A Dominion Experiment: (Part 2)**
The Shepherding/Discipleship Movement
A Personal Account and Analysis
Copyright © 2002. By Robin Arnaud.  Used by Permission.
(Part 1 appeared in the June edition of Delivered! newsletter)

To this day, if you look carefully, you might still find some of the Lord's sheep limping back to their old feeding grounds in Fort Lauderdale Florida, gingerly peeking all around them before taking a step, and asking one another: "Is it safe? Can we come out now?"

You will also find the church in Fort Lauderdale more sharply divided now than in most other communities, and only a few dying remnants of the old "glory days" of the great experiment. New Wine magazine is nowhere to be found. Memorial Baptist church has closed it's doors, and the once-grand Governor's Club hotel no longer hosts crowds of itchy-eared Charismatics. Charismatics in Fort Lauderdale, as a matter of fact, are scattered into several "independent" churches. Many have found themselves mending in the spiritual care of orthodox churches, thank God. But many have ended up like my brother: Severely damaged by the failure of the church to define the Kingdom of God for what it is - the spiritual reign of Christ in His people. It is not a carnal, physical imposition of righteousness from without. The Kingdom of God is within us. It is not imposed from outside. It is not physical nor temporal nor political. Citizenship is not earned through the obedience of the people to earthly "shepherds," but through the obedience of the One (Romans 5:19) who has qualified us for citizenship in His kingdom.

May God grant that the Church will never forget the tragic lessons of ill-considered but well-intentioned attempts to "bring in" the Kingdom of God, to unify and perfect it so as to hasten Christ's return. But only the Holy Spirit can create and perfect such unity and power in the Church. The nature of the Kingdom is spiritual! Human attempts to make it "real" by imposing man-made inventions have always resulted in abuse and tragedy. This Shepherding/Discipleship experiment is just one recent example of it.

But there are others, emerging and growing even now. One has even found a home and a following among traditionally Reformed folk. Again the lines that Scripture draws between the earthly and the spiritual - between the temporal and the eternal - are being blurred by the same seductive appeal of "Kingdom Now" dominion teaching. Theonomy is just a new application of this same dominion theology that birthed the destructive Shepherding / Discipleship movement. Theonomy seeks to "bring in" the Kingdom, to "make it real in the here and now" and to hasten the return of Christ (it is dependent upon a post-millennial eschatology) by ushering in a physical, earthly, temporal, political expression of the Kingdom of God.

Their method is different from the Shepherding movement, but their goal is the same. While the Shepherding movement sought to "bring in the kingdom" through the discipleship of individuals under a canopy of submission to earthly "shepherds," theonomy seeks to "bring in the Kingdom" by applying the Law of God to society. But again, the distinctions between God's moral law, His decreative law, and even the civil laws of ancient Israel (history's only true theonomic government) are blurred or eliminated when applied to people and to society.

On the surface, "Reformed" theonomy seems less threatening than previous dominion-driven experiments have been. But looking back through history since the first century AD, one can see very clearly that all such attempts to "bring in the Kingdom" - to make it somehow "real"and earthly - have resulted in untold suffering imposed on whole nations and even groups of nations, until they collapsed from within because the "kingdom" was imposed from without. From Charlamagne's reign over "the Holy Roman Empire" to the smaller, lesser-known but just as destructive Shepherding/Discipleship movement, history is replete with examples of this folly. Every attempt at it in history has failed. And yet the idea continually resurfaces and finds adherents. But it is based on a false premise.

It appeals so seductively to by our own inner groanings and eagerness for the revealing of the children of God! Paul describes it:

         "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the    creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our body (Rom 8:19-23, NASB)."

We don't want to wait for God to accomplish this in His own time and in His own way. We can hardly resist the temptation to hurry this up, to relieve our groanings and longings for the liberation of all creation from the curse of sin. If we are not careful, we will lose hope in God's providence (Romans 8:28-30) and take matters into our own hands. Yet any visible outward glory we can create can't compare with the glory that God is preparing. And besides, hope that is seen is not hope at all, but unseen hope produces perseverance (Rom 8:24-25).

It's easy to see why dominion theology is so appealing. It's easy to see why so many people, inwardly groaning for the revelation of the children of God, lose patience (Rom 8:25) and assign themselves the task of "bringing in the Kingdom." But any attempt to do so is not only unbiblical, but also harmful, damaging, and ultimately doomed to failure. Whatever new forms this error takes, they must be avoided! And Christians must be warned to stay clear of any such teachings.
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