# Are Your Church's Teachings Distracting You From Jesus? > [!question] Lingering Questions > - Verify the "incomplete gospel"/dominionism characterization of NAR against a primary NAR-affiliated source directly, not just this secondhand summary, before citing it as settled. > - Where's the line between Baker's control/no-control heuristic as healthy discernment and using it to justify passivity toward things that actually are one's responsibility? > [!tip] Article Ideas > - A piece pairing the control/no-control heuristic with the secular Stoic dichotomy of control — same structure, different theological framing, worth a direct comparison. > [!link] Cross Reference > - [[NAR and Charismatic Authority Critique MOC]] — the dominion-gospel claim is core NAR-critique material > - [[Faith & Theology MOC]] — Martha/Mary (Luke 10) reading and biblical-counseling framing > - [[Spiritual Formation and Discipleship MOC]] — busyness-as-distraction-from-Jesus is a discipleship-formation theme > [!quote] Vocabulary > - **Dominionism** — the claim that the cross's work includes authorizing believers to take socio-political control of the earth, framed here as a departure from the "complete gospel" ## Bib capsule Mark Baker (citing his book *Re-minded*), "Are Your Church's Teachings Distracting You From Jesus?" YouTube, 2026. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIrYDDVxAEI ## Author's thesis (Adler Q1+Q2) Daily faithful practice depends on correctly sorting what is within one's control (love, prayer, forgiveness — one's own response) from what isn't (another person's choices, outcomes) — treating anxiety as a diagnostic signal that one is reaching past that boundary rather than only as pathology. Baker uses Martha's "cumbered about with much serving" (Luke 10:38-42) as the biblical parallel for how good, busy, service-oriented activity can itself distract from Jesus — and extends the point to NAR theology's dominion framing, which he argues substitutes "take socio-political control of the earth" for the actual gospel, making busyness-toward-control a doctrinal problem, not just a personal one. ## Key arguments (≤3) 1. Sorting daily action into controllable/uncontrollable is the central practical heuristic; anxiety functions like pain — a signal you've reached past your actual control. 2. Martha's over-service in Luke 10 is the direct biblical case for how well-intentioned busyness can distract from Jesus specifically (not just from rest or self-care generally). 3. NAR's dominion theology is named as "another gospel" — reframing Christ's work as license for socio-political control, which Baker treats as a doctrinal distraction operating at the same structural distance from Jesus as Martha's service. ## Claim atoms ### Control/no-control dichotomy governs faithful daily practice > [!quote] ID:rw_WIrYDDVxAEI_1 > "You can't change another person... you can pray for them, you can forgive them or whatever, but you can't change another person." [~00:00-01:20] — central teaching heuristic of the segment; sorts controllable actions (love, prayer, forgiveness) from uncontrollable outcomes. ### Anxiety signals illegitimate control-seeking, like touching fire > [!quote] ID:rw_WIrYDDVxAEI_2 > "That's kind of like where you get too close to a fire and you get close, like, ow. That's what it's telling you — that you don't control this." [~01:44-02:00] — reframes anxiety/depression as a diagnostic signal rather than only pathology; relevant to biblical-counseling practice. ### Martha's overburdened service distracted her from Jesus > [!quote] ID:rw_WIrYDDVxAEI_3 > "It's kind of like with Martha — she was serving, it says she was cumbered about with much serving, one translation says, or she was distracted, another translation — from what? Jesus." [~02:05-03:40] — anchors the argument in Luke 10:38-42; direct biblical parallel Baker draws to NAR's busyness. ### NAR reframes the gospel as license for earthly dominion > [!quote] ID:rw_WIrYDDVxAEI_4 > "The complete gospel would be that Christ's work on the cross made it possible for believers to take dominion, to take socio-political control of the earth." [~07:12-08:00] — the segment's sharpest theological claim, labeled "another gospel... a false gospel"; worth cross-referencing against primary NAR sources before treating as settled. ## Permanent candidates - **Already captured** — this source was previously synthesized into [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/Formation Requires Distinguishing Faithful Action From Outcome Control]] (created 2026-08-11), which covers both the control/no-control heuristic and the dominionism scope note. No new Permanent note needed; this Literature Note connects and backfills the missing triage/atom structure instead. ## Processing checklist - [ ] Verify the dominionism characterization against a primary NAR-affiliated source - [ ] Look up *Re-minded* by Mark Baker for full publisher/ISBN - [x] Connect into the relevant MOC — [[3. Resources/MOCs/NAR and Charismatic Authority Critique MOC]] - [x] Checked for existing Permanent notes — found [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/Formation Requires Distinguishing Faithful Action From Outcome Control]] already covers this source's central claim ## Links - [[3. Resources/MOCs/NAR and Charismatic Authority Critique MOC]] — the dominion-gospel claim - [[3. Resources/MOCs/Spiritual Formation and Discipleship MOC]] — busyness-as-distraction reading of Martha - [[3. Resources/Permanent Notes/Formation Requires Distinguishing Faithful Action From Outcome Control]] — the existing Permanent note already synthesized from this source - [[3. Resources/Readwise/Articles/Are Your Church's Teachings Distracting You From Jesus]] — full source transcript and deep-read notes