Our Life and Times : Biblical Reasoning for a Modern Age
BLOGGER · THEOLOGIAN · APOLOGIST
Norman Harold Patterson Jr.
Are You Ready For Catacomb Christianity?
Are you ready to worship Christ in the catacombs?
There is growing discomfort amongst American Bible-believing Christians. I have ever-increasing conversations with others about our concerns. We talk about how the Unground Church gathers in secret throughout the world in persecuted countries. We wonder if we will have to do this in the USA. Why in the world are we talking about this?
Our discussions go beyond our distaste of the seeker-friendly, sappy, entertainment-centered, dead-mainline denominationalism, we-accept-everyone-no-matter-your-lifestyle, God-loves-everyone-no-matter-what, 501(c)3-incorporated-business-model church. Just as grandma felt the gathering storm in her bones, so we sense the needle in the spiritual barometer in the United States moving toward "high pressure."
The American Church has been dying for some time now. Perhaps it is because, like Israel of old, the Bride of Christ in American has become a whore, joining herself in the unholy union to the State through the sin of Incorporation. It could be because the American Church has become more concerned with filling their coffers and pews than with offending people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. (John 6:66) Perhaps it is because most pastors have traded in their calling for a career and love their semi-celebrity status. Whatever the reason, the American Church, in its present state, is compromised.
It is time for American Christians to wake up. The true gospel is offensive. We proclaim the One and only self-existing True Triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All other religions are false religions. That goes for Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Islam, Ekhart Tolle, Eastern Religions, Paganism, Gnosticism, Marxism, Feel-Good Churchianity, etc. We believe every word of the self-attesting Bible. We are willing to die for the cause of Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the only mediator between God and Man. We proclaim the message, "No King but Jesus!"
Christians are afraid to gather for worship. They are scared of COVID-19, of being traced, or being turned in if too many gather in one place. They are afraid to greet one another with a holy kiss, afraid of gathering together to sing hymns of praise, fearful of taking communion, afraid of baptizing, afraid of making disciples, afraid of preaching the gospel, afraid of praying for the sick... afraid afraid afraid afraid. Where in the Bible does it ever say His People are to give in to fear?
And there is a new fear now. It is the fear of being caught gathering. I've heard Christians say they are worried about being turned in. Can you believe it? There is a fear that if you meet in a home, a business, a church building, or a public place, the government will write your names down and make you disperse or, worse, arrest you.
I can't help but think about Theoden in the Lord of the Rings at Helms deep. While the demonic hoards march to destroy them, he asks, "How did it come to this?"
I also think about his words right before the battle, "And so it begins."
The question is, what are we going to do about it? Are we going to cower in our homes in fear? Are we going to let fear dictate our actions? Are we going to obey God or man?
The early Christians gathered in the catacombs under the streets of Rome while, above, they were fed to the lions or set on fire to light Nero’s orgies. The catacombs were a series of tomb tunnels. The Christians buried their dead there and eventually began to worship Jesus Christ in the catacombs because of the severe persecutions they suffered in the Roman Empire. I wonder if we will be forced to worship in the American catacomb equivalent. What that is, I do not know. Perhaps it is symbolic; we will have to begin to worship in secret, out of the watchful eye of nosey neighbors or intrusive government.
I am ready. I am willing to participate in a Church like this. I am prepared to help, organize, perhaps lead, or do whatever needs to be done to begin doing what God commands us to do as Christians. I am ready to participate again in worship where we pray, sing praises, read the word, share communion, baptize, correct, preach, and encourage.
I am ready for the American Catacomb Church.
What about you?
We find the Dominion Mandate for Bible-believing Christians in Genesis 1:26-28:
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
For Christians, this means that God has given us the responsibility to take dominion over the entire world. We have God's approval and authority to "fill the earth and subdue it." Add to this Christ's call in Matthew 28:19+20 to:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
And 2 Corinthians 10:3-6:
For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
While God called Christians to be separate from the world in holiness, He doesn't give us the option to isolate ourselves from the world physically. As Jesus said:
I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. John 17:14-15
Because of false piety and a lack of understanding of these and other Dominion affirming Biblical texts, Christians far too often vacate the world, leaving an "influence vacuum." As the old saying goes, "nature abhors a vacuum." Because of this, instead of taking Dominion over the arts, sciences, court systems, political offices, universities, and so on, Christians withdraw into isolated communities only to leave the world unoccupied.
As a result, anti-Christ people and philosophies have readily taken over virtually every facet of life. The greatest antithesis to Biblical Christianity has understood and intentionally implemented the Dominion Mandate for their own sinister ends.
The most dangerous of all are those espousing Cultural Marxism. Briefly, Cultural Marxism is an expansion of Classical Marxism, which focuses primarily on the economic philosophy of Karl Marx. Cultural Marxism is much more all-encompassing than Classical Marxism.
Ultimately, Cultural Marxism is about liberating humanity from the moral constraints of Biblical Christianity. The Bible prohibits same-sex intimacy, adultery in all forms, polygamy, bigamy, bestiality, pedophilia, and so on. God created man and woman in His image and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply; the Dominion Mandate!
The method Cultural Marxism employs to propagate its insidious agenda is through applying the Biblical Mandate. The plan has been and continues to be for those who oppose Biblical Christianity to infiltrate and dominate every known sphere of influence. As Voddie Bachem pointed out, their strategy is to take over the "robes" of society; professors, pastors, and judges, for example.
R.J. Rushdoony and the Christian Reconstructionists proposed the same tactic, taking over the "robes" of society. However, instead of a great "Amen" from the rest of the Church, Christian Reconstructionism has been vilified as patriarchal, extreme, and misguided.
In the meantime, Cultural Marxism is dominating the universities, media, churches, courts, arts, etc. They are putting Christians and Christianity to shame by their ardent intentionality to dominate the world for Self.
As the degeneration of our culture continues, so will the hostility toward Biblical Christianity. And just as Marxism tried to destroy Biblical Christianity through the reign of terror in anti-Christ regimes like the Soviet Union and Communist China, modern Marxists will not rest until Biblical Christianity is destroyed.
The good news, however, is the promise of Jesus Christ. He said that the "gates of hell" will not prevail against the Church. (Matthew 16:18) The image Christ was giving was not a Church that was cowering in the corner, battening down the hatches until the storm of hell subsided. Just the opposite. Hell is under attack, and its filthy gates are no match for the power and glory of the Risen Christ and His Bride.
Christians can no longer cower in corners. It is time for us to take up the battle cry and assault Cultural Marxism and any other "high place" (2 Corinthians 10:3-6) that dares to raise itself against the knowledge of God. Our weapons are not of the flesh (Ephesians 6), but they are weapons nonetheless and are worthless if left unused.
It is time for Christians to take back our country, our world for Christ. We must do it according to the means and methods of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom, which means we must take Dominion and occupy all walks of life for the glory of the crown rights of Jesus Christ.
Subscribe to our newsletter.
Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates.