The Gospel According to Sojourners: The Theory of Revolution

There is so much information overload out there, that unless you knew the proverbial frog before he jumped into the proverbial pot, you might be overwhelmed in keeping up, and so  I am going to take a few minutes to help you sort out the latest trend blowing through the church.

For those who remember the old “Dragnet” TV show, allow me to “reinvent” Joe Friday: “The story you are about to hear is true. None of the names have been changed – and the only thing I’m interested in protecting is the gospel of Jesus Christ”.  Let’s dive in.

Jim Wallis will be one of the keynote speakers at Lifest this July. (Lifest is a large music fest that takes place in Oshkosh, Wisconsin every summer, featuring the latest artists from the Christian community, as well as various speakers. On it’s own website, it says it expects up to 70,000 attendees over the course of the  weekend, which in this area, covers a considerable section of the population.)

If we are going to do any critical thinking at all on this subject, we really need to get a kodak moment of “the big picture”.

So, in my desire to be thorough on this subject, I read nearly 50 different articles about him and his activities over the last 4 decades, by many different writers -some by himself and his associates, others by both Christian and secular observers. I also read his book, The Great Awakening, because I  don’t want anyone who might be in the sound of my voice to think that I have not taken the time myself to get inside our subject’s head. In reality, anyone with internet access could probably have all the info they need on him within 10 minutes – he is not shy about his agenda.

So who is Jim Wallis?

For nearly 40 years, he has expressed himself through an organization called, “Sojourners”. He was raised in an evangelical family in Detroit, and attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity school, but his radical political views made it impossible for him to finish there. [1]

At that time, he also founded an anti-capitalist magazine called, “The Post-American” in which he called for the redistribution of wealth and an economy managed by the government. He also experimented for a season with communal living in search of a utopian lifestyle.

In 1975, he moved his work to WashingtonDC and renamed it Sojourners. He wasn’t just against the Vietnam war, he rejoiced in America’s defeat there – there is a big difference – showing his leftist sympathies by publicly criticizing the Vietnamese and Hmong refugees who fled that communist regime (we called them “boat people” back then), by claiming they were leaving to support their consumer habit in other lands…that being greedy capitalists made it just too hard to live under a dictatorship. [2] Where is the “liberal compassion” in those sentiments?

He supported the Sandinista Communists in their attempt to take over Nicaragua in the 80s, actively participating in resistance against the American military – AND working side by side in this cause with none other than Jeremiah Wright, the radical anti-American Chicago preacher who was our president’s pastor for 20 years.

Wallis also supported the FMLN, a communist terror group from El Salvador itching to spread their Marxist revolution throughout South America. The word “traitor” does come to mind at this point. [3]

In 1983, the organization, “Accuracy in Media” published a lengthy book on the far left policies of Wallis and his organization, documenting 53 political positions of Sojourners on such issues as Israel’s right to exist, terrorism, socialism, capitalism, human rights, etc  – and compared their positions on these subjects with those of the Soviet Union. In all 53 position statements, it was found that Sojourners’ views were completely in line with the views of hardline Soviets.

Joan Harris, who did the reporting on this, observed, “Sojourners never criticizes a Marxist state. The US and the West are the only violators of human rights to them because they are capitalist. Marxists, by Sojourners’ own definition, cannot violate human rights.”  Wallis calls himself a “Progressive” – but keep in mind that “progressive” is as far left as you can go politically without actually taking a right turn in the process.[4]

Wallis believes that Castro’s Cuba, Chavez’s Venezuela, and Ortega’s Nicaragua are the Marxist paradises the US should emulate. It is not extreme at all to say, that one of his goals is the end of the US as we have known it — “Post-Americanism” finally realized. So, after being arrested by the US government 22 times in 40 years, where has he soft-landed? As spiritual advisor to President Obama.[5] Now, with the help of our own government, he hopes to turn mere ideology into policy. He is a living, breathing advocate for total government control, complete socialism, or “totalitarian socialism”.

Wallis has known Obama for over 20 years, and during the “Reverend Wright” damage control days, he was right there advising him on how to spin it, and helping him draft many “faith based initiatives”, to make the far left appear to have some form of religion, to sell the church the idea that here is a spiritual alternative to the now defunct Religious Right, which Wallis eulogizes endlessly in his book.

So, in light of all this, allow me to ask a question at this point: why is this man speaking at a local Christian festival aimed primarily at our youth?

In their own words, Sojourners’ Mission statement is this: “founded in 1971, our mission is to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church and the world.”

