Personal Devotions: The Need for a Dominion Mindset

Often it is assumed that exercising dominion and personal holiness do not go together. Many of us probably think that the people interested in personal piety are not (overly) interested in taking dominion for Christ, while those interested in pursuing the dominion mandate are not the best when it comes to devotional warmth. Is there any truth in this assertion? It has to be admitted that there is an element of truth in it. Oftentimes the people who are strongest on Christian experience and devotional matters retreat into a “narrow pietism” which shuns Christian involvement in the world (I am paraphrasing J.I. Packer here). Meanwhile, on the other hand, those who seek to subdue the earth, and bring all things into submission to Christ’s authority, neglect the devotional side of the Christian life.

Rev. Joe Morecraft deals with this problem in an essay he wrote on Psalm 1 and 2, demonstrating the inseparability of holiness and dominion (this was part of a festchrift for R.J. Rushdoony called A Comprehensive Faith); basically (without quoting directly) Pastor Morecraft argues that since the Bible teaches the need for holiness and dominion (some argue that Psalms 1 and 2 were originally one psalm), the two things cannot be separated. If we are not holy, then we cannot exercise dominion (as it is the man who meditates on God’s word who triumphs in history – Psalm 1), but if we are not exercising dominion, then we are not truly holy, as true holiness results in submission to the crown rights of King Jesus in all areas of life (Psalm 2).

So a good place to start exercising dominion would be over our own devotional lives. In the extract below, Pastor Mark Chanski explains how one lady exercised godly dominion in this area:

“Amber is the mother of three young boys. She resolved to make devotional heart work a priority. She set the early morning as the time. Her boys had other ideas. When they heard her moving about the house in the early morning, they’d wake up and sabotage her closet time. Instead of being harassed by untimely behaviour, she drew a line in the sand. “You boys don’t get out of bed until 8:00 am” [I wish I had this problem - DR]. This would give her time to shower, groom, read, and pray before her horses were let loose. Stuart, her three year-old, pleaded ignorance. “I can’t tell time, Mommy.” She purchased for his room a digital clock and established The Law of the Snowman. “You, sir, don’t get out of bed until you see that the first number is a snowman”…In our own personal devotional lives, we can’t permit ourselves to be pushed around by our environment. We can’t be bullied by the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We’ve got to subdue and rule, so help us God.” M. Chanski, Manly Dominion, Calvary Press, p. 135

Here Amber exercised rule over her sons so that she could grow in holiness; if she had not done this, then she would have neglected the means to increase in holiness. Therefore, holiness and dominion cannot be separated. We either strive for both, or we have neither.

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