Discipleship and Dominion: A Hopeful View of History
by Tait Zimmerman, August 3, 2006
Vision Forum did a wonderful job of bringing together many heroes of the faith for its first-ever History of the World Mega-Conference, men who sacrificed their time to impart a treasure trove of information, and for this I am very grateful.
The conference was much better than I could have imagined. The speakers all seemed to have a good grasp on their subjects, and during each lecture I attended, it seemed as if they were only revealing the tip of the iceberg of all that they knew on the topic at hand. The only frustrating thing was that I could only attend one of the four continuously running lectures at a time!
While there were many highlights at the event, there are a number of key points that really hit home to me. First, Doug Phillips made the interesting point that part of man’s original sin was his rejection of educational discipleship. Adam rejected an approach to knowledge that involved walking alongside God for an approach to learning which was devoid of relationships and centered on efficiency.
Dr. Marshall Foster gave a powerful speech about the effectiveness of the family. He pointed us to Exodus 20:5-6, which explicitly states that God will judge the ungodly within the third and fourth generations, and that God will bless the descendants of the righteous unto a thousand generations. Thus, we as believers have an unfair advantage! Dr. Foster went on to detail his historical research that showed the providential destruction of the seed of apostate after apostate. From Caesar to Hitler, the dreams of evil men have been thwarted on a multi-generational level. God’s unfailing secret weapon for the transformation of cultures in every age is the dominion family carefully and dutifully passing on to the next generation its living faith.
A related thought I had is this: the idea of faith implies a belief in victory. In an age when Christianity has largely accepted a mindset of future defeat and resorted to a hermit-like abandon of culture in anticipation of the Second Coming, we need to hear the words of Paul: “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). God’s ways work, and when we obey His plans, we can look forward to future success.
Geoffrey Botkin gave a great talk on the history of the modern educational system. One profound thing he said was this: “Big government means small men.” When man gives up his primary responsibilities to learn, teach, grow in the Lord, or govern himself to an outside institution — whether it be school, church, or state — he thereby becomes less than God intends him to be, which is a vice-regent, or sub-ruler of creation, and instead ends up a spineless effeminate follower, blown about with every breeze that society sends his way.
One of the underlying themes I heard emphasized throughout the conference was the dominion mandate. Simply put, the doctrine of dominion is this: we were not saved to glorify ourselves, for our benefit, or to feel good. We were saved to glorify Christ. And the way we glorify Christ is by bringing every thought, every opinion, and every aspect of life, society, and culture into captivity to our Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. As redeemed man, we do not what we want to do, but the will of Christ as revealed in His Word in every area of life. We are saved not to be served, but to serve. This calls for hard work. This calls for the studying the Word of God as essential to all that we do.
The dominion mandate assumes that the man in the field who faithfully plants his crops to the glory of God is just as religious as the man who has been through seminary and dedicated himself to “Christian work.” The doctrine of dominion sees no distinction between “Christian work” and “secular work,” but sees every area of life as an area of Christian dominion.
As I listened to the lectures at the History of the World Mega-Conference, I began to realize that a proper understanding of the past, present, and future is crucial to laying the foundation for effective dominion-taking and a multi-generational vision. Looking at the past, we are encouraged as we see God’s faithfulness and providential hand towards those who seek after His ways and do His will. In the present, we labor diligently in obedience with the hope that we run not as one beating against the air, but in assurance of future success.
I pray that everyone who attended the History of the World Mega-Conference was as encouraged as I was, and that the lessons we learned there will be effectively translated into our everyday lives.