What this is Social Justice that is supposed to transform our churches, even us as individuals? Doesn’t the Holy Spirit do the transforming work in all things? The dictionary defines it as, “The equitable distribution of advantages, assets, and benefits among all members of a society.” Without turning this into political science 101, I’ll keep it simple by saying that this is also the definition for “social-ism”: a  government-controlled economy and the redistribution of wealth.

If you were of the impression that social justice is simply caring for the disadvantaged, then you need to upgrade your thinking on it or you will risk being deceived by today’s definition of the term. After all, who among us who claims to know God would ever be against reaching out to the poor and alleviating suffering however we could?  Case in point, Haiti. A healthy church will naturally care for “the least of these”. But Wallis takes any collective sense of moral responsibility we may have for the disadvantaged and redefines and manipulates it for his own agenda.

This is the manipulation, and this is important – keep this in mind when you watch the extreme changes going on in our country today – Wallis’ Social Justice turns all the political hot button issues of the day into moral issues with a divine, biblical mandate. Everything from the economy, jobs and education, to healthcare, global warming, race issues and immigration – now carries with it the moral imperative of fairness, equity, and validity – and that mindset is responsible for our current administration’s frenzy to push through legislation on all the above.

And if you question this new global village moral imperative, I have no doubt your Christianity will be called into question as well at some point. This “new morality” is radically changing our country as we speak, and has been for some time via organizations like ACORN.  But you might be asking, what does this have to do with the church?

Social Justice turns on something called  the Social Gospel. What is the Social Gospel? And did Glenn Beck realize he was signing up for an endless war of words with Wallis when he recently called him on his evil mix of Marxism and the bible?

Here’s the comment that got Glenn into hot water with Wallis last month:  “This (social justice) is a complete per-version of the gospel…I beg you, look for the words, ‘social justice’ on your church’s website. If you find it, run as fast as you can”. [6] Now, Glenn and I part ways quite a bit theologically, but I have to give him credit for seeing this new religion of works and collective guilt and collective-ism for what it is. He is one of the few who actually does.

The roots of the social gospel go back to the 19^th and 20^th centuries. That was when many Protestant denominations took on liberal theology, which includes  the post-millennial view that Jesus cannot return until mankind has brought justice to the earth by ridding itself of all social evils. At that time slavery, temperance, women’s rights, child labor, and equity for the working stiffs who were caught in the industrial revolution’s 12 hour work days were the new causes of the liberal churches.

Wallis believes he was born in the wrong century and says so in his book – and is longing for those early days of social justice awareness, or ‘Great Awakenings’ as they were called – and puts them on a par with true Holy Spirit – led revivals;  hence the name of his book, “The Great Awakening”- the one he is calling for today.

TA McMahon, in his article called, “The Shameful Social Gospel”, warns of a gospel that is being tinkered with by some who call themselves evangelicals but in reality are ashamed of the true gospel, presenting one to the world that is more palatable, political, and ecumenical. This has been the primary gospel of the mainline Protestant denominations throughout the 20^th century, and still is today. It’s popularity rose and fell with the times; if you are old enough you experienced a wave of it during the civil rights era of Martin Luther King and Vietnam. Just listen to the oldies channel long enough, and you will hear of the many social and moral causes of the ‘60s.

Heretic Emergent guru Brian McLaren says this: “I think our future will require us to join humbly and charitably with people of other faiths – Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and secularists in pursuit of peace, environmental stewardship and justice for all people, things that matter greatly to the heart of God.” TA says this: “No, what matters to the heart of God is that all should come to repentance and believe the true Gospel. God’s Word gives no commission to the church to fix the problems of the world.” [7]

Rick Warren took the social gospel to new levels, by hobnobbing with world leaders and presenting his global PEACE plan to mobilize churches to address poverty and disease and telling us not to bother with prophecy. Remember too, when Rick Warren interviewed the 2008 Presidential candidates? Ever wonder how he got that job? I sure have. Now Jim Wallis is carrying this very same agenda to the highest levels of our government as an appointee of the president.

Wallis’ has also found a kindred spirit in Willow Creek. Pastor Bill Hybels’ wife Lynne is a major contributor to Sojourner’s. Willow Creek offers classes on social justice. The Willow Creek Association offers churches of any denomination anywhere an opportunity to align themselves with their main campus for a yearly fee, giving those churches access to their annual summits, leadership training and sermon ideas – in effect creating a denomination via the back door. They claim there are 13,000 Willow Creek Association member churches throughout the world. Do the math on this one – look at the potential influence a Jim Wallis could have on the church if even half of them choose to emulate Willow Creek in their growing emphasis on the social gospel?

