Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. 1 Corinthians 15:24 ESV

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jew. But my kingdom is not from this world. John 18:36 ESV

Have you ever sat in corporate church gathering where you heard a minister say that we as the church needed to “conquer a particular mountain in society”? If you have ever noted this being said, then you are not alone. I remember hearing this on a number of occasions concerning the “media mountain” and the necessity in ascending and conquering said mountain. This belief stems from the seven mountain mandate, a perpetuated belief dating back to 1975 that the church is to take over the spheres/pillars/mountains of influence in society. What is central to this teaching is that the church must do this in order for Jesus Christ to return and that Christ is essentially bound in heaven and is unable to do anything until the body of Christ ascends in power and authority, taking back the culture and the kingdoms (dominion theology). Does this sound contradictory to Scripture? It should. There are a few resources that can be found on the subject from supporters of this mandate. This post will evaluate one of them.

But before we look at a specific source of this teaching, let’s consider a current example of this occurring in the United States. Recently, President Donald Trump announced the creation of the White House Faith Office, which is “housed in the Domestic Policy Counsel and headed by a Senior Advisor to the White House Faith Office, and supported by other positions as the President considers appropriate.” President Trump has appointed Paula White Cain to serve in this Faith Office, and she also led his faith based advisory board during his first term.

However, her appointment in itself brings controversy given her claimed role as a pastor, as well as her past teachings on prosperity/money, faith, and other discrepancies over the years. In 2021, White also attended a prayer rally in South Korea, where she honored Mother Moon as a great spiritual leader “who loves the Lord and seeks to carry out and to comfort the heart of God in all the areas of conflict in the world.” This event was described as “likely the largest and most diverse interfaith gathering ever.” At the end of this gathering, Mother Moon called for the unification of all religions in the world. What many may not know about the Moonies cult is that the founding leader, Sun Myung Moon, claimed to be the second coming of Jesus Christ, fulfilling what Jesus failed to accomplish during His earthly ministry.

As of late, Paula White has also held discussions with Lance Wallnau regarding the seven-mountain mandate, which is a belief that “God wants us to influence world systems and shape culture in the Seven Mountains.” According to his online bio, Wallnau “is the innovator who introduced the “Seven Mountains of Culture” as a fresh template to explain how the church must engage culture at the turn of the century.” However, he is not the only one to discuss this belief system, as we will see below.

A few years ago, I took time to read The Seven Mountain Prophecy by Johnny Enlow. I believe that it is important to note that C. Peter Wagner and Lance Wallnau endorsed the contents of this book. In this book, he lays out the seven mountains that are to be conquered by high ranking governing authorities in the church, namely the five fold ministry with apostles taking over the government mountain. The seven mountains or pillars of society are government, family, economy, education, religion, arts and entertainment, and media. Enlow assigns each mountain to one of the seven nations listed in Deuteronomy 7:1, claiming prophetic revelation that these “ites” are linked to each mountain of society. In addition, he feels that he has discerned which demonic principality is over each mountain, and he provides insight going beyond the confines of Scripture, offering a multilevel approach and prayer strategies for each. He also assigns the five fold ministry to each mountain along with others such as worship leaders to conquer these mountains of influence.

Enlow states early on in his book, “Jesus regained authority to establish the rule of God upon the seven pillar of the very cultures, or infrastructures, of every nation of the earth.” I guess the question could be posed, “When did Jesus Christ lose authority?” There were several times while reading this book that I was concerned about particular statements, and there were stark contradictions with Scripture. I am writing this post to help others in seeing the contradictions and to humbly point back to Scripture for the truth.

Enlow states several times in his book that the church will deliver the kingdom back to Jesus Christ after the church has conquered the seven mountains. However, we are never told in Scripture that we are instructed to do such a thing. Jesus made it clear that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) and to say that He cannot return without us essentially doing something first is to become man centered rather than Christ centered. Furthermore, the Scripture makes it clear that Christ Jesus will deliver the kingdom to God after He has destroyed every rule, authority, and power (1 Corinthians 15:24). Deuteronomy 7:1 seems to even contradict Enlow’s premise of our authority and power to conquer as it is God who does the work of bringing the Israelites into the land and giving those nations over to them to conquer. Jesus Christ is not dependent upon us for anything, contrary to popular belief and teaching. He stated in Matthew 28:18 that all authority and power has been given to Him, and as the metaphorical body of Christ, believers are instructed to make disciples, ministering the gospel of Jesus Christ and testifying of Him by the Holy Spirit.

With regards to the gospel of Jesus Christ, Enlow separates the gospel of salvation from the gospel of the kingdom, claiming that saving souls is not sufficient and that the gospel of the kingdom is what must go forward. However, when reading Scripture there is no distinction between the two because at the crux of the gospel of the kingdom is repentance and salvation by faith in Christ. There is no coming into the kingdom where Christ is King without salvation through Him, and we should not diminish the miracle of salvation. He also claims that the church is going to “take on the false prophet and the beast, and we’re going to annihilate both of them.” When this happens, he says that we will come and present the nations of the world to Him for His possession. There is a glaring issue with this statement, and that would be its contradiction with Scripture among its man centered authority. Revelation 19:19-20 tell us that Jesus Christ throws the false prophet and the beast alive into the lake of fire where they will be tormented forever. He will not annihilate them, and neither will we. They will not cease to exist, but rather they will suffer eternal torment and punishment by God who will judge. Revelation 20:10 tells us that this is where Satan will be thrown, reiterating the same location where the beast and the false prophet will spend eternity.

He says numerous troubling statements ranging from the left brain “squeezing out the Spirit of God and that the fruit of the Spirit are accessed only through the right brain” to calling those who “oppose all manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s power…a part of the Antichrist’s resistance, a tool of the anti-anointing.” He also believes that the church’s rebellion is found in hearts of unbelief toward God and Him using us to conquer the seven mountains. No, rebellion is shown in sin and rejecting God Himself. There are implications in this book that Jesus is “held in the heavens” until a generation rises to finish the assignment and to dominate. However, Jesus Christ finished the “assignment” on the cross, and as stated before, He is not at our mercy.

One final note, the Bible speaks of seven mountains only one time to my knowledge, and that is found in Revelation 17:9 in a rather negative connotation. The verses leading up to this describe a woman riding a beast with seven heads. The seven heads were seven mountains. There are several interpretations for this passage, namely that this woman is the harlot church, but at any rate, this should help us to understand the importance of reading the Word of God and studying it.

I believe that the current appointment of Paula White and her gained understanding of the Seven Mountain mandate is relevant to the discussion and concern expressed over the New Apostolic Reformation. This is a prime example of dominion theology, placing power and authority in the hands of man while diminishing the sovereignty of God, leaving Him at the mercy of our actions and exertion of perceived power. The Lord Jesus Christ is most certainly returning, and He will return in His perfect plan and will. He is not at our mercy in this definitive act.

Though we as Christians should have an influence among those around us by sharing the gospel and our faith in Jesus Christ, we are not commanded to do the things that these individuals express in their books and in their teachings. It is God who rules and reigns now and forever. Our hope is in Him, not in any man or woman, and regardless of the implementation of a Faith Office, Christians will face persecution because Scripture states that this will take place. We are charged to stand firm and to trust in the Lord, knowing that He works all things for His glory and our goo. If I can encourage you in any way, have your Bible open and ready to cross check teachings that are being perpetuated. It is commendable to be a Berean.

Listen to this episode concerning the seven-mountain mandate and Paula White’s recent appointment to the Presidential Office of Faith: Paula White and the Seven Moun – The Lovesick Scribe Podcast – Apple Podcasts