Quite a strange admonishment from someone who believes reading and study is essential to Biblical leadership and cultural reconstruction. So why make the statement?
Reading vs Doing
The reason behind reading is to teach and then train individuals to DO SOMETHING with what they have learned. Reading apart from the application intent is useless in a world where accomplishment changes things, while reading, for reading sake does little, if anything culturally at all.
In an online issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, author Steve Toback explains.
"People learn from experience. We have textbooks and lectures in school, but without repeatedly solving work problems, conducting lab experiments, taking tests, writing papers (and getting graded feedback on all of it) we wouldn’t learn a blessed thing."
Christian Reconstruction is about applying Biblical models to each element of the culture in real world scenarios. It is based upon diligent doing, not empty talking. It is about building Biblical models and
CR is also about building coalitions across the nation, networking with them and sharing strategies and tactics. The Body of Christ does not work in a vacuum.
If I were to write a tactical playbook I may only publish one page at a time. Once the details of the first page was completed, then the second page would be published. The reason for this is that too many claiming Theonomic roots and the desire to see Christ’s Kingdom advance often fail to lay the foundational groundwork for its success. These Reconstructionists are not interested in laying down a Biblical foundation within their own person or families first. They would rather change the world than to change themselves. They do not understand that CR beings with the individual and then the family. Only then can it yield cultural increase. Reconstructionists first must be Christians before they are allowed to advance the Kingdom.
I have pastored for more than 25 years. Of those years I have been involved in CR for 22 of them. What I have witness is both distressing and dangerous to any Christian movement especially one with Theonomy and the Dominion mandate at its center.
Before any Kingdom work can be successful one must first understand the Scriptures. Too often individuals read Rushdoony, North, Bahnsen et al without actually understanding what Biblical Christianity is and what it demands. They do not understand who they are or what the Covenant demands of them. This is a formula for disaster, especially for those that learn their theology from blogs and FB posts and not from the Scriptures and the Historic Creeds of Christendom.
Yet, even when Biblical fundamentals are intact, there is still the tendency to look for quick results. CR is not a quick fix. It is not saving the world in one generation. It is a long and slow process that requires faith, tenacity, resolve and patience. It is the laying down of a foundation for the next several generations to build upon. It is about building a generational legacy that has Christ as the Center.
So what is the first step after the Biblical groundwork is met? How does one engage the culture? This is what I would recommend on that first page of the manual before anything else:
1. Get to know those in your community.
a. Visit store owners. Frequent their shops. Visit governing officials. Know the lawyers, sheriff, deputies, firemen, post master, clerks, etc.
2. Build report with everyone in your community from the least to the greatest.
a. Take the Commonwealth attorney out to lunch. Give him a copy of Law and Liberty.
b. Visit those in the county and town office. Bring the secretaries a box of cookies. Tell them you appreciate their work. Get to know your supervisors. hear their concerns. Ask if you can help in anyway.
3. Establish yourself as a person of integrity, wisdom, and cordiality. a. Be quick to listen, slow to speak. Don't dress like a bum. Present yourself as person of respect. 4. Observe. Gather intel. a. Go to town and county meetings. Send others to gather info so when the time comes to offer solutions you know the issues. 5. Become visible but not intrusive or arrogant. a. This takes time. It make take 10 or 20 years but you are paving the way for others that will come after you.
Here is the Key:
If you genuinely care about people you will be influential in their lives for good and a staple in your community. If you only care about yourself and how you can win them for Jesus they will find you out very quickly and your witness will be destroyed. Once you have established an honest report they will be willing to hear you even if they disagree because you have gained their respect. That is dominion, and that is the first step in CR.
