Blaze Media show host and conservative commenter Steve Deace says the movement has successfully rebranded itself – in the minds of many Christians – from a lifestyle that opposes God’s design to a political movement, something seen in headlines and news images, something with its own flag and goals of conquest.
The "goals" part is right, Deace said on American Family Radio Tuesday, but for the movement, it’s not about winning congressional seats, though that may happen from time to time. The goals are about winning hearts and minds, winning acceptance in the mainstream – and ultimately winning against Jesus Christ. The LGBTQ movement – Pride, he says – is a rival religion.
“In every era of the Church, really of human existence, there is the Spirit of the Age. So, what is the ecosystem of it? What’s the natural habitat of it? What are its symbols, its traditions, the manifestations of the false gods and demons of this world,” Deace asked show host Jenna Ellis.
“In our time, the chief Spirt of the Age manifestation is wokeism,” he emphasized.
Deace argues that the Church has struggled to recognize these manifestations, which can at times appear to be in conflict with one another. Maybe it’s homosexuals rallying in support of Palestine; or feminists remaining silent as women’s sports erodes with biological males, placing women suddenly at risk in public spaces that had been safe and comfortable for decades.
It can be laughable on the surface, he says.
“Then we stand back as conservatives like, ‘Yeah, we see you in your hypocrisy,’ and we’re like, ‘How come they don’t care that they’re hypocrites?’ Because in their view, they’re not,” Deace said, answering his own question.
Competing viewpoints, one goal
In the end, two seemingly opposing viewpoints are actually working together, he explained.
“Because ultimately, these are all demonic manifestations – and demonic manifestations have two simple goals: power and control. Whatever grants the Spirit of the Age more power and control, it is for. It’s always been this way, going back almost 2,000 years to Ephesus. Paul was a unique threat to that community. He faced a unique amount of civic opposition to his crusades,” Deace described.
Too many churches are slow to call out Pride month for fear of hurting someone’s feelings, if not a church member, then a visitor or the church member who’s sibling or other family member is part of the movement, he said. Too many churches are willing to grant accommodations, to succumb to “toxic empathy” and risk being drawn into false teaching, he added.
“You’ve seen the Spirit of the Age surge and take the Church’s place of prominence. We have concocted this sort of 21st Century monasticism with evangelicalism,” Deace said. “Everything is a battle of dominion, and this takes place in the home.”
According to the radio host, many churches have lost the focus that allows them to impact believers in a way that carries to the home. They’ve outsourced discipleship training in favor of growth statistics, he argued – adding that while the growth indeed comes, it’s physical, not spiritual.
Too many churches are no longer a “hub” for the communities they seek to serve, Deace lamented.
“Drive by most of your local megachurches at one o’clock, and there might be a guy mowing the lawn. That’s about it. We have a handful of services where we make sure the sermon is 28 minutes [long] after four perfectly executed worship songs. It’s not a receptor for people. Meanwhile, the tumor called the Spirt of the Age metastasizes.”
Amid metastasis, theologians, well-known and considered leaders in the faith for many years, have begun to question its core tenets, its belief statements.
He singled out British New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, a former Anglican bishop, who recently stated that Christ’s bodily resurrection is an optional Christian belief, not necessary for salvation. Deace calls Wright “arguably the greatest theologian the U.K. has produced in the last generation,” yet perhaps with a shift in his thinking.
“When you know what N.T. Wright knows, and you have done this for as long as he has, either A, you were just a really deceptive, false teacher all along and are waiting till now to reveal that, which is highly unlikely in his case … [or] what’s way more likely is you stayed for too long, and you've just been browbeaten by the Spirit of the Age,” Deace said.
“You’re in danger of letting toxic empathy put you into false teaching and not finishing your race well, and that’s what’s happened to N.T. Wright,” he argued.
Fight against Spirit of the Age continues
Many corporations have backed off their financial support of Pride events, something that could lead to more muted celebrations this time around. But had the election turned differently last November, the United States president would likely be hosting a Pride celebration at the White House, as it did last year.
Likely, a Kamala Harris administration would fight the provision in a 2024 spending package that prohibited the flying of Pride flags at U.S. embassies and other State Department facilities just as the Biden administration pledged to fight the ban last year.
New policies for many corporations are “good signs,” Deace said, “but prior to that, there was more recognition of Pride in our civic institutions, including the raising of flags over embassies and government buildings, than there was for Christmas. That’s a sign that you’ve been conquered. That is the Spirit of the Age.”
