Hireling John MacArthur Says He Will Not Fight For Religious Freedom. Calls It Idolatry

Pastor of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, California, John MacArthur raised eyebrows recently with claims at his State of the Church conference urging evangelicals to stop fighting for religious freedom.

The Gospel offends the sinner and seeks to break the sinner’s comfort and contentment by bringing him into stark realization of the eternal judgement of God. Evangelicals have become like Peter. They are looking for alliances with Satan that they think somehow can aid the Kingdom.

I told our congregation a few weeks ago that I could never really concern myself with religious freedom. I wouldn’t fight for religious freedom because I won’t fight for idolatry. Why would I fight for the devil to have as many false religions as possible and all of them to be available to everyone?

MacArthur also noted that even with religious freedom, Christians continually are the target of “the hostility of sinners.”

Well, people would say that’s a terrible thing to say. What about Christianity? Christianity advances whether there is religious freedom or not. And there’ll always be religious freedom for all the lies. Every false religion is going to be free because it’s linked to the kingdom of darkness that operates in the world. And Christians, whatever the label of religious freedom might be in its broadest sense, Christians are always the target even with religious freedom, of the hostility of sinners.

The Apostles turned the world upside down with no help from it. No social action. No alliances. The evil kingdom of darkness hates what God loves and loves everything that God hates, and the kingdom of darkness is never a friend to the light. Even rulers have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. … They function under the liar Satan himself who [is] the liar and father of lies. There is absolutely no reason for us to make any alliance with him.

MacArthur then quoted from Ephesians 5:5-8 in the NIV and spelled out what he feels is the ‘church mandate.’

For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be partners with them. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.

Repeating verse 7, he said, “Do not be partakers with them. You have no alliance with the kingdom of darkness.”

Read more about it here.

Pushback

Not everyone agrees with MacArthur’s claims.

Adam Groza, writer for the Christian Post gave criticism to MacArthur’s speech.

Here is some of what he had to say:

The essence of his argument seems to be as follows:

False religion is bad. Religious liberty promotes false religion. Religious liberty is therefore bad and should not be supported by Christians.

The keen observer will notice an immediate problem with the soundness of the middle premise: Religious liberty does not, in fact, promote false religion. Religious liberty does not promote religion any more than gun companies promote suicide by making guns that are routinely used by individuals to commit suicide. Being against suicide by gun no more requires that you oppose gun companies than being against idolatry requires that you oppose religious liberty.

Religious liberty is the view that citizens should be free to make individual decisions in regard to lawful worship (i.e. whether they worship, what they worship, and how they worship) and that such decisions should be governed with equal protection under the law. Religious liberty implies the inherent religiousness of humans; a position found in the Bible (Ecc. 3:11) that dates back to Cicero and was popularized most recently by Mircea Eliade’s notion of homo religiosus (e.g. that humans are religious by nature). 

What about MacArthur’s claim that Christianity has flourished without religious freedom and that Christians don’t need any help from government? Well sure, Christianity doesn’t need any help from Utility Companies, either, but I am guessing Grace Community Church is kept cool in the summer and warm in the winter thanks to Southern California Edison (or some other provider). It simply doesn’t follow that if something is not needed that something is not good.

MacArthur thinks that religious freedom amounts to the promotion of false religion, but this is empirically false. Many false religions have diminished and died in the marketplace of religion where the free exchange of religious ideas and religious competition have corresponded to the growth of Christianity. Again, religious liberty in Korea has corresponded to the meteoric rise of Christianity and the decline of Buddhism in Korea over the same time period.

To read more of his thoughts, check out his opinion on the Christian Post.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

[5] And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, [6] And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. [7] And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this?

Acts 4:5-7

[14] And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; [15] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. [16] So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. [17] Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: [18] I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Revelation 3:14-18

If you look up the definition of ‘hireling’ you just might see MacArthur’s face in there. This DEVIL in the flesh has made a scrumptious living and “empire” of talking out of both sides of his mouth. All within one “sermon,” we’ll call it, religious freedom translates to going to the government for permission to exist, or the God given rights to freedom of liberty and conscience.

But you see, MacArthur does this ALL the time. He is never clear on purpose because he is a minister of Satan the mixes truth with lies.

[13] For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. [14] And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. [15] Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15

[1] But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. [2] And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. [3] And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

2 Peter 2:1-3

Not that I totally agree with what Groza of the Christian Post says, but even he calls out the blatant hypocrisy of MacArthur. MacArthur does not want to stand for “religious liberty” (in the context of getting permission from the government to do what he wants), but he himself and his organizations are government incorporated and give him the right to exist: he is part of the public sector, therefore he has to abide by their laws, whether they be good or bad. This why MacArthur last year, and even now, have been facing legal challenges because MacArthur defied California’s edicts to shutdown, and looked for any loophole he could find. I am do not defend the tyrannical government, not one bit, BUT when you sign a legally binding contract to do what the government says you are going to do, you must abide by that. So he is breaking the law. Simple as that.

Persecution is not an original feature in any religion; but it is always the strongly marked feature of all law-religions, or religions established by law. Take away the law establishment, and every religion re-assumes its original benignity

Thomas Paine. The Rights of Man, 1791-1792

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.

Thomas Jefferson. Letter to the Danbury Baptists, January 1, 1802

But all of this double-talk from MacArthur is clearly indictive of where this once great nation is at. As we have been hammering on in our reports, the American people are spoiled rotten; they are immensely lazy, lovers of themselves more than the Lord, extremely proud and mentally-conceited. This nations loves to be oppressed and controlled. If you want religious freedom, YOU DON’T ASK FOR IT, YOU JUST DO IT AND THE LORD WILL REWARD THAT NATION ACCORDINGLY.

Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.

Proverbs 14:34

[9] By reason of the multitude of oppressions they make the oppressed to cry: they cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty. [10] But none saith, Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night; [11] Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and maketh us wiser than the fowls of heaven? [12] There they cry, but none giveth answer, because of the pride of evil men. [13] Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.

Job 35:9-13

Let us hear your thoughts on this in the comment section below.

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