but it’s not.

There’s not a single passage in the Bible that says the job of the New Testament Church is to eradicate poverty. To the contrary, Jesus Himself said, “The poor will always be with you.” The church is not called to cultural change or economic transformation. We’re called to transformation of individual lives. Granted, personal transformation often results in positive changes which can have a ripple effect in many areas, but the ripples aren’t the primary purpose. Scripture says of those who become believers that “old things pass away; all things become new.” The result is that “old ways”—like sleeping with multiple partners, having children out of wedlock, staying up all night drinking, partying, and gambling—do pass away. People transformed by Christ generally start to organize their lives, get and keep jobs, and fulfill personal responsibilities. They no longer destroy themselves through moral relativism, situational ethics, and outright laziness. They reap the Proverbs 10 rewards of ‘the righteous versus the consequences of the wicked’ coming about.

The only (but ultimate!) answer the church has for fixing the difficult issues of our world is the gospel. The transformation of individual lives changes people so they take on a biblical worldview and live it out in the areas of sexuality, economics, and family.