​ There’s No Harvest Without a Planting

Above all, plant the seeds, sow the Word, establish truly Christian churches, free and independent Christian schools. Establish a Christian family life, and a godly operation in your farm or business life. The times may look bad for making a start, but there is no harvest without a planting.^[1] ~ R. J. Rushdoony

When is the best time to begin the work of Christian reconstruction? The best time is right now. Just like the best time to plant a tree is right now. What God calls us to build and establish will take time to grow, so logic demands that the best time to “plant the seeds and sow the Word,” is right now.

Our problem is that we often focus more on the obstacles than we do the opportunities forgetting that with God, every dead end is an opportunity and every barren field can yield a harvest. Either way, the obstacles and impossibilities mean nothing, because with God, all things are possible (Matt. 19:26).

When the apostle Paul wrote of the greatness of charity, he said, “and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2). This provides us a glimpse into how the apostle understood Christ’s teaching on faith to move mountains (Mark 11:23): faith in God is powerful; faith in God moves things; faith makes impossible things possible.

The Scriptures declare that “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab. 2:14), but do we believe this to the degree that we will live and work in terms of it now? Faith demands action, and if we desire to increase our action, we must increase our faith. It’s not simply faith that certain prophecies will come to pass. It’s faith that works in conjunction with the indwelling Spirit of God that empowers us for these good works.

Critics often reject Christian Reconstruction because they believe we’re suggesting that we can bring in the universal Kingdom of God by our own efforts. This is hardly true, and we can easily flip the argument around to say, “Why has God instituted a church that is so powerless and irrelevant in history?” In other words, filled with the indwelling Holy Spirit, and having the law written upon our hearts, we are able to be used of God for world transformation. “Nay,” say the detractors, “It shall not be!” Rushdoony wrote of these defeatists:

There is an implicit Manichaeanism in premillennialism and in amillennialism. The material world is surrendered to Satan, and the spiritual world is reserved to God. In recent years, as our Chalcedon Reports have passed from hand to hand, one of the responses from premillennialists and amillennialists is to send a flood of their literature to me, to convert me, and also to write, sometimes anonymously, on what a terrible thing it is to encourage people towards Christian reconstruction. Some have boldly stated that the world belongs to Satan, and they are vehement in their hostility to any challenge against this idea.^[2]

If the world belongs to our God—and it does—then it is our responsibility to live and work in terms of that reality. For us, it is the reality of the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), and although the world appears as the old creation (Rom. 8:19–22), a great renewal shall come by the mighty river of God’s Spirit (Ezek. 47:1–12). Once again, Rushdoony drips with this sort of optimism:

The liberation of all creation awaits the apocalypse of man, man’s assumption of his dominion mandate … The natural condition of creation as God made it is very good (Gen. 1:31). Its present fallen estate is an unnatural one because sin and death prevail. Man, by pushing back the realm of sin, increases the realm of life.^[3]

God desires a harvest for His Kingdom, and we are the ones who shall do the planting, but no seeds will be sown if there’s not enthusiasm for the mission. If we are to seek first the Kingdom (Matt. 6:33), then no doubt that emphasis should fuel our daily enthusiasm. Each day we should arise with the work of God’s Kingdom in our thoughts.

We need Kingdom-oriented churches. Let us plant them. We need Christian schools. Let us build them. We need Christian businesses, charitable organizations, strong families, and more. If these things are waning, then we know where the emphasis must be placed: Christian education. It’s education for the purpose of Christian Reconstruction—the very reason Rushdoony founded Chalcedon:

The purpose of the Chalcedon Foundation is the reconstruction of all things in terms of the word of God. This, after all, is the purpose of life, to be conformed to God, and ours is a magnificent task.^[4]

It is not for Chalcedon to reconstruct all things, but it is the purpose for Chalcedon to promote the message and to provide the intellectual tools needed for that purpose. We believe we’ve done that faithfully since 1965, and by God’s grace, we shall continue unabated. We can endure the attacks of critics, but it is much harder to endure a lack of support. God promises us victory, and that’s what we use to face any and all resistance, as Rushdoony wrote:

My work has not lacked its sometimes ugly and dishonest attacks. To be in the “winner’s circle” makes a great difference in facing these things and ignoring them because the end result is so clear. History, both world history and the personal outcome, is a magnificent success story according to the Bible. We can thus be patient at the rage of the ignorant and of losers.^[5]

The work we have before us is great, but our faith is greater. If you believe in the mission and purpose of Chalcedon, then please prayerfully consider supporting this ministry today. Click now to make your most generous tax-deductible gift today.

^[1] R. J. Rushdoony, A Word in Season: Daily Messages on the Faith for All of Life, Volume 2 (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 2011), pp. 18–19.

^[2] R. J. Rushdoony, God’s Plan for Victory: The Meaning of Postmillennialism (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1997), p. 11.

^[3] R. J. Rushdoony, Romans & Galatians (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1997), p. 137.     

^[4] R. J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law: Law and Society (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1986), p. xiii.

^[5] God’s Plan for Victory, p. 4.