God Save Us

I follow an account — that I believe is Catholic in nature — that begins every day with a prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This is usually accompanied by some art that I find very attractive, as with today’s:

I find myself looking for that post every day, because it centers and grounds me. It puts me in the right frame of mind for reading my Bible and praying. My prayer life has been weaker than I would like, and I find myself struggling with it. I don’t know if it’s the drugs I’m on or some personal failing of my own, but concentrating on anything is becoming difficult these days. My attention wanders.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, King of the universe, have mercy on me, a sinner. Help me to become a better follower. Fix in me the concern You have for my friends who are wrestling with habitual sin. Strengthen my friends who struggle to free themselves from the bottle. Purify those caught up in sexual immorality. Focus those who cannot look away from worldly concerns. Get their attention. Turn their faces toward You. Get them to take one step closer to You. Provide me with opportunities to be Your instrument in reconciling them to Yourself.

One of my mental projects in reading the Bible has been to try to understand the biblical model for church culture and structure. I’ve written about it a fair bit, referencing the church as a sanctuary for repentant sinners. I’ve been searching for clues about the role of men in the church as builders and enforcers of cultural norms, trying to reconcile the invitation to all with the need to excommunicate some, and identifying the church’s defense mechanisms against corruption of its mission and purpose. I believe there are dividing lines between ideas that I need to understand, for example between the topic of doctrinal disputes (Romans 14) and that of bad actors attempting to pervert the church into something unholy.

I found another strong clue in Romans 16:17-19

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil.
— Romans 16:17-19 (ESV)

This, it seems to me, is as clearly worded a warning against entryism as I’m likely to find in Scripture. As Mark Driscoll says, the Bible doesn’t just tell us what happened but what always happens. That Paul was concerned with these things 2000 years ago even as I’m concerned with them now tells me entryism will always be a problem and that our men need to guard against it. I thank God for my pastor and elders, who have carefully vetted one another’s doctrine and commitment, to provide leadership in our church. The American church is in a shambles, with syncretic gospels being taught as mainstream, and I believe it is only in congregations like ours that we will rebuild the dividing lines between God’s people and the World. I have taken it upon myself to do everything I can to help encourage the laymen of the church to pick up their spiritual tools and weapons and erect the protective walls around us like the men of Nehemiah did in rebuilding Jerusalem.

I have long believed that one of the greatest dangers for the Church is to become too entangled in the mechanisms of Government. Jesus told us to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s. The Jewish leaders of Paul’s day attempted to force the government to rule on doctrine. Until such time as Jesus comes back (even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly), it seems to me that these two institutions are best situated at arm’s length from one another. Thus it’s with a fair bit of trepidation that I see President Trump creating a White House Faith Office and appointing a female pastor to lead it.

I’m not going to get into the doctrine of whether or not women can or should be pastors except to note that Paul seemed to take a rather dim view of it, and as a result I suspect it’s another way the World is creeping into the Church. I have not applied myself to the study of the issue in the same way I’ve been looking for these other dividing lines for the Sanctuary of Repentant Sinners, so I will put it aside for now.

I do appreciate the fact that so many of President Trump’s appointees have appealed to God in their remarks and that President Trump has as well. I am sure that there are individual anecdotes to the contrary, but President Trump’s aim of creating the office to “combat Christian persecution” is using a sledgehammer to swat at gnats. I fully believe that, on the grand scale, there is no such thing as Christians being persecuted in America. The only possible exception in living memory is perhaps the forced closing of churches during the COVID lockdowns, and I for one have no intention of complying with any such order going forward. I don’t believe I am alone in this.

More to the point, I am concerned that the newly-instituted White House Faith Office may encourage this president or future presidents to confuse the bully pulpit with a religious one. I believe our commander-in-chief should be a man of faith, but running the government and shepherding a church are two very different things. My sense of history is that things go awry when Government and Church attempt to do one another’s job. The only time this seems to be incorrect is in the time of Moses and the Judges, before God relented and allowed the people to have the evil of secular government they so desperately wanted. What has followed in its wake is thousands of years of demon worship combatting the Church, even to this present day. That’s why I’m far more inclined to submit to the instruction of my pastor than to the directives of any politician or politically appointed “spiritual leader”. I know my pastor and he knows me. I have every confidence he has my spiritual best interests at heart. I cannot say the same for the leader of this new White House Faith Office.

Whether I would have the Office instituted or not, whether I recognize the spiritual authority of Paula White or not, whether I agree with President Trump or not, it is still incumbent on me to pray over all of it, so that is what I will do. As I do so, I have to recognize that I am by no means an expert in doctrine. I have only my limited understanding of Scripture, guided of course by my pastor and the Holy Spirit. I may be wrong in every respect.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner…