From the beginning of time and the Tower of Babel there have been different global agendas. Currently, we see the globalist World Economic Forum’s Great Reset Plan and New World Order. In every instance, there is an attempt to usurp God and His global agenda, the kingdom of heaven coming to earth.
Ten Point Plan to Dethrone God
In 1975 the New Age movement officially went public with the promotion of a Ten Point Plan designed to bring about a new world order and one world religion. Its stated purpose was ‘to change Christian tradition or redeem the nations of Christian tradition’, with the ultimate objective of dethroning God and Christianity. This ten point strategy was as follows:
- take God and prayer out of the educational system
- reduce parental authority over their children
- destroy the Judeo-Christian family structure or the traditional Christian family structure (by promoting sexual promiscuity and by using the media and advertising to promote sex)
- if sex is free, then make abortion legal and accessible
- make divorce easy and legal, free people from the concept of marriage for life
- make homosexuality an alternative lifestyle
- debase art (including painting, music, drama, and films)
- use media to promote and change mindset
- create an interfaith movement
- get governments to make all these laws and get the church to endorse these changes.
It should serve as a wake-up call for the Church to see the changes that have taken place within western society over the past fifty years in relation to the above list.1 The values that built the West are being tested to breaking point. We forget the checks and balances that bolster our democracies at our peril, writes Kenneth Roth, former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch.
7 Point Plan for Spiritual Battle
There are no easy, overnight solutions to turn the tide and recover territory, gained by our Christian forebears, that has now been lost. However, here is my seven point strategic plan to combat the intense spiritual battle we are now facing.
1. Recognise it’s wartime
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
The Bible makes clear we are in a spiritual battle. We are engaged in a clash between two kingdoms. Right now, we need to recognise that the battle has intensified. Christianity, Christian values and Christian freedoms are under severe attack.
Cultural Marxism came into being after Karl Marx’s death and recognises the importance culture has in bringing about change. This neo-Marxist philosophy teaches that there is no such thing as absolute truth, but deems truth to be relative and flexible to any individual. It also teaches the need to be overly critical, hence what is referred to as Critical Theory.
Those pushing a Cultural Marxist agenda seek to capture the culture through ‘the long march through the institutions’.2 Ironically, they are setting about discipling the nations! This is the very thing we as followers of Jesus were commissioned to do (see Matthew 28:18-20)! It seeks to win the hearts and minds of people by the gradual transformation of culture.
Cultural Marxism is full of anti-Christian morals and beliefs, and promotes anti-Christian agendas. It is intent in destroying the concept of a traditional, nuclear family. It promotes the sexualisation of children and redefining marriage away from God’s design of one man and one woman . It attacks Judeo-Christian values that are seen as breeding inequality and oppression, and works towards a classless and genderless society, where the ‘victims’ are finally given justice.
Western capitalist societies which have been influenced and shaped by Christianity must be attacked. Literature and history should be rewritten. Those who have expressed inappropriate remarks are to be vilified and ‘cancelled’. Interestingly, Karl Marx is exempt from this treatment, in spite of the fact that he is documented as having made racist comments.3
The Cultural Marxist philosophy has for years been taught in schools and universities in order to capture the younger generation. The media and the arts and entertainment world is also promoting it to the point that it has become very popular or accepted in mainstream culture. The ultimate objective is for it to become the dominant philosophy in the western world.
2. Recognise we are on the winning side
“When He [Jesus] had disarmed the rulers and authorities [those supernatural forces of evil operating against us], He made a public example of them [exhibiting them as captives in His triumphal procession], having triumphed over them through the cross” (Colossians 2:15).
The powers of darkness have been defeated. Jesus took them captive on the Cross, where He disarmed them and took away their authority (Matthew 28:18). Their defeat was not finalised and they continue to operate, but the decisive blow has been dealt.4
We have been armed for battle (Psalm 18:39; Ephesians 6:10-18). Wartime is terrible and there are casualties. But, the outcome is guaranteed.
“There shall be no end to the increase of His government and of peace, [He shall rule] on the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From that time forward and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:7).
3. Don’t retreat onto the back foot. We have to fight.
“Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed. Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked” (Isaiah 59:14-15).
As Christians we want to be nice, welcoming and grace-centred. But, in doing so we often retreat into silence. We watch from the side-lines. However, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer stated,
‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.
Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.’
In a post-truth world, truth has fallen in the streets. Society no longer has a benchmark, a plumb-line. There is no moral framework. As in the time of the Judges, everyone is doing as everyone sees fit (Judges 21:25). There is a strong push to privatise faith and keep it out of the public arena.
However, as followers of Jesus we are called to share the truth in love that truly sets people free and causes society to flourish. We are to counter the narrative with the truth and highlight the Christian legacy where the positive results from following God’s ways can be seen.
4. Engage but not in the ways of the world
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
To be clear, this doesn’t mean as Christians we just use spiritual weapons such as prayer and declaring the Word of God, as important as they are. We need to engage in many different ways, including activism, campaigning, social media, parent teacher associations, writing to politicians, and just being willing to counter the mainstream narrative when necessary.
As we do so, rather than resort to the world’s methods, as citizens of God’s Kingdom we are to demonstrate a better way, the way of the kingdom. Love not hate. Truth not lies. Bless not curse. Serve not control. Forgive not revenge.
