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RELIGION
Religious Neutralism
TNA Vol. 16, No. 7 pp. 23-25

Some Christians see the decay of the world as predestined and inevitable, so
they withdraw from society. Such a retreat, however, only contributes to the
growth of evil.

by Frank York

In 1963, Robert Welch, the founder of the John Birch Society, wrote an
insightful booklet called The Neutralizers. In it, he described religious
viewpoints that keep individuals from becoming involved in political or
social action.

In his section on “Religious Neutralism,” Welch noted that two ideas within
religious circles were neutralizing Christians and keeping them from getting
involved in political and cultural battles. The first of these was that
prayer alone would be protection enough from seemingly omnipresent evil. The
second of these was the belief that our culture, society, and indeed,
everything in this world will continue to get worse and worse until Jesus
Christ appears at the Second Coming to rapture Christians into heaven,
making it foolish to waste time fighting against what has been predestined
by God.

In accepting these ideas as true, many Christians think that they should not
be involved in political or cultural battles against such evils as abortion,
homosexuality, divorce, drug abuse, and racism. They believe their only
purpose for living is to evangelize the lost, not to impact their culture in
any way.

One particular stream of thought that has helped neutralize many Christians
is the belief that we are living in the “End Times.” This view promotes the
idea that Jesus Christ is going to return to earth within our generation. He
will “rapture” the church into heaven, complete His plan for the Jewish
people, and then set up His thousand year reign on the earth.

In many religious circles, this End Times scenario teaches Christians that
all they should do is preach the Gospel and avoid any entanglements with the
world. This means they should not involve themselves in political or social
action. Not only should they refrain from impacting their culture, they
should rejoice as they see the world facing wars, earthquakes, and social
decay. These are signs of Christ’s imminent return.
End Times Theology in History
In Matthew 24, Jesus describes the signs to look for at the end of the age
when He will return in glory. These signs include wars, famine, earthquakes,
and death. Yet He also cautions his listeners against trying to predict the
day or the hour of His return. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus says, “No one knows
about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only
the Father.”

This caution, however, did not stop Christians from the first century onward
from trying to figure out when He would return. By the sixth century, Pope
Gregory was certain the end was near: “Of all the signs described by our
Lord as presaging the end of the world, some we see already accomplished....
For we now see that nation rises against nation and that they press and
weigh upon the land in our own times as never before in the annals of the
past.”

Such theorizing became more frequent toward the end of the first millennium.
Adso of Montier-en-Der wrote in 950 about the imminent return of Christ.
Further, Halley’s Comet in AD 989 and a super nova in 1006 were seen as
signs of Christ’s Second Coming. In more recent times, Christians have
suspected that Napoleon, King George, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Saddam
Hussein were the Anti-Christ. These examples should be a reminder to us of
what Jesus told us: We cannot know the day or the hour of His return.
Neutralist Theology
In the 19th century, a neutralizing theological viewpoint began spreading
among American Christians. Known as Pietism, it was a movement that
emphasized personal Bible study and inward reflection, rather than outward
actions. According to Francis Schaeffer in The Christian Manifesto, the
Pietist movement began with Rev. P.J. Spener in the 17th century. Schaeffer
says Pietism made a sharp distinction between the spiritual and material
world, giving little or no attention to the material world. Only the inward
life mattered, not the outer world. In essence, Pietism encouraged
Christians to drop out of their culture.

The American Christian fascination with End Times scenarios also began more
than 100 years ago with the introduction of a theological viewpoint known as
Dispensationalism. The man who is most often credited with introducing
Dispensationalism to the Protestant church is John Nelson Darby, who began
preaching a new view of biblical interpretation in Ireland in the 1830s.

Dispensationalism teaches that God has divided history into seven
dispensations and has treated mankind in different ways in each of these
periods of history. It also teaches that God has a special plan for Israel
that will be completed at the end of history after Christ raptures the
Church into heaven. This will occur before the “Great Tribulation” when God’
s wrath is poured out on the earth. Jesus Christ will then set up a thousand
year reign on earth.

