Rick Perry, Jesus, and Empire

I read the story and watched the video at the following link (you may want to start the video at about 1:30):

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/11/rachel-maddow-rick-perry-_n_924262.html

Texas Governor Rick Perry (Texas' favorite executioner!), it is reported, is a part of a shady religious group called the New Apostolic Reformation. It is reported that this group claims to be acting on God's behalf to dominate the world through political and economic force. This may be sensationalism on Rachel Maddow's part, however after seeing which "evangelical" leaders Perry keeps close, I'm not so sure I doubt it.

The new prophets and apostles believe Christians--certain Christians--are destined to not just take "dominion" over government, but stealthily climb to the commanding heights of what they term the "Seven Mountains" of society, including the media and the arts and entertainment world. They believe they're intended to lord over it all. As a first step, they're leading an "army of God" to commandeer civilian government.

Talk about Rick Perry's prayer event that many see as his attempt to launch his run for presidency (which was endorsed by nuts like John Hagee, Bryan Fischer, Mike Bickle, and C. Peter Wagner; watch the video at the link for a very strange compilation of clips featuring these guys) has given the world a lot to say about Christians in America. (In my opinion, I can't listen to a guy like C. Peter Wagner without regarding him as a nut-job false-prophet. Judgmental on my part? Probably. But I am tired of Harold Camping-level hysteria produced by the right-wing's very skewed interpretation of the Scriptures.)

This is a bizarre idea. But it is something which, to be frank, isn't that far off from what many U.S. Christians seem to want. Groups like Focus on the Family spend their time lobbying and putting pressure on those in power to bend legislation to their will. It sometimes seems like the Church in America has been high-jacked by the Republican Party, which has been leveraging a supposed direct line to God in order to push voters to follow their politics.

Here is a video of a recent (dishonest) move which blew up in the face of Focus on the Family.



This brings to mind a video from a recent prayer meeting led by Michele Bachmann (obviously another Republican president hopeful) praying that God would forgive America for health care reform. Oh, brother:



Isn't it funny that everyone finds the Christian religion when they want power? Bachmann is a shining example of somebody who knows all the right(-wing) things to say to seem sincere.


True Christianity is a blatant rejection of Empire in all of its forms. One cannot honestly read Christ's Sermon on the Mount, for instance, without reaching this conclusion. This does not necessarily mean that Christians should remove themselves from politics. However, Jesus-worshippers need to start recognizing that the kingdom of God transcends politics (or any earthly establishment, for that matter). If I were to follow the Jesus of the Republican Party, I would get the feeling that he loves big business, hates homosexuals, and doesn't really care about much else.

This is what happens when Christians don't look at the Scriptures in an honest way and blindly follow their leaders down a two-issue road.

"The kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed...It is the smallest of all seeds...The kingdom of Heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour...The kingdom of Heaven is like a hidden treasure..." The son of God makes it clear to us over and over and over that the kingdom of Heaven is so far removed from earthly struggles. It never takes power by political or physical force. It is a hidden, unstoppable movement. It will be displayed in all of its glory in the Resurrection.

Signs that we're missing the point are the rampant consumerism in the Church and the very small contributions made by Christians to help the subjugated and the poor.

When one begins to behold the supremacy and sovereignty of Jesus Christ, they lose their desire to take power over others. They no longer want to enforce their own will on other people's lives. God's kingdom truly is upside-down.

For a few essential books on this topic, I suggest looking to the following:

Myth of a Christian Nation (Greg Boyd)
God's Politics (Jim Wallis)
The Kingdom of God is Within You (Leo Tolstoy)
Jesus for President (Shane Claiborne)
Jesus Wants to Save Christians (Rob Bell and Don Golden)
The Politics of Jesus (John Howard Yoder)

To get a good grasp on the contemporary concept of empire, look no further than Michael Hardt & Antonio Negri's (very tough but very rewarding) Empire.