Church Leaders Can’t Fear Controversy

To tell us, as others do, that clergymen ought never to handle controversial subjects, and never to warn their people against erroneous views, is senseless and unreasonable. At this rate, we might neglect much of the New Testament. Surely the dog that does not bark and the sleeping shepherd are the best allies of the wolf, the thief, and the robber.

J.C. Ryle, Churches Beware! Pg.82

Are You a “Whatever” Person?

Yet most probably the greatest danger in the coming generations will not be in the extremes but in the soft center of almost-anything-goes, amiable accommodationism of current Evangelicalism. As in the time of the prophet Elijah, the postmodern church has become a breeding ground for the undecided, for fence sitters, for people who want to have their cake and eat it too, and so for syncretists who have forgotten the meaning of the word. There are too many Christians weary of taking a stand because they are so wary of repeating the mistakes of the past.  They have become “whatever” people, those who hedge their bets and watch from the sidelines to see who will win the contest on the Mount Carmels of our day.

Os Guinness, Impossible People, pg.111

To Truly Love God, You Need to Learn About Him

We have replaced rich, robust theology in the Church with emotional music and constant reminders that “God is love and loves you and He’s your personal Savior and loves your soul …” These words are great at bringing outsiders through the doors (because they’re true by and large) but poor at growing believers into mature witnesses with rich understanding of the deep things of God.

I have found the opposite to be very true. I have found that the more I learn about God, His Word and theology which describes Him, the more I can love and worship Him, because now there is that much more to adore and be amazed by. If my ability to worship God is a fire, learning more about Him only adds more wood to the blaze. After all, if you really loved God, wouldn’t you want to learn as much about Him as possible? . . .

I’m saddened that atheists are so passionate about what they believe that they will read stacks of books in order to define their beliefs, while we are happy to float along the surface with a “Hillsong-deep theology” and call it good. And we wonder why people are leaving the Church in droves.  A church that offers only emotional, feel-good theology is going to lose the long-term wrestling match to a well-read and convincing atheist nearly every time

Ethan Renoe, The Tragedy of Dumbing Down Christianity

Follow Boldly

The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of his objects to make none; but if doing what is right and believing what is true should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he will regard it as a small loss, since his great Friend in heaven will be even more friendly and will reveal Himself to him more graciously than ever. You who have taken up His cross, don't you know what your Master said? "I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother . . . And a person's enemies will be those of his own household."

Christ is the great Peacemaker; but before peace, He brings war. Where the light comes, the darkness must vanish. Where truth is, the lie must flee; or if it remains, there must be a stern conflict, for the truth cannot and will not lower its standard, and the lie must be trampled underfoot. If you follow Christ, you will have all the dogs of the world yelping at your heels. If you live in such a manner as to stand the test of the last judgment, you can depend upon it that the world will not speak well of you.

He who has the friendship of the world is an enemy to God; but if you are true and faithful to the Most High, men will resent your uncompromising commitment, since it is a testimony against their iniquities. You must do the right thing and not fear the consequences. You will need the courage of a lion to pursue a course that turns your best friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you must take your stand. To risk reputation and affection for the truth's sake is so demanding that to do it constantly you will need a degree of moral principle that only the Spirit of God can work in you. Do not turn your back like a coward, but play the man. Follow boldly in your Master's steps, for He has made this rough journey before you. Better a brief warfare and eternal rest than false peace and everlasting torment.

C.H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, revised and updated by Alistair Begg

New Converts Need to Learn Genesis

When new converts come into a church, they should be led in a Bible study on the book of Genesis.  They will learn exactly what Christianity is all about and will learn the basis for all Christian doctrine.  Results do come from simply preaching about Christ and the cross in our society today, because there is still a remnant of the Creation basis for that preaching.  But this remnant is disappearing very quickly, and thus the response is far less today than in the past.  It is time we woke up and used the tools that the Lord has provided to evangelize a society that has become like the ancient Greeks.  It is time to restore the foundations of Christianity.

Ken Ham, “The Lie,“ p.103

You Can’t Get Instruction From That Which Destroys

No man gets instruction from that which tends to destruction. No man receives illumination from a quarter where all is darkness. Let our “seeking,” therefore be in that which is our own, and from those who are our own, and concerning that which is our own,—that, and only that, which can become an object of inquiry without impairing the rule of faith.

Tertullian, “On Prescription Against Heretics,” Chapter XII

We Need A New Type of Preacher

If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher. The proper, ruler-of-the-synagogue type will never do. Neither will the priestly type of man who carries out his duties, takes his pay and asks no questions, nor the smooth-talking pastoral type who knows how to make the Christian religion acceptable to everyone. All these have been tried and found wanting.Another kind of religious leader must arise among us. He must be of the old prophet type, a man who has seen visions of God and has heard a voice from the Throne. When he comes (and I pray God there will be not one but many), he will stand in flat contradiction to everything our smirking, smooth civilization holds dear. He will contradict, denounce and protest in the name of God and will earn the hatred and opposition of a large segment of Christendom. Such a man is likely to be lean, rugged, blunt-spoken and a little bit angry with the world. He will love Christ and the souls of men to the point of willingness to die for the glory of the One and the salvation of the other. But he will fear nothing that breathes with mortal breath.

