“Acquire The Fire” Under Fire
If you thought the recent labeling of tax protestors, Christian “fundamentalists”, and war veterans as dangerous, right-wing extremists by Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano was frightening, buckle your seatbelt. Napolitano’s worldview is not unique, and we can expect more of the same in the not-too-distant future as our nation and its leadership continue on a path further and further away from biblical, Judeo-Christian principle.
Take for example a recent article from FOXNews.com (linked above) about a Battle Cry event in East Rutherford, NJ. Battle Cry is the latest incarnation of Acquire The Fire, the big arena, big band, big lights, big sound, big media, big bang ministry experience for teens originated by Teen Mania Ministries founder Ron Luce. The article begins with the usual semi-objective description of the event, although you can almost sense the smirk on the author’s (Courtney Crowder) face as she describes Acquire The Fire as “a kind of Lollapalooza of the Christian world”. In fairness to Ms. Crowder, she at least gives a hint of sincerity as she describes Luce’s passion for ministry to young people. The intent of the article becomes apparent about halfway into it, however, when Crowder declares, “…not everyone is on board with Acquire the Fire’s medium and message.” She goes on to say that Luce’s “sermons preach total separation from mainstream American culture, and his vehement nature has been known to get a little out of hand.”
A little out of hand? Really? What does that mean? I find such a statement ironic given that the article opens with the assertion that, even though the IZOD Center was packed with teens who seemed to be enjoying themselves just as they would at a rock concert, there’s “also no alcohol-nobody has even tried to sneak any in.” So how, exactly, does Acquire the Fire get out of hand? Are there riots? Injuries? Arrests? Nope. Where Ron Luce gets out of hand, apparently, is with his message, a message which, according to Crowder, “others say isn’t a message of peace and love.”
“What Luce preaches, with his emphasis on conflict, anger, and contempt, is a far cry from most of Christendom,” Crowder quotes New York University’s Center for Religion and Media scholar Jeff Sharlet. Crowder then uses Mr. Sharlet’s analysis to paint Ron Luce as a sort of Christian militant, a terrorist recruiter in a clever disguise. For example, Sharlet is quoted as saying that Luce’s followers are drawn to ATF because of their “dissatisfaction with the moral vacuum of consumer culture and a desire to be part of something bigger than themselves.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a good thing to me. Apparently, it is not so good in Mr. Sharlet’s view, for he says, “I think that those good intentions are twisted by one of the most militant fundamentalist youth movements in U.S. history. It’s something, by Luce’s own boast, potentially dangerous.”
Wow! “The most militant fundamentalist youth movement in U.S. history”??!!! Does Ron Luce know how much of a threat he is to modern America? Run for your lives, folks. The Christian-T-Shirt-Wearing teens are coming, and they are not happy. While I am being facetious, rest assured, Jeff Sharlet is absolutely serious, and Crowder gives his worldview a good deal of credence. Here’s another quote from the article.
“Besides being loud, the event is overtly militaristic. According to the vocabulary of the event, attendees are engaged in a spiritual ‘battle,’ and anyone who doesn’t believe in their values is the ‘enemy’.” Sharlet goes on to say, “What Luce is bringing to the table is militance, an emphasis on ‘holy war,’ the most violent reading of the scripture possible, open emulation of terrorist recruitment methods, and, perhaps most disturbing of all, an emphasis on what he’s called ‘infiltration’ of non-fundamentalist institutions.”
These are extremely serious accusations. Sharlet and Crowder have un-apologetically characterized Ron Luce as some kind of militant, extremist whack job who uses fear, intimidation, anger, and contempt to recruit “followers”. They use words like “terrorist,” “holy war,” and “violent” in ways that they wouldn’t dare apply to a religion such as Islam for fear of very real reprisal. Ironically, it is exactly because Christians-authentic Christians, anyway-are not violent in the physical sense that Sharlet can make such accusations without fear of violent reprisals against himself. Think about it. How many death threats is Sharlet going to receive for making derogatory remarks about a Christian leader such as Ron Luce. How many would he receive if it were an Islamic fundamentalist? Exactly.