There is a movie coming out soon entitled, “With God on Our Side”. I want to pre-warn you about this film – Jan Markell (www.olivetreeviews.org) tells us that “it is aimed at changing the end-time views of evangelicals and the theology that says the Jews are God’s chosen people and have a divine right to the land.”

The producer of this film announces that there is “a biblical alternative for Christians who want to love and support Israel – a “new” theology that doesn’t favor one people group over another but instead promotes peace and reconciliation for both Jew and Palestinian” instead of endless Middle East violence.

The only problem with that pie-in-the-sky thinking, is that the Palestinian leadership does not WANT peace with Israel. They want a one-state solution, they want the destruction of Israel. The film’s  message to evangelicals is that the US’ old pro-Israel foreign policy was based on end-time theology and has created great suffering among the Palestinians. But today’s more socially aware and compassionate Christians will reject that old policy and realize that the Palestinians are the victim group most in need of Christian compassion. Wallis, McLaren and Campolo are promoting the film. I tell you all this because when you hear about this movie, which you likely will, in light of our subject here, you will be able to cut through the propaganda and see it for what it is, another vehicle for social justice – social gospel indoctrination, and an unbiblical spin on the clear teachings about Israel presented throughout the Scriptures.

Now, Marxism is nothing new to this old world and will pass away. What Wallis is promoting is nothing new either.  But let’s take the wood, hay, and stubble of Wallis’ dry old social justice gospel and throw some last days fuel on it: like the Emergent church’s mix of Catholicism and liberal Protestantism; add Rick Warren’s global PEACE plan, and Willow Creek’s annual leadership summits featuring speakers like Bono, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Tony Blair and Rick Warren, and before long things are burning out of control in the church. Throw in the fact that the forward to Wallis’ book is written by Jimmy Carter, an anti-Israel leftist; other endorsers are Bill Hybels, Bono, and Brian McLaren, who is also on the Sojourners’ board of directors and a regular contributor on it’s blog, and a picture of a last days lukewarm church really comes into focus.

Let’s look at some current quotes by Wallis on key biblical issues to give you a fuller picture of this man. Remember, he calls himself an evangelical pastor.

On being born again: Jesus proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…He is saying that a whole new order is about to enter history, and if you want to be a part of it, you will need a change so fundamental that the Gospel of John would later refer to it as a “new birth”. Being born again was not meant to be a private religious experience that is hard to communicate…but rather the prerequisite for joining a new and very public movement – the Jesus and kingdom of God movement.”

The Great Awakening, p.60

On Israel: “The completely one-sided support for Israel from conservative evangelicals rests on 2 things: one, a very dubious interpretation (and I’m being generous here) of biblical prophecy…in which the modern state of Israel is still equated with the Old Testament notion of ‘God’s Chosen People’, and a complete  denial of the existence of Palestinian Christians.”

Jim Wallis, “Politics Pushes Uneven Policies”,

September 17, 2007

On Gay Rights: ”Abomination is a pretty strong word…there is a debate and questions over the meaning of the word “abomination.”(Referring to Leviticus 18:22)

As heard on Moody Christian Radio Network, in Chicago, Feb.19, 2008, when asked about government sanctions on civil unions for gays.

www.americansfortruth.com

On the Kingdom: “The kingdom of God, which Jesus came to inaugurate, is meant to create an alternate reality in this world, and ultimately to transform the kingdoms of this world” The Great Awakening, p. 56

On Repentance: “We are all familiar with the famous pop culture image of a street evangelist holding up a sign reading, “Repent, for the end is near!” But repentance is…often misunderstood. This week, one could imagine a group of pastors, priests, rabbis, and imams holding up a sign on Wall Street for the titans of the financial industry to see, reading, “Repent, or the end could be near again….let’s have some sermons on the repentance of Wall Street.” (read that, “capitalism” – ed. – Wall St. Repent, by Jim Wallis, 4.29.10

Sojourners On Bible Prophecy: “It’s all too easy to make fun of the extreme examples of prophecy belief that we encounter on bumper stickers and best-seller lists. When people talk breathlessly of the dangers of Universal Product Codes and automated teller machines as signs of the impending Tribulation, giggles and head shaking are hard to repress…when we ridicule apocalyptic interpretations of bar codes and the European Common Market, we are …properly rejecting an interpretive method that (suggests a) correspondence between biblical events and symbols, and our own lives. Ought Revelation to be included within the family of Christian texts, or should it be thrown on the fire of apocalyptic excesses? “

Wes Howard-Brook, “Apocalypse Soon? Sojourners January 1999

On the Imminent Return of Jesus:

Not a word could I find on our blessed hope. But then, I don’t see any kind of genuine hope in anything he espouses, nor do I get a hint of a biblical relationship with God. If we are not going to be fruit inspectors on this guy, then the church is totally abdicating its responsibility regarding truth. Period.