A. W. Tozer, The Size of the Soul, 128-129.

Reposted from 7/10/08

Two Dangers to the Church

There are many dangers to the Church today, the main one of which is false teaching corrupting it from within and without.  However, I think there are two other deadly dangers which severely damage the church and its message: legalism and syncretism.

Now there are four main understandings about legalism, some of which include false teachings:

1.  Keeping the law as a means of salvation. (e.g. Rom. 3:28; Gal. 2:16)

2.  Keeping the law’s letter without keeping its “spirit.”  (e.g. Mk. 2:23-3:6)

3.  Building a “fence” of unnecessary, extra-biblical laws around Biblical laws. (e.g. Matt. 15:3-9; 23:16-24).

4.  Imposing obsolete, O.T. requirements on N.T. believers. (e.g. Rom. 14:1-23; Heb.8:13)

Now, it is easy to see how false teachings under these standards can be fairly easily seen.  But what about what is sometimes called “judgmentalism”?  

Chuck Swindoll had a good description in his book, Grace Awakening.  He said, “Legalism is an attitude, a mentality based on pride.  It is an obsessive conformity to an artificial standard for the purpose of exalting oneself… Legalism says, ‘I do this or I don’t do that, and therefore I am pleasing to God.’”

It is one thing for this attitude to be focussed on oneself, but it is another thing when directed at those in the church.  I have known of “seekers” who have quit going to church for this reason; I know of many people who were new/immature believers who quit attending church for this reason.  Both type have a bad taste left in their mouths.  

Let me give some examples as to what I’m referring here:

A young man has tattoos or earrings and is condemned, or just snubbed.

A single mom is condemned for promiscuity.

People are condemned for how they are dressed.

People are condemned for unbiblical beliefs.

Women condemned for short hair, men condemned for long hair.

A person with yard gnomes is told they are idols and they shouldn’t have them.

I think you get the picture.  Seekers may have a lot of unholy fashions, language, ideas, etc., which need to be dealt with in love and compassion as they are led to understanding their need of a Savior.  New believers may have bodily reminders of a life before they were saved and need reassurance that the sins which led to those decisions are forgiven.  New/immature believers need solid biblical instruction and discipleship to help them learn why some of the stuff they believe is incorrect.  New/immature believers need counsel if their fashions are immodest.  Other things are Romans 14 issues which need to be let alone rather than judging the person for their beliefs and practices.

Now let’s look at syncretism.  This again can have many connotations, such as the Emergent movement’s bringing in contemplative prayer and other Catholic mysticism, or   such as the new movement known as “Chrislam.”  Others of this type try to meld with pagan belief systems such as various American Indian beliefs or even Hinduism.  Movements which bring in this type of heresy as part of their syncretism are, again, easy to point out as the false teaching which they are.  

The subtle syncretism is more serious because it weakens the message of the Gospel while not being as readily discernible, and can very well eventually lead the assembly into apostasy and even heresy.  These types of ideas which are syncretized have more to do with the ideology of the world.  Here are some examples:

1. The “social gospel” is one of the worst, and may not even be considered syncretism, rather it is really a separate system completely distorting the gospel message.  However, often just aspects of this system are syncretized into an otherwise fundamental assembly, and while not distorting the Gospel, it weakens it.

2. Pop-psychology is an insidious movement easily syncretized with Christianity because we have all been brainwashed into accepting its precepts.  So-called “Christian psychologists” such as James Dobson, Larry Crabb, et al are guilty of this type of syncretizing.  Sometimes Bible teachers also bring in this type of teaching, as I have demonstrated in my articles on Beth Moore’s studies.  Many of the programs for church youth groups are rife with pop-psychology, leading to the “dumbing down” of our youth.  An excellent book on this subject is Spiritual Junk Food, by Cathy Mickels & Audrey McKeever.

3. Bringing in the world’s culture, including its entertainment methods is really nothing more than syncretizing Christianity with the culture around us.  And the culture selected is often self-focused.  When a worship service seems to be no different than a rock concert, then the culture has been syncretized into that service.  “Seeker-sensitive” assemblies are guilty of this carnage.

Of these two dangers, it’s sometimes difficult to decide which is worse.  Legalism can prevent people from coming to the Lord as well as chase immature believers into isolation so they can’t grow in their faith.  Possibly syncretization is the worst because it waters down the Gospel message and dumbs down the members of the assembly, leaving solid meat in the dust.

Either way, I have known people spiritually harmed by both.  Do you have observations of  these two dangers and which you’d consider worse?