There’s no way around it. The current state of the church in America is lukewarm at best, and apostate at worst. The modern visible Church bears little resemblance to the Church of the first century or even the Church of a century ago. The modern Church has blended so much and so well with the world that no one can tell the two apart.
Today, we have a brand of “Christianity” for every taste, sin and vice imaginable. Churches have thrown out the preaching of the Gospel and are are now catering to those who have one foot in the Church and the other foot in the world. People who refuse to deny themselves and take up their crosses (Mark 8:34), crucify their old self (Romans 6:6 & Galatians 2:20), sever their friendships with the world (James 4:4 & 1 John 2:15), and separate themselves (2 Corinthians 6:17), can now have their cake and eat it too. They can have their Churchianity and feed their insatiable lusts of the flesh at the same time. Welcome to the “Christian” Vanity Fair.
Whether your vice is a love for the Beatles, Elvis, The Spice Girls, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks, heavy metal rock concerts, hip hop culture, rockabilly hot rods, clowns, poker, Las Vegas, bars, all things Gothic, homosexuality, pastors with “hot wives,” jokes with sexual innuendos, Hooters waitresses, an unhealthy fascination with earth worship environmentalism, narcissistic pastors who missed their callings to be video jockeys on MTV, making light of the Savior, Marijuana consumption, television, desire to be a rock star (but can’t make it big time), bathroom humor, psychics (and their magic soap), BMX stunt shows (and the gospel of bike safety), kick-boxing, belly dancing, aerobics, wrestling, Harry Potter, scantly clad dancers at Christian concerts, feminist goddes worship, get-rich-quick schemes, winning prizes, a 30-foot inflatable sex organ as a ministry tool, apostate sermon series’ entitled God Loves Sex, and all other sermons that have little to do with God and a lot to do with sex.
Now who wouldn’t want to attend churches and events like these if their Christianity consists of checking off “Church” on their list of things to do to be in good favor with God? If they have to sit through church they might as well be entertained.
Even this church boasts that they’re “fun, exciting, powerful, and relevant.” (They also happen to display a nuclear mushroom cloud on their website for some unknown reason). So, when did Christianity become all about YOU? When did the Church begin to cater to nothing but YOU?
Well, with all the frivolity happening in the Church today, I decided to illustrate the difference between what passes as Christianity today (as seen above) with Christianity from the past. The following excerpt from the Voice of the Martyr’s book, Jesus Freaks will serve as Exhibit A. Let this example speak for itself between now and then–what Christians live for now, compared to what they died for then.
The day of their victory dawned, and the martyrs went from the prison to the amphitheater as if they were on their way to heaven. Their faces were radiant. Perpetua followed at a gentle pace, as a great lady of Christ. The power of her gaze forced the spectators to lower their eyes. She sang a hymn of triumph.
At the beginning of the show, two of the men were attacked by a leopard and then mauled by a bear. A wild boar was then let loose on Saturus, but the boar turned on the one who unleashed him, goring him in the stomach. Saturus was only dragged on the sand. Then he was tied up on the bridge in front of a bear, but the bear refused to come out of his den. So for the second time Saturus was left unhurt.
Perpetua and a young woman named Felicitas were put in the arena with a bull. Felicitas fell, seriously wounded. Perpetua was tossed in the air, and her robe was torn. As soon as she got up, she ran to Felicitas and gently raised her from the ground. When the bull refused to attack them again, they were removed from the arena.
The show was almost over; Saturus was put in the arena one last time, the leopard was let loose, and with one bite, Saturus was mortally wounded.
Finally, those who were still alive were brought back in to be killed by gladiators. First, they gave one another the kiss of peace. Then all remained still and received the sword in silence. Perpetua was assigned a young, untried gladiator, who was not used to such scenes of violence. He stabbed her weakly several times between the ribs, but did not kill her, so Perpetua guided his wavering hand to her throat. (Pages 301-302)
The official song of Reformation Nation, At The Crossroads, should be an anthem for the Church today.
1, February 5, 2008 at 4:07 am
Can’t argue with what you have said. The Church in the west is so poor spiritually it cannot be called the Church, not when we look into the word of God, and see the persecution taking place in non-western nations.
Have got the book Jesus Freaks. And the contrast of what passes for Church today is tragic when one considers that the Church is the body of Christ.
God help us to get back to Him.
God bless.
