He’s got the whole world in His hands

He’s got the whole world in His hands

He’s got the little bitty baby in His hands

He’s got the little bitty baby in His hands

He’s got the little bitty baby in His hands

He’s got the whole world in His hands.

This song is easy for children to remember. It’s easy for adults to forget.

Critical Theory makes no room for “God’s plan” for the world. CT, just like Marxism, denies the existence of a higher authority than the system. The oppressor is the highest authority in the land, and we must remove them.

The Kingdom is not opposed to the removal of oppressors, but it teaches us that there is a higher authority than the government – God himself. Not the president or the bourgeois. Those who oppress are subject to this authority. Those who are oppressed make their appeals to this higher authority.

Romans 12:19 implores us not to take our own vengeance but to leave injustices in God’s hands. In Romans 8:28, Paul offers another reminder: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

The Kingdom admonishes us:

Praise the LORD!

Let all that I am praise the LORD.

I will praise the LORD as long as I live.

I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;

there is no help for you there.

When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,

and all their plans die with them.

But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,

whose hope is in the LORD their God.

He made heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them.

He keeps every promise forever.

He gives justice to the oppressed

and food to the hungry.

The LORD frees the prisoners.

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.

The LORD lifts up those who are weighed down.

The LORD loves the godly.

The LORD protects the foreigners among us.

He cares for the orphans and widows,

but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

The LORD will reign forever.

He will be your God, O Jerusalem, throughout the generations.

Praise the LORD!

// Psalm 146

Our hope is not in the government, the system, allies, oppressors, or the oppressed. Our hope should be in God himself. He created us, and he created the world. He – and we – will win. The plan of God for us, and for the world, is good.

If we want to fight people, we shouldn’t choose the Kingdom. A Kingdom worldview is a license to have God’s peace within ourselves. It is not a license to go to war with other people. Religions fight holy wars. The Kingdom is much more than that.

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too. So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up. // Romans 14:17-19

The Kingdom is goodness, peace, and joy. The ambassadors of the Kingdom bring these things wherever they go. Those with a Kingdom worldview can focus on goodness, peace, and joy because we know that God is taking care of everything we can’t control.

Critical Theory and other worldviews are frequently emotional, neurotic and hypersensitive. They paint a picture of “us against the world.” They behave as if they’re a small army who has shown up to a battle against a large army, with no reinforcements and no option for retreat. Fear, uncertainty, doubt. Like the bluff charge of an elephant, they’re asserting dominance, preparing for the real attack.

A Kingdom worldview says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Therefore, a bluff charge doesn’t concern us. We must stand our ground but do so with a spirit of love and self-control. What about when the bluff charge turns into a real attack? That’s another open secret of the Kingdom. The real attack was already stopped by Jesus 2,000 years ago. The only way to lose is to run away from the bluff charge. If we stand our ground, the bluff charge stops.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” // Philippians 4:7

How can we have peace? Because the ultimate victory is already won. We have a power that transcends our humanity. Romans 8 tells us that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead exists inside of us when we become a part of the Kingdom.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” // 2 Timothy 1:7 ESV

We don’t live in fear of culture when we are in the Kingdom. We have power that transcends cultural pressure. Because of our power, we can control ourselves during a bluff charge and stand our ground. Because of love, we can speak the truth and be graceful towards every person we encounter.