Liberating Planet Earth

i’%e Liberation of the Individual 71
Summary
What we have here is a conflict in worldviews. The dominion
religion of the Bible cannot be reconciled with the power religion
‘ of the Marxists. They both aim at regeneration, both personal
and institutional. They both hold out a vision of a better life on
earth. They both offer men hope that their efforts will count for
something, not just on the day of judgment, but in history. The
escape religion has little to offer either the dominionists or the
power-seekers.
The differences between the two systems are many. Who is
sovereign in the process of ethical transformation, God or man?
Who changes men’s hearts, God or man? What is the means of
personal transformation, the preaching of the gospel of personal,
individual salvation, or the imposition by force of an elitist, topdown
revolutionary cadre? Is the revolution an inside-out process,
or an outside-in process?
Both groups want to alter existing social institutions. Domin-
‘. Ion religion preaches steady transformation by means of dominion;
power religion preaches a need for rapid change, including
revolution. Satan knows that his time is short. He also knows that
God cuts off the growth of his kingdoms every few generations,
transferring their wealth to Christians. Israel inherits Canaan.
The problem comes when, incredibly, the two groups switch
their time perspective. Christians in this century have waited for
Jesus to return and overnight setup His total kingdom. Communists,
on the other hand, work long and hard, generation after
generation, to establish the conditions favorable for Communist
revolution. The Christians have become short-run in ,perspective,
while the Communists have become long-run. Thus, the Communists
have made far more of a mark on the twentieth century,
and have spread their control very rapidly. Christians, thinking
short run and thinking other-worldly, have been on the defensive.
If, as now seems possible, increasing numbers of Christians
return in the next few years to their original heritage of futureorientation,
hard work, long-term planning, and self-discipline,