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Moving the Church into the 21st Century - and Away From the Bible
A common theme I address in my seminars, preaching, Q&A times, and personal correspondence is the importance of examining the place the Bible occupies in the priorities of modern Christians. Is it supreme over all things? Does it lead and guide every belief and practice? Does it contain all of the information needed to know God, to be saved eternally? And is it the only infallible, inerrant revelation from the Creator to His creation? To the shock of many, increasing numbers of today's most popular voices in the Church have either spoken out demoting the Bible's authority and relevance or have simply said as much by their teachings, alliances, and actions.
When investigating whether a ministry, leader, local church, fellowship, or denomination is heading the wrong direction, one of the most important and also difficult issues we face is that the shift away from the Bible usually happens incrementally. In fact, I cannot think of a single situation that I've read of in over 25 years of researching past (or present) apostasies when error came all at once like a landslide. That is, unless one argues that a single landslide can last for a year, or five, or ten, or more.
No matter how it's accomplished or how quickly, the fact remains that many of the old trustworthy sources have slipped, cracked, compromised, and become voices for "different gospels" instead of the authentic presentation from God's pure Word. Perhaps the most pertinent issue facing believers today is the criteria for decision making about what should and should not be accepted concerning beliefs and experience. After all, many of those who have strayed away from the Bible continually claim that they are "evangelicals." They contend that those who disagree with them just don't understand, are themselves lost in misconceptions about the Faith, or are simply narrow, bigoted legalists. The result is that true Bible believers are not just marginalized but stripped of credibility in any and every way possible. And why? Because we refuse to abandon the Scripture, historic Christian doctrine, and the old rugged cross.
For those in the process of shifting to the "new" evangelicalism, it's usually a slow, almost undetectable journey away from carefully following and applying biblical truth. Programs, methods, plans, life application themes, entertainment and the like have incrementally replaced the sound presentation of the Gospel. Generally absent are teaching of solid doctrine, a focus on standing against evil, and evangelism of the lost. In short, the "here and now" has trumped eternity as life on earth and meeting felt needs has replaced preaching and teaching about eternity, absolute truth, spiritual warfare, and the Church's main mission of evangelism to the status of little more than misguided Dark Ages philosophy.
Messengers Instead of Message
Often guided by the simple fact of whether we like the messenger, the Church today seems to be in a broadening precarious phase as allegiance to a teacher/pastor/author has taken precedence over truth. Favoring particular leaders isn't in itself necessarily evil but persuasive, charismatic personalities often have a unique ability to sweep theological truths aside if they get in the way of the intended outcome of the facilitator. Glaring examples of this phenomenon would be the teachings of cult leaders from the 2nd century's Marcion to Joseph Smith, Jr. The history of the Church is replete with those who may have started out on target but who eventually led many astray. Now Bible believers are faced with discerning the teaching of men such as Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Joel Osteen. No doubt these three and others are counted as "evangelical Christians." They have adopted many Christian ideas in their teaching but these men and many others have developed followers more than willing to ignore (or at least not explore) the glaring flaws scattered through the teachings of those they are endeared to. If I refer to it a "cult of personality," please understand that liking someone and their preaching or writing surely isn't wrong, but blind affection to any teacher or church is inviting disaster. If this trend is prevalent for some seasoned Saints, how much more is it then for young or biblically unknowledgeable people who have never been taught the locked-in-stone edict of testing everything (I Thes. 5:21-22)?
The Media's Power to Shape
These days it's just not an affection for the local preacher on Sundays. YouTube, daily radio/TV, Facebook and Twitter are but a few ways that teachers connect with their audience. All of that may be fine unless the teacher goes sideways and the listeners keep on receiving what has now become contaminated milk. It is at these times that ministries such as Take A Stand! come along and throw the light of truth on what has happened. When we do, those defending their "favorite" teacher often answer with a chorus of "judge not lest ye be judged" or "no one's perfect" and the skirmish is on - all because of a lack of willingness by the both the teacher in question and those being taught to keep bringing everything that claims to be "Christian" to the failsafe standards of the Bible. If we'd do that, people could stop being uptight with me and other apologists for simply doing discernment (even though some of my apologetics brethren are just antsy to pick a fight with anybody on any miniscule issue that tweaks them).
Our next email update will contain a quick checklist of a few things to look out for concerning the "New, Truly Confused Evangelicals." In the meanwhile, have a terrific week and remember, keep your Bible open!
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