How many of these students, after being exposed to a weekend full of the event’s “dangerous” teaching, were so instigated by the message of anger and violence that they trashed the place, beat someone up, or otherwise committed some criminal offense? I don’t know the answer for certain, but I suspect Ms. Crowder even would say, “Probably, none,” since she concludes the article with the observation that “it was refreshing to be able to leave your purse behind on your seat while taking a bathroom break.” If the message is so dangerous, why is this seething mob of adolescent angst so well-behaved?
The problem is that neither Mr. Sharlet nor Ms. Crowder seem to have a clear understanding of Biblical Christianity and its allusions to warfare. By their own admission, Ron Luce speaks of spiritual warfare, not actual physical violence. This is in keeping with Jesus’ words to Pilate just before He was crucified.
John 18:36 (NIV) Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
All the battles, all the fighting, the “militant” imagery used by Jesus and the remainder of the New Testament writers is referring to another kingdom, another world, another place, where the enemies are real but do not have flesh and blood. Likewise, the Bible clearly teaches us that the weapons we use in such warfare are not physical – swords, spears, knives, guns, or bombs. Rather, they are spiritual – prayer, worship, truth, love, and the power of the gospel message. Anyone who attends Aquire the Fire and thinks that Ron Luce, or any other speaker, is advocating the advancement of Christianity through physical, or even political or psychological, force is either not paying attention or does not understand the meaning of the message. Indeed, many in Jesus’ own day didn’t get it, either. That is why He told Pilate, “Listen, if I were who you think I am, a dangerous leader of political rebels, then they would do exactly what you would expect them to do – take up arms, storm the place, and break me out of here.” But they did not do that, because Jesus was not who Pilate thought He was. Oh, He was a dangerous leader, alright – dangerous to the religious establishment; dangerous to the enslaving power of sin; dangerous to Satan and his kingdom. Jesus did not come to defeat political, social, or economic enemies and establish a kingdom on earth. He came to defeat spiritual enemies enslaving the lives of people, and to establish a kingdom in their hearts.
Nowhere is Mr. Starlet’s or Ms. Crowder’s lack of understanding of this basic biblical teaching more apparent then in the assertion that Ron Luce and all of his teen “followers” consider anyone who does not believe in their values as the “enemy”. This statement contains two fundamental errors that, if believed, will only increase the perception among secular America that Christians are angry, spiteful, intolerant bigots.
The first error is that the values espoused by Christians are their values, as if they somehow came up with them on their own. This is not true nor in keeping with a biblical worldview. The values of a true follower of Christ do not come from the follower, but from Christ. A Christian’s values are defined by God Himself, in His word. These are not our values that we are teaching and defending in the sense that we invented them. They are God’s. For certain, they are our values in the sense that we embrace them, identify with them, and take ownership of them. But we received them from God. We did not invent them.
The second error is that a follower of Christ considers anyone who does believe in God’s values to be his or her enemy. Again, this is not the case. The Bible does describe such people as enemies of the Cross of Christ, and therefore, enemies of God, but the point of the entire gospel message is that God has made a way for anyone who wishes to do so to switch sides in this spiritual war. The soldiers in God’s army that Ron Luce speaks of are called upon not to fight against people, to keep them out of the kingdom of God, but rather to fight against the dark forces of the true enemy, Satan’s kingdom, so that people can enter the kingdom of God.
Ephesians 6:12 (NLT) For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Those with a secular worldview would like to neuter the Christian message into insignificance. The implication in this particular article is that the “Christian” thing to do is to keep quiet, keep your personal beliefs personal, and do not speak out against anyone or anything. This is the message of peace and love that Mr. Sharlet seems to think is more in line with most of Christendom, and more appropriate for our youth. Nothing could be more opposite of the truth. The gospel, the true Christian message, is confrontational. It confronts each person with their guilt before God, and then challenges them to choose whether or not to accept the means of rescue God has offered them, which is submission to the loving Lordship of Jesus Christ. In retrospect, I suppose it is a dangerous message to those whose worldview does not tolerate the preeminence of Jesus Christ.
1 Comment to “Acquire The Fire” Under Fire
I wholeheartedly agree. I am relieved to see my opinions reflected above. The facts and also the illusions (by what may seem to be the majority and main-stream media) are presented here so concisely. Thank you.
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May 11, 2009