Equating biblical care of the downtrodden with the welfare state is rapidly changing the face of the evangelical church. This “pseudo-Christian” morality-based religion for the last days is infiltrating every corner of American society and the church seems to have either lost the will to identify and counteract it’s influence, or feels so guilty about it’s mega-excesses that it is operating out of a sense of works not in keeping with repentance. Wallis’ book is the most preachy, shaming, finger-pointing rant I have ever read; I suppose in the absence of Christ’s righteousness in a person’s life, all that’s left is self-righteousness, which utterly lacks the sweet savor of having been in the presence of Jesus.

But I believe this is a preview of an even deeper level of apostasy, a marriage of religion and politics that will ultimately come together under the dictatorial reign of Antichrist, who “causeth all, both small and great,  rich and poor, free and slave…” to receive his mark – is this the “level playing field” Wallis and others are working toward? If that’s true, then this is deception of the highest possible caliber, and I find it thoroughly sobering in light of the lateness of the hour.

So, just how late is it?

Allow me to ask one more time, why is this man a keynote speaker at a huge local Christian festival aimed primarily at our youth?

Some closing comments: Social reformers deceptively blur the lines between two kingdoms, seeking to turn houses of worship into distribution centers for their causes. What they choose to ignore is that all the ills of society are merely symptoms – the root cause is sin. They reject the cure for sin through the cross of Christ and instead treat symptoms – but in removing the cross, they are conveniently free to affirm anyone’s beliefs, and the result is a broad road, inclusive global social justice revolution, or what I call, “The Theory of Revolution”. We have been watching this take place right under the church’s nose for the last few years, and it’s becoming clearer by the day who is aligning themselves with whom, and what kind of agenda is being promoted.

Wallis says in his book that the majority of his audience is under 30 and half of those are under 25. He speaks frequently at major universities, some secular, and more and more at conservative Christian colleges. This is how it was done back in the 60s when Wallis was young; today’s liberal thinkers got their worldview from the counterculture agendas of America’s universities. But lest you think Wallis himself is just another counterculture hippie type out there on the fringes of the establishment –

Note this picture: it is similar to the first picture I showed of him, but on this one, you can actually read the logo in the background: “World Economic Forum”. This is the annual invitation-only event in Davos Switzerland that brings together the world’s most influential politicians and economists as they work to bring the world under a global authority.

Consider also, that Sojourners’ receives a portion of its considerable funding from the Open Society Institute,[8] this is billionaire leftist George Soros’ organization. In  my next update we will look much closer at him and other revolutionaries like him, so stay tuned for that.

Also, back in 2007, the National Association of Evangelicals hosted a dinner gathering called, “A Global Leaders Forum”. That alone should raise a red flag. The keynote: Ban Ki Moon, current head of the UN. What is he doing at the NAE event, you ask yourself? (Every Christian should be asking themselves about this.)  Wallis himself says of the event, that some Christians today, those who read books like “Left Behind”, might say he had dinner with the Antichrist (that night).

He goes on to say: “Last night, the supposed Antichrist was listening to gospel music, speaking of his own faith, quoting scripture, celebrating a new alliance with “the evangelical church” on the critical issues of poverty and global warming, and bringing the conservative Christian crowd to its feet in smiling agreement with the UN secretary’s agenda. Indeed, leader after Christian leader insisted this was a biblical agenda.[9]

I don’t know about you, but in light of the times, that sends a bit of a chill up my spine. How gullible can one be, who hears the head of the UN quote a bible verse and then jumps to the outrageous conclusion that the UN has a biblical agenda? To me this defies comprehension but then so much today does, and this of course is the heart of deception.

My challenge is this: to those who may receive this information, to be open and teachable regarding the times. The bible commands us to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints! This applies to all who call themselves believers, not just a few.

Now is not the time to hang on to any “sacred cows” of personality but to be so in love with truth in our innermost being that nothing matters except to make sure we are on the side of truth. After all, if there is no such thing as absolute truth, is such a thing as a lie? If we don’t know the real thing, how can we spot a counterfeit?

It is our prayer that the Lord would direct and guide you regarding this matter and all matters of faith, earnestly seeking His mind and heart in all things as laid out in the Word.

Mary Danielsen

Calvary Chapel of Appleton, Wisconsin

cchapel@ccappleton.org

www.thethings2come.org