5. Encourage each other – keep up morale
“But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness” (Hebrews 3:13)
Morale needs to be sustained. The mental and moral condition of soldiers is crucial. Courage and endurance are vital for facing the hardships and stresses of battle.
In the Old Testament we see examples of the enemy’s tactics to damage morale. For example, when Sanballat, a Samaritan leader, heard that the Jews were rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, he became furious and ridiculed the Jews. In the presence of his associates and the army of Samaria, he said, “What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring the stones back to life from those heaps of rubble—burned as they are?’ Tobiah the Ammonite, who was at his side, said, ‘Whatever they build, if even a fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!”
In response, Nehemiah called out to God and prayed that He would defend His people. Furthermore, he sought to inspire and rouse the hearts of those who were rebuilding the broken-down walls to continue with the work. “Hear us, O our God, for we are despised. Turn their insults back on their own heads. Give them over as plunder in a land of captivity. Do not cover up their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight, for they have thrown insults in the face of the builders. So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart…” (Nehemiah 4:1-6).
What we read about concerning Old Testament battles, we engage in both the physical and spiritual realms today. The enemy will use propaganda tactics – wear people down, demonise opposition, name calling, clever use of language, suppression of the truth.5
6. Lay aside differences and come together as one
“I [Jesus] am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me” (John 17:20-21).
The world uses diversity to divide and destroy. However, as the Body of Christ, we are to demonstrate unity, not division. With thousands of different Christian denominations divided over differences in doctrine and emphasis, we have not done a good job with this.
However, in wartime, even opposing political parties come together in unity to fight a common enemy. The enemy seeks to divide and conquer for there is a power in agreement. God’s blessing is bestowed when His people come together in unity (Psalm 133). We reach a new place of maturity when we are no longer like children that fuss over the things that don’t really matter (see Ephesians 4:13-14).
When we stay divided, we become marginalised and lose our voice in the world. We lose something of our Christian identity in the world. Instead, we can express unity in diversity and celebrate our God-given differences, recognising that they all demonstrate a different facet of our God.
7. Trust God and have faith
“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12).
Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, felt overwhelmed as he faced a triple enemy attack. His natural reaction was to fear but then he turned towards God for help. Instead of organising his army, he organises a national time of prayer and fasting. He begins by acknowledging God’s supremacy over all other gods and nations, as well as His absolute sovereignty as Lord over Heaven and Earth.
Although he is expected to have all the answers, Jehoshaphat humbly confesses his reliance on God to deliver them from the impending crisis. The story then goes on to highlight the importance of praise. As they praise God, the enemies are ambushed (v22).
As we see what is happening in western culture it is easy to feel fearful and to wonder what can be done to reverse the trend. I believe along with the other six points, we need to remember the lordship of Jesus Christ over culture, all human agendas, evil powers and authorities. At the birth of the Church the early believers declared the shortest and earliest of creeds – ‘Jesus is Lord’. We need to do the same today. In all our necessary engagement, our reliance must remain on God.
1 Although they view their strategy as being successful in the West, having realised that Christianity has migrated to the non-Western world, the leaders of the New Age movement are now directing resources to the effective targeting of non-Western nations.
2 The long march through the institutions is a slogan coined by socialist student activist Rudi Dutschke around 1967 to describe his strategy for establishing the conditions for revolution: subverting capitalist domination of society by entering institutions such as the professions. The phrase “long march” is a reference to the prolonged struggle of the Chinese communists, which included a physical Long March of their army across China (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_march_through_the_institutions).
3 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10724839/DOUGLAS-MURRAY-dont-Left-care-Karl-Marx-vicious-racist.html
4 The Kingdom of God has both present and future aspects. It is both now and not yet. An illustration from history can help our understanding.
There are two significant dates related to the end of World War 2. The first one took place on 6th June, 1944 when Britain and its allies landed on the beaches of Normandy in northern France at the start of a major offensive against the Germans. This is remembered in history as ‘D-Day’, a military term used for the day of the actual landing and invasion. This signified the beginning of the end of the war. However, the war in Europe did not end until nearly one year later, on 7th May, 1945. This day is remembered as ‘VE-Day’ (Victory in Europe). Although the victory at Normandy effectively broke the back of the Axis powers, the war didn’t officially end until almost a year later. Furthermore, more people died in between those dates than during any other period of the war. The battle was still raging but the end had begun. Victory was inaugurated on D-Day, but wasn’t fully consummated until VE-Day, with the surrender of the occupying German forces and the end of Hitler’s Third Reich.
While not a perfect parallel, in terms of God’s kingdom, D-Day occurred with the arrival of Jesus to Earth. The Kingdom drew near and gave a crushing and decisive blow to the enemy through Jesus’ death on the Cross and resurrection. Victory was inaugurated on that day and Satan was defeated. However, the enemy still persists and the warfare continues. Final and complete victory will not occur until Jesus returns again to establish the fulness of God’s Kingdom on Earth. In the meantime, the Church-ekklesia is left to occupy and advance the Kingdom as we wait for our King’s return.
5 For a more detailed look at propaganda tactics, see my blog: https://catalystmin.org/learning-from-history-before-its-too-late/
(Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash)