In some additional fallout from
the recent discussion between Ben Shapiro and John MacArthur, the effects of
what could be called MacArthur’s truncated Christianity are apparent with those
he’s reached.
As
many of you know, late last week Shapiro, a Jew, and MacArthur had an hour long discussionon issues of religion,
politics, social conscience and activism. I’ll not rehash that whole discussion
as that has already been done effectively here.
Two
days later, Ben Shapiro and public intellectual, Jordan Peterson, discussed these
issues further on The Rubin Report. They discussed the difference between
Christianity and Judaism as it relates to effecting positive change in the
world, portending to human flourishing.
The
Shapiro-Peterson exchange came to my attention because a MacArthur fan
proclaimed it on social media triumphantly as some kind of victory for
MacArthur, alleging Shapiro had “correctly regurgitated the gospel” to Jordan
Peterson only two days after talking with MacArthur! Regurgitated is certainly
an interesting word choice but we’ll leave that well enough alone.
Having actually watched the
Shapiro-Peterson video, what becomes evidently clear is that after an hour-long
discussion with John MacArthur about Christianity and the gospel, Shapiro now
concludes that protestant, “faith-based” Christianity is relatively useless for
the world in which we now live. Shapiro is now emboldened in this
conclusion. He doubles down on the perspective that since Judaism requires one
to “take responsibility for one’s own sin” and obliges each Jew to strive hard
to make up for their sin and live better to earn God’s approval, Judaism
(allegedly) has a stronger motivation for righteous action in the world,
whereas Christianity psychologically absolves the
Christian of striving to make this world better now because the fundamental
problem is solved through the substitutionary atoning sacrifice of Christ and
the removal of sin from our record. Hell is avoided, eternal security is
procured. Peterson responded to Shapiro’s challenge with agreement that this
psychological dynamic is a problem for Protestant Christianity (Eastern
Orthodoxy and works-based Roman Catholicism get more of a pass).
Can you blame Shapiro? The gospel that was
delivered to him by John MacArthur was described in such a truncated fashion as
to communicate that the sole purpose of the Gospel was to save souls from hell
for eternity—an “atonement only” gospel that sidelines a large part of
the Kingdomof
the Messiah and consigns that Kingdom to a future reality that has no bearing
on the here and now.
Remember,
MacArthur had over an hour to explain the Gospel. Nowhere in that interview did
MacArthur explain how through the atonement we are redeemed to be faithful and
obedient servants of God in the kingdom of God and that we can be restored to
succeed in fulfilling God’s greater plan of fulfilling the dominion mandate to
flourish in all the earth and to extend the justice of God to every nation.
Nowhere was it explained that the propagation of Christianity and obedience to
the Kingdom of God is the only thing that will bring about real positive change
in the world—even though he was asked about these very things and was given
opportunity. In fact, the opposite was communicated. We can’t even expect this
to happen.
Certainly,
if pressed, MacArthur would have been able to make the case that even if the
Kingdom is not arrived in his dispensational premillennial conception,
Christians should still seek peace with their neighbor, to do good and vote to
that end. But we have to understand that the truncated Gospel of the atonement
only, hell-fire-escape message actually does
damage to the acceptance of the Gospel. God-haters are given
vindication for their objection that Christianity does not include a
fundamental component that has immediate relevance to neighborly justice and
human flourishing on the earth in the here and now.
MacArthur
told Shapiro that if Jesus Christ came to abolish evil in the world, then
Christ failed. What does this say to Shapiro? That the Gospel is fundamentally
and foundationally irrelevant to the realization of justice on the earth in the
here and now. Of course, it is true Jesus Christ didn’t come to end all
injustice immediately at
the moment of his atonement and resurrection. But the advancing heavenly
Kingdom that the Messiah brought, the authority over all the nations he
inherited, and the commission to disciple the nations he set in motion
guarantee that the kingdom will progressively bring justice upon the earth.
That was always the promise of the Kingdom of the Messiah. This includes both
eternal justice, procured by satisfying the righteous wrath of God through the
atonement, and the
redemption of sinners to a mission to “heavenize” the earth as the nations are
footstooled. This is why we pray that God’s will would be done on the earth as
it is in heaven.
Christians keep getting tricked into
believing the misguided notion that the most effective gospel presentation is
one where we convince the unbeliever that our message of good news won’t upset
the present order of the world, but will help the unbeliever escape evil in
the world to be whisked away to the mystical land of clouds and harps. We keep
believing for some reason that this will allegedly remove obstacles to the
acceptance of Christ. The idea is that the hope of the Christian church is to
set our eyes on someone to rapture us out of the sinking ship while Christ then
unilaterally does the work of setting up the kingdom, apart from the work of
the Holy Spirit working through the church.
We
forget that the image of God, however warped in the unbeliever, is still
stamped upon them to produce the desire to see progress and human flourishing
on the earth. The gospel
has immediate relevance to this here and now, and the Image of God resonates
with that as well. Sure, the unbeliever wants to achieve this
flourishing in their Christless rebellion, but the innate desire to build,
progress, and achieve is still part of what God designed for good in man. When
we present a Kingdomless King, and when we forget what the word “Christ”
actually means, we implicitly lie about God’s purpose for the world in the
Gospel.
Just
like the Apostle Paul, more people need to resolve to know nothing except Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. But who is Christ? Jesus Christ is the Messiah. The
Messiah is the promised King. The King has a kingdom. The Kingdom has a law.
The law is the standard of justice for the earth and its good news. Knowing
Jesus Christ and him crucified means that you know the totality of the
revelation of this Christ, his atoning work and the Kingdom that he inherited
and you are able to proclaim this to the world.
Sadly,
Ben Shapiro now possesses and is transmitting to millions MacArthur’s own
truncated Gospel which misguides the world about the blessing of Christianity in
the here and now. The truth is that the Messiah is a warrior for justice in
society, and that is very good news both now and forever.
Give
the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son!
May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!
May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!
In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!
For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.
Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day!
May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!
May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!
The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended (Psa. 72).
May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice!
Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness!
May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!
May they fear you while the sun endures, and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass, like showers that water the earth!
In his days may the righteous flourish, and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!
May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!
For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.
Long may he live; may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day!
May there be abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave; may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field!
May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed!
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!
The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended (Psa. 72).
For in Christ all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell, and through Christ to RECONCILE TO HIMSELF ALL THINGS,
whether ON EARTH OR IN HEAVEN, making peace by the blood of his cross (Col. 1:19–20).
And he who was seated on the
throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new” (Rev. 21:5)
Jordan Wilson is a nobody, pursuing
the Great Commission with his wife and children, with a long-term
postmillennial outlook. He is a contributer at DatPostmil, New
City Times, and The American Vision. You can find his personal
blog at www.thefloatingaxehead.com.
https://americanvision.org/17217/ben-shapiro-jordan-peterson-and-the-sad-consequences-of-the-truncated-gospel/