—Contra Mundum—The Christian Worldview

Dateline: 17 August 2013

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

—Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:13)

As noted in the subtitle at the top of this page, this blog is about “faith, family & livin’ the good life.” My faith is Christian, which is to say, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. As such, I have a view of the world that is informed by scripture. 

Such a worldview must be contra mundum, which is to say, against the world, which is to say, against the mainstream worldly system, which is to say, against any way of life or thinking that does not align with God’s law. God’s law is His unwavering standards of right and wrong, or good and evil, as outlined in scripture. The Christian worldview must be contra mundum because the Bible is contra mundum.

But to live and think contra mundum is becoming more and more unpopular in America. Christians who hold to the contra mundum theology of scripture are clearly a minority. That being the case, it is not hard for me to imagine the day when Christians in America will be persecuted for publicly expressing their Christian beliefs about what is right and wrong. To some degree, this is already happening. There is an increasingly intolerant attitude among those in power against Christians who believe the Bible is true. 

Christians (and their beliefs) are tolerated only as long as they don’t speak out against ungodly systems of thought and control. Christians are tolerated as long as they keep their religious beliefs in church—as long as they don’t upset the apple cart of other religious worldviews that have come to dominate the culture. 

Persecution of Christians for expressing their religious beliefs is, of course, nothing new.  It has happened throughout history, beginning with Christ himself, who was crucified for speaking against the religious and political powers of his day. In no uncertain terms, Jesus spoke against the mainstream world view that was in rebellion against God’s law. In fact, Jesus Christ was not exactly polite when it came to challenging and chastising the wicked religious and political culture he lived in. 

Soon thereafter, the followers of Jesus Christ were persecuted and killed, primarily for declaring that the Caesar was not God. The Roman government had no real problem with Christianity as long as Christians conformed to statist thought. But when Christians of that day maintained that there was a higher moral authority than the reprobate moral authority of the central government, that was going too far. 

Later in history, the Pilgrims and Puritans of England were persecuted by the government. They were persecuted because they would not conform to the law when it dictated what they should believe and how they should worship God. By not conforming to the statist dictates, the followers of Christ were seen as a threat to the dominant power structure.

Much the same thing is happening today in America. The foundations for future Christian persecution are being established. Hate crimes are being defined as hate speech. Hate speech is being defined as speaking words that a social group finds offensive. It is a slippery slope into moral, social and economic chaos. The handwriting is on the wall for Christian Americans, or so it seems to me.

Too few modern Christians understand that the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the story of a war between good and evil. The war is ongoing and every true Christian is a soldier in the battle. It is not a physical war that Christians are called to, it is a spiritual and cultural war; a war of worldviews. Christians are called to fight in this epic battle with love—not an emasculated, compromising love, but love based on unyielding and eternal truth. 

In a dominant world culture that does not believe in eternal truths—that believes truth to be relative and ever changing—the truth contained in scripture can not be tolerated. It can not be tolerated because it is a threat to the dominant cultural system. God’s love, Christ’s love, the love that frees people from their sin (by pointing out their sin and calling them to repentance) is condemned as hate. 

This warped perception happens when a culture separates itself from the transcendental truth of God’s law. It is like a ship without a rudder. It wanders aimlessly. It is in danger.

To be a Christian warrior is to love what God loves and to hate what God hates. But these days there are more and more modern churches and churchified people who do not love what God loves, nor hate what God hates. Their perception of God is that He is all love and acceptance, regardless of sin. These people pick and choose what they like out of God’s word and mix their christianity with the mainstream anti-Christ cultural beliefs of the world system. 

The word for this blending of cultures is syncretism. Syncretistic  christians are not warriors. They are deserters. They are salt that has lost its savor. 

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As a Christian-agrarian I am doubly condemned by the dominant world culture. That’s because agrarian beliefs are contra-industrial. Industrialism is the all-powerful economic and social force that has shaped Western civilization for two hundred years. 

I happen to see the centralized, materialistic industrial system as a wicked system because it has almost totally sapped the vitality of families, churches and our nation as a whole. The popular culture we see around us is the spawn of industrial culture. Both anti-Christ cultures feed off each other. 

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This last week I have taken a mainstream-media fast. I have not listened to news reports on my satellite radio. I have not listened to the various mainstream talk show hosts. I have not visited the Drudge Report or any other online news source. 

Instead, as I worked in my shop, I listened to contra mundum media. I went to sermonaudio.com and listened to a reading of A.W. Pink’s wonderful book, The Sovereignity of God. I went to Scott Terry’s Christian Farm & Homestead radio and got caught up on the episodes I’ve missed there. And I went to one of my favorite contra mundum, contra-industrial online radio programs. I’ve mentioned the program here before. It’s Generations With Vision Radio, hosted by Kevin Swanson, with his remarkably-cogent producer/sidekick Dave Buehner.

Swanson and Buehner are contra-mundum worldview warriors. They discuss and apply God’s law to the problems and issues of our day, and they do it in a winsome, engaging manner. I’m sure they must tick off a lot of people, but, as I noted above, so did Jesus. 

If you have never listened to Generations Radio, I recommend that you begin your journey (8 years of daily half-hour programs are all online for free) with the following episodes, which were particularly good in my estimation. But I should point out that they are a lopsided sampling because I'm especially drawn to discussions about establishing a family economy. Nevertheless, they give you an idea of what the show is like. I encourage you to search the archives and listen to the past episodes. These shows are edifying alternative media...

The Duck Dynasty
This program looks at the most famous Christian family economy in the world. But beyond the story of Duck Dynasty, Dave Buehner has some true words of wisdom about home business and the proper Christian approach to business. Dave also makes the point that schools these days are "cage-training" kids so they will be happy in their corporate cage when they grow up. Now that's contra-industrial!

From Lesbian Feminist to Christian Homeschool Mom
This episode is an interview with Rosaria Butterfield, a former feminist, lesbian activist professor at Syracuse University. I've listened to this show three times!

Who Killed Family Economies in The 20th Century?
This is a fine interview with Allen Carlson, my favorite social historian and author of The New Agrarian Mind. 

Should Our Sons Join The Armed Forces?
Kevin and Dave provide a controversial and thought-provoking answer.

Building a Family Economy in the 21st Century
This is an interview with a woman whose family has a home-based manufacturing business in Montana  (www.grainmaker.com)

Centralization vs Decentralization
Kevin interviews a Texas secessionist, and discusses the decentralized future of America.