From the inner circle, what it is

According to a growing number of journalists and academics, a group of religious fanatics is working right now to strip away your personal freedoms, install theocratic Christian rule, and destroy democracy in the United States; they call this group the NAR or the New Apostolic Reformation. Allegedly, this shadowy religious group was instrumental in getting Trump elected and is presently hard at work subverting your freedoms and ushering in some sort of Handmaiden’s Tale-type religious totalitarian society. Well at least according to some.

To which I say, “Malarkey!”

I have spent the past 26 years, the entirety of my adult life, working in the inner circle of the so-called NAR. The majority of that time was spent working directly for Dr. C. Peter Wagner, the alleged architect of NAR. This culminated in spending the last four years of his life as his personal assistant, travelling companion, and confidante.

I had a front-row seat to the birth of the NAR as a concept and a movement. I count most of its purported central figures, or ‘generals’ as some have called them, as close personal friends of many years.

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For the record, there is no actual organization, association, or singular organized body of any type called the NAR. There never has been. Nor does anyone associated with it refer to themselves with that term meaningfully, if even at all.

The NAR began as a term adopted by Peter Wagner to refer to a series of specific changes he observed occurring in the Body of Christ. Changes which he generally agreed with and expounded upon in several of his books, most notably Churchquake: How the New Apostolic Reformation Is Shaking Up the Church As We Know It (1999).

As an academic and tenured professor at Fuller Theological Seminar, Wagner had a truly scientific mind. He would observe, formulate a theory, and then work to explore and prove or disprove that theory. And that is exactly how he approached the concepts of the New Apostolic Reformation.

So, what is the New Apostolic Reformation?

Without getting into a massive theological discussion, in the simplest of terms, Wagner defined the New Apostolic Reformation as a fundamental shift from pastor and committee-led churches and traditional denominational organizations to independent networks of churches run by individual leaders called apostles. Wagner saw the biblical roles of the five-fold offices found in Ephesians 4:11 being restored to prominence, and with that, there would also be a restoration of signs, wonders, and miracles as was seen in the book of Acts and the First Century Church.

A significant underpinning to the shift Wagner observed was the move from simply teaching the Gospel of Salvation, which primarily emphasized the importance of individuals “getting saved” or “asking Jesus into your heart,” towards a more comprehensive Gospel of the Kingdom. It wasn’t just about bringing Jesus into your own heart, it was about bringing Jesus and thus His Kingdom into all of the world.

In this sense, the Gospel of the Kingdom is a much broader, more encompassing focus that includes far more than just personal salvation. Instead, the Gospel of the Kingdom includes making disciples of all nations and influencing all aspects of society and culture.

This shift, from passive, status-quo churches to dynamic, personality-driven churches seeking to spread the Gospel beyond church walls, made things both interesting and controversial. Wagner noticed that the fastest-growing churches affecting social transformation in their region shared a key trait — direct power confrontations with evil, known as Spiritual Warfare.

In the 1990s, places like Resistencia, Argentina, and Almolonga, Guatemala, saw dramatic transformation and church growth through spiritual warfare — prayer, intercession, and fasting to confront Satan’s influence. This warfare is purely spiritual, not physical, targeting only the forces described in Ephesians 6:12: “Principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Spiritual warfare done correctly, effectively, and biblically is done only against spiritual entities and through spiritual means. It is never done against individuals, people groups, politicians, etc.

Fast forward to the mid-2010s, Wagner had spent nearly 20s years cultivating a new generation of Christian leaders skilled in spiritual warfare and in advancing the Gospel of the Kingdom, often now referred to as the “Seven Mountain Mandate.” These leaders, organized into dynamic, independent churches, aimed to transform society beyond church walls through spiritual warfare as a confrontation with the forces of darkness.

What NAR is not:

NAR is not anti-democratic – Free choice is a fundamental component of Christianity and as such there is no attempt to legislate people into the Kingdom. The Kingdom is something each person must choose to enter through Salvation found only in Jesus Christ. Those advancing the Gospel of the Kingdom are committed to the defense of freedom and certainly want the leaders and the laws of the land to align with biblical values and truths but they want that done as an expression of the will of the people as expressed through their votes.

NAR is not about violence or physical warfare. There are zero genuine leaders within the so-called NAR that are calling for actual physical violence of any kind. Any such rhetoric is antibiblical and should be denounced. The fact is it simply doesn’t exist in any meaningful way among those being called NAR.

NAR is not about forcing its beliefs on others. There zero desire to force people to believe or conform to Biblical beliefs. With the exception of matters of defending the life of the unborn, nobody is trying to force or coerce anyone into anything. Ultimately, those within the movement want people to willingly enter the Kingdom. “Taking Dominion” is more about recognizing that we have a voice and a role to play in society, now, in the present. It’s about stewardship, responsibility, and leadership, not about control or theocracy.

NAR as the proverbial Boogieman

Since the first Trump administration, the mainstream media and some in academia have painted NAR as a radical religious group working in the shadows to create some sort of imagined Christian Caliphate in the US.

Articles have been written and books published, all of which point to NAR as something sinister and opposed to freedom, democracy, and even contrary to Christian Orthodoxy.

Yet, the truth is much different; there is no NAR. No organized strategy or mass conspiracy. No grand plans for theocratic rule, suppressing freedom, democracy, or subverting the government.

Herein lies the problem: since there is no centralized or organized NAR of any sort, there is no consistency in those labeled NAR. Anyone with any personal agenda or random belief could call themselves NAR or be labeled as NAR. As such, it becomes an easy label to be used to vilify anyone.

Rhetoric is a key component in this process because of the strong emphasis on spiritual warfare and the use of warfare terminology. There is a tremendous opportunity for misunderstanding of what is being said by those within the movement.

But this is not a new thing for Christians. Remember second-century Christian apologist Justin Martyr told us the Christians were being persecuted and charged with incest by the Romans because they referred to one another as “brothers and sisters in Christ,” even within married couples. Furthermore, they were charged with cannibalism because of the communion elements being referred to as the “blood and body” of Christ.

In the same way, I would argue that much of the outcry against Christians within this movement is because of the terminology used relating to warfare. For example, it was reported during prayer time on Jan 6th that an influential alleged NAR leader was calling for violence by referring to “casting down a Jezebel spirit” when referring to a female politician. This is a reference to Jezebel in the Bible who was killed by being thrown from a window. This statement was interpreted by many anti-NAR individuals to suggest a call for physical violence.

I know for a fact that the individual meant no literal physical harm to that female politician, nor would they condone it in the least bit. However, at face value, the rhetoric could be perceived as violent towards the individual. But, remember, I clearly stated that spiritual warfare is not against individuals or any “flesh and blood” in accordance with Ephesian 6. But only against the spiritual forces.

In the end, NAR has become the convenient boogieman built on a foundation of misinterpretation, fear, and false narratives. There is no shadowy organization plotting to overthrow democracy and in fact, there is no actual organization, group, or entity called NAR. No secret handshakes, no hidden meetings in dark forests, no plan to impose theocratic rule over society.

The truth is far less dramatic — NAR is a label applied loosely and often inaccurately to a diverse and decentralized group of believers seeking to fulfill the Great Commission. Instead of buying into the fear-mongering, it’s time for honest dialogue, deeper understanding, and a rejection of exaggerated conspiracies that only serve to divide us further.