Dispensationalists emphasize evangelism almost to the exclusion of
everything else. In their view, the world belongs to Satan, and it will be
destroyed at the end of time by Jesus Christ. Fundamentalist Dave Hunt,
author of numerous books on the End Times, expresses this viewpoint in The
Berean Call: “‘Christian activism,’ is not Christian, and represents a
detour from the straight path the church is to walk before the world. It can
confuse the real issues, lead to compromise and unholy alliances, and divert
time and effort that would be better used in proclaiming the gospel.”

S.R. Shearer, a Dispensationalist who writes for Religion in Politics,
states the Dispensationalist’s 19th century theological viewpoint: “To
dispensationalists the failure of the church in its efforts to reform
Gentile society was self evident. They felt that the Gentile nations were
not destined for reformation, but judgment. As a result, the central mission
of the church was to save people out of the world. They considered the
present system of Gentile world-government to be a sinking ship, and the
church to be the lifeboat. Their job was not to save the ship, which they
believed the Scriptures said was doomed (at least in its present form), but
to get as many people as possible off the ship and into the lifeboat of the
church before it sank.”

This view has not changed. Religion in Politics is extreme in its position
against Christians getting involved in political or social action. It even
goes so far as to equate Christian involvement in politics with a step
toward fascism. “When we permit our names and churches to be linked to
persons and/or institutions which seek to connect the church with the state,
whether we realize it or not, we have taken the first steps down the road to
fascism. Jesus said, ‘My kingdom is not of this world....’” In a separate
article, Shearer draws a parallel between the Religious Right and the German
Church’s support of Adolf Hitler and warns his readers against getting
entangled in political activities.

Although not as extreme as Religion in Politics, a recently published book
by Cal Thomas and Pastor Ed Dobson, has brought the issue of religious
neutralism to the forefront again. Blinded by Might: Can the Religious Right
Save America? is a rather confusing hodgepodge of attacks against pastors or
parachurch leaders who are engaged in the culture war. Thomas and Dobson
devote an entire chapter to an attack on Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus
on the Family, for his involvement in such public policy concerns as
abortion, homosexual rights, and gambling.

Dr. James Dobson was so upset by the Thomas-Dobson attack upon him and his
organization that he devoted his June 1999 constituent letter to a rebuttal
of the charges. According to James Dobson, “what they recommend for the
Christian community” — that Christians withdraw from addressing the
political and moral decline in our nation — “would accelerate the decline of
America if the ideals they espouse become widely accepted.”

Indeed, Pastor Ed Dobson brags that his church doesn’t get involved in
politics (or in social causes of any kind). He says, “I do not march against
abortion clinics. I do not participate in the HIV/AIDS Walk. I do not march
for hunger. I do not even march in the non-sectarian, nonpolitical March for
Jesus. I believe in living my faith, not flaunting it.”
Christians and Society
So, how should Christians live today? Is it unbiblical to get involved in
fighting against homosexual activists who are targeting our children? Should
we protest the murder of unborn children? Or should Christians just pray and
wait for the Rapture?

At least one Dispensationalist thinks Christians should take an active role
in society. For 40 years, Tim LaHaye has been a leading advocate of
Christian involvement in the public arena. He told Modern Reformation
magazine that government “is a perfectly good instrument of God,” and that
“it’s only when evil people are permitted to get in by abdication that
government becomes an evil force.” Putting these beliefs into action, Tim’s
wife Beverly founded Concerned Women for America in 1979 to encourage women
to become involved in political and social action.

Kerby Anderson, head of Probe Ministries, argues persuasively that
Christians should not withdraw from society at large. In his article,
“Christian View of Government and Law,” Anderson notes that God created
civil government (Romans 13:1-7) and gave it three primary functions: to
wield the “sword of justice (to punish criminals), the sword of order (to
thwart rebellion) and the sword of war (to defend the state).” God has also
given Christians responsibilities. They are to render service and obedience
to the government (Matthew 22:21), but are not expected to give blind
allegiance to an ungodly government. Christians are also called to be “salt
and light” in the world (Matt. 5:13-16). And that means being involved in
the world around them.

