Oakwood, Ga. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – A concerning story out of Georgia offers a window into the rise and possible demise of an all-encompassing strategy of Christian Nationalism finding unheralded success in the Trump era.
On July 10th federal regulators filed a complaint “seeking the seizure of Georgia lender First Liberty Building & Loan, accusing the financial institution that has deep conservative political ties of operating a sweeping $140 million Ponzi scheme,” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
First Liberty “advertised itself as a patriotic, Christian organization,” the paper noted. This underplays the powerful ideology it seemingly advanced. First Liberty’s leader, a well-connected conservative political donor named Brant Frost IV, was a leader in a men’s ministry based in a suburban Atlanta church that advanced an ideology known as the seven mountains mandate, a sweeping strategy of Christian Nationalism to retake from secular or anti-Christian control seven essential cultural institutions from government to education to media.
First Liberty fits what I describe in my new book about the seven mountains mandate as an organization dedicated to the mountain of business. First Liberty was a “way for investors to grow wealth while advancing Christian values and boosting President Donald Trump’s movement,” the AJC noted.
In my book I argue the strategy behind the mountain of business is to offer successful business people the chance to grow their wealth and use that wealth to advance the kingdom of God. Investments of the kind offered by First Liberty did not merely rely on the trusted word of Frost and past success for clients, some of whom are influential people in conservative politics. The pitch was inherently religious. This echoes early leaders in the seven mountains movement who preached about wide-ranging kingdom impacts from those who invested in their vision from helping the poor to denying evil business leaders a chance to misuse God’s money.
From what little we know of Frost, he seems to fit the mold of “marketplace apostle,” those in the seven mountains movement who would set out to convince business leaders that their tithes and offerings were not being used well by traditional churches and denominations. Instead, they should fund ministries that married politics, religion, and the economy.
The SEC complaint against First Liberty dates its alleged bad deeds back to 2014. While the seven mountains mandate has been around for decades it gained immense popularity in Charismatic evangelical networks around that time. Many scholars of the movement say a pastor-turned-entrepreneur named Lance Wallnau is the man responsible for its rise in popularity. Wallnau has written books about the elections of Trump, attributing them to divine intervention.
But as I argue in my book, the new face of the seven mountains mandate is the millennial political wunderkind Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. Kirk has turned his national organization that educates, activates, and trains the MAGA faithful into the indispensable group for the seven mountains mandate movement. It is not surprising that Kirk endorsed First Liberty.
Kirk founded Turning Point as he graduated high school in 2012. It shot to political stardom during the first Trump administration and in the second, Kirk has become a kingmaker. While some people compare him to Rush Limbaugh because of his national radio broadcast, Kirk’s plan for Turning Point is far more massive than the power of the late radio host. Turning Point began as an outreach to conservative students. While it has thousands of chapters on high school and college campuses, Turning Point is far beyond those origins now. It has an arm for each of the seven mountains and has put the movement as close to success as it has ever been.
The ideology of the seven mountains mandate is not limited to Kirk and people like Frost. Powerful people in all seven of the cultural institutions have declared it in some form as their goal. For example, Project 2025, the massive set of policies to remake the federal government being implemented by the Trump administration, is one of the seven mountains. Adherents in that arena include the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
This power is part of the plan. Place its adherents atop the seven areas and watch them remake America into a Christian country, a national identity it once had. And from there, build up the nation as a beacon of truth and goodness prepared for the return of Jesus. It’s a minority movement desiring to rule over the rest of us because they know what is best for us.
As one can easily see this overarching vision goes beyond the mountain of government. So elections are only one though important avenue to stop it. Religious groups like Christians against Christian Nationalism are credible attempts to convince conservative Christians to give up the power grab.
But because of the sweeping nature of the seven mountains mandate, stopping it will require the whole of our democracy. Community by community, classroom by classroom, even street by street we have to reinvest in the principles and power of pluralism.
The First Liberty scandal shows some in the seven mountains movement want to be taken in by its promises. The scandal also shows those of us who want to stand against it are far behind in persuading our neighbors that their time and treasure can be better spent somewhere else. The demise of the seven mountains mandate won’t come due to grifters and greedy business people. It will only come as we work for democracy on local and national stages.
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