Election thoughts (and the dangers of Christian triumphalism)

New Warhorn Media post by Nathan Alberson:

I have frequently felt insane this year, and I worry about the election more than I should, so this episode was a help to me.

But another place where I have felt insane is that there has always been something about Cross Politic and the Fight Laugh Feast network that has just felt off to me. It’s why I’m not a regular listener. But this podcast helped put into words this vague feeling I have had that something just isn’t right.

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I’m glad to hear that, Ben. :slight_smile:

Good thoughts, I generally agree .

My side note is: I found Pastor Tim and you through CrossPolitic :wink:

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I’m sure you’re not the only one. :blush:

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Me too :slight_smile:

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Cross Politic is filling a void in the marketplace: modern American mainline evangelicalism has nothing to say to the public life. And most of our people love to have it so (from political commentators like David French to theological heroes of mine like John Piper).

The reason they exist is because the unwritten public curriculum is currently that Christianity is true between your ears and nowhere else.

I think they’ve been practicing some tribal science lately (the Bible doesn’t say whether or not masks help slow the spread of respiratory viruses in large indoor crowds). But I still have a lot of affection for them for the same reason that I have affection for the public ministry of John Piper or Warhorn: they talk and act like knowing and obeying God is important.

Have you guys thought about having a politics show? Or a show about modern American law? It seems like there are folks in the Warhorn universe that could do a great job with something like that.

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Disclaimer: I’ve listened to quite a bit of these guys and been up to Moscow to meet some of them.

I think Jay is right in that they provide water in a desert for those of us on the right end of the spectrum. They have also been educational, pointing many to the readings over Gary Demar, Gary North, Rushdoony, etc. for an underpinning of /why/ should we want limited govt., taxes below 10% etc.

/No one/ in the mainstream talks in these terms. No one. Of course there’s the mainsteam media, and the overton window there is so slim you could make a paper airplane from it. But even in the church you have essentially zero teaching on political engagement. 99% of it is “go vote to slow this world sliding into hell”, but otherwise nothing.

Even those Christians who get a little more politically saavy might read John Locke or Edmond Burke, who tend to strip their political theory of any bible support, so we’re still stuck in secular/libertarian land.

They do not have an overly rosy view of the world, afaict. Yes, they are post-millenial and think that the world will be saved (John 3:17), but also think there are fits and starts. One area of the world might be exploding with Christian growth (South America, China), while others are declining (USA, Europe), but that over time the overall trajectory is up. Yet they believe the way it spreads is through the blood of the martyrs. Not rosy for them, except in the long view.

So yes, they are optimistic in the long run but have no illusions about America’s survival. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t but the world is still being saved. But because of the long view, they take joy in the present. We can still work to recover what we had here, and why not do it joyfully?

As far as tone, they are a bit Martin-lutherish at times, calling out soft evangelicals for their softness. I happen to like it, but others may not. I think if there were a specific occasion where a line was crossed, and one of the guys were confronted on it, they would repent.

The body has many parts, and I think these guys must be the spleen.

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