“Government is a legitimate sphere of Christian service, and so we should
not look to government only when our rights are being abused. We are to be
concerned with social justice and should see governmental action as a
legitimate instrument to achieve just ends,” concludes Anderson.
Citizens of Two Worlds
Dr. Richard Land, head of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the
Southern Baptist Convention, observes that Christians are citizens of two
kingdoms: the spiritual and the earthly. They have responsibilities to both
kingdoms.

Writing in “Citizen Christians: Their Rights & Responsibilities,” Land says
the Bible commands us to be good citizens as “salt and light” in the world.
The “Baptist Faith and Message” statement of faith observes that “every
Christian is under obligation to seek to make the will of Christ supreme in
his own life and in human society.” It also says Christians “should seek to
bring industry, government, and society as a whole under the sway of the
principles of righteousness, truth and brotherly love.”

Charles Colson, one of today’s most influential Christians, agrees that
people of faith must not withdraw from the battlefields of the culture war.
In his new book How Now Shall We Live? Colson argues that Christians have a
responsibility to share Christ with their neighbors, but also have a
responsibility to bring God’s rule and righteousness into every area of
life.

Christians, says Colson, have both a cultural and evangelistic mandate. “The
church’s singular failure in recent decades,” says Colson “has been the
failure to see Christianity as a life system, or worldview, that governs
every area of existence. This failure to view Christianity as a total
worldview has crippled the church’s impact on the culture.” What is our
task? “As agents of God’s common grace, we are called to help sustain and
renew his creation, to uphold the created institutions of family and
society, to pursue science and scholarship, to create works of art and
beauty; and to heal and help those suffering from the results of the Fall,”
says Colson.

As Colson observes, we are either advancing the rule of Satan on earth or
establishing the reign of God. “In every action we take, we are doing one of
two things: we are either helping to create a hell on earth or helping to
bring down a foretaste of heaven.” The question each Christian should ask
himself, then, is this: Are you helping to advance the kingdom of God on
earth by fighting evil until the Lord returns or are you helping advance the
kingdom of Satan by your inaction?

This is the opposite of the seemingly illogical conclusion reached by S.R.
Shearer. He seems to believe that Christian involvement in society will
actually bring about evil. For instance, he believes that Christian
involvement in political action will lead to fascism in America. In fact,
the opposite is true. Christianity, when rightly practiced, is the world’s
greatest bulwark against tyranny.

A brief look at the reaction of the Church during the rise of Adolf Hitler
is instructive. Pastors Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoeller tried to
rally opposition against Hitler, but their more naïve colleagues joyfully
aligned themselves under the Führer.

In September 1933, the governing body of the German Evangelical Church met.
It became known as the Brown Synod because most delegates wore the brown
shirts of the SA. The delegates elected pro-Hitlerite Ludwig Muller as their
bishop and passed the Aryan Paragraph, a rule that outlawed all Jews or
persons married to Jews from church office. All pastors were also required
to swear allegiance to Hitler and the Nazi government.

Bonhoeffer, Niemoeller, and others became part of what was called the
Confessing Church. They resisted Hitler and the Nazis, but their preaching
against the coming tyranny went unheeded by members of the German Church —
those who had sworn loyalty to Hitler.

Imagine how history would have been changed had the Confessing Church been
successful in organizing both political and moral opposition to Hitler!
Bonhoeffer was eventually convinced of the need to move beyond political
action or simply preaching against Hitler. He joined a conspiracy to
assassinate the tyrant. The plan failed, and Bonhoeffer was hanged in 1945.

In a statement attributed to him by Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations,
Niemoeller once described the consequences of German Christian passivity in
the face of Hitler: “In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I
didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade
unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then
they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a
Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak
up.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of the obligation of Christians to be involved in
their world: “Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all
his disciples deserted him. On the cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by
evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the
enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a
cloistered life but in the thick of foes.”

As our world continues to plunge into social chaos, we should spend less
time trying to figure out when the Lord will return and more time doing the
work we are called to by Jesus Christ. What matters is what are we doing now
to promote the Kingdom of God in our world and to resist evil. Will we
promote the work of Satan by our inaction and bad theology or will we
promote God’s righteousness? Will we, like the German Church, remain silent
in the face of evil? Or will we become the Confessing Church of the 21st