1, February 5, 2008 at 4:41 am
Thank you for posting this. Our pastor was on fire in the pulpit this past Sunday on pretty much the same thing; Christian holiness.
Good post
1, February 5, 2008 at 7:15 am
Thanks for posting this. It is so true. The state of the American church is deplorable.
May the Lord help us to boldly proclaim His truth!
Michael
1, March 10, 2008 at 8:41 pm
When churches are focused on pleasing people the bar representing holiness falls from Heaven and hits the ground. So many pulpits have shifted from “Greater is He”, to “Greater are we”. Many churches are just as sick and weak as the world because they lack the Christ they are attempting to sell. Dying on an operating table is more comprehendible to me than dying in the waiting room. The church claims to be totally submitted and comitted to the will of the potter’s hands yet a peek inside the majority of congregations will find many dying inside the waiting room. May God return our hearts and minds to holiness that is of Him and not of ourserlves.
1, March 13, 2008 at 2:08 pm
How far is too far when addressing sex in church? http://sermon.net/c/rolwc/
1, August 4, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Seeker Friendly “churches” are full of poison. The entire foundation that they are built upon is flawed. Once a “pastor” decides that he is going to transition “his” church after this model…look out, the changes are coming. As someone who has been in a Bible believing church that “transitioned” to attract the lost I can say first hand that the confusion this movement breeds and bringsclearly makes it a false gospel. Scripture is completely ignored by “leadership” and those who oppose or express concerns about their church being hijacked by seducing spirits and doctrines of devils are labeled as religous troublemakers who are stuck in the mud and hate change. The first thing you will notice is the changes in “how your church has church”. The music is ALWAYS the first change. Now isn’t that amazing? The very thing that Satan was trying to get from our Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness was God’s worship and that’s the first thing this movement goes after. Puzzling isn’t it?
Seeker Friendly churches/pastors are told that you have to use the kind of music that the target is used to hearing everyday. I thought God was the target of our Worship and not men. This confuses the beliver who is being bombarded by what he/she used to listen too. Even if this methology was true it still exposes another problem. By using music that targets a certain group,you are saying that they are exclusively who you are trying to “reach”. The overwhelmingly majority of the music in this movement targets white affluent Americans. You thought they were trying to reach everybody right? Not so!
Other changes you will begin to notice over a period of time is a change in terminology. The unsaved, ungodly and unredemmed are redefined as “Unchurched”. Conformity to the image of Christ is thrown out and cultural relevance is brought in. Multiple service times on the weekends because yuppies like having options to chose from. Your Sunday night and mid week service may become a thing of the past. You pastor will say it’s so that you can have more family time but it’s really not to interfere with the yuppie’s busy schedule. A starbucks type coffee bar will be brought in and the foyers will begin to look less like a church. Anything that represents a visual distinction from the world and wll be removed to provide a non offensive atmosphere. At some point your pastor might use a laptop at the pulpit instead of a Bible because that’s how he’s been taught to connect with the corporate business minded target he is after. It’s just a propt or visual aid like in a movie or show. The services will become very very short because the unchurched yuppie cannot endure long services. Funny, they have no problem watching a 3 hour NFL game, a long golf round, hours of television or movie theaters or hours of the home shopping network. How can God require them to sit in a long service, they have lives to live! The true Holy Spirit would NEVER stoop to such spiritual non sense. This movement is full of error!
This movement is also full of manipulation, intimidation, control and subtility. When a member of the congregation begins to express concerns about the changes in their church,they don’t even know that their pastor has been trained by the church growth gurus in how to counter them.
They will sound so spiritual when they say things like…” the vision” or “God’s vision for the house”, and they will try and change the minds and convictions of the flock to get them on board. My post is not an attack on Pastors but it is an attack on this movement that is false doctrine and a false gospel. I have mentioned no names and no names of churches. Usually a combination of 3 things will happen when a congregation member expresses concern about this ungodly spirit of change in their church.
1.The pastor or leadership will attempt to get the member to embrace the changes. The pastor has made his mind up, sat in meetings and considered the cost and has determined he is transitioning “his” church with you or without you.
2. You are either going to embrace the changes or begin to pray and seek God about leaving. If the Lord directs you to leave you will be confronted by that church with…this is your covering you cannot leave or you need to submit to delegated authority. If you are at a place where you notice changes in your church play time is over and this is serious. You must pray and stay in the word because you know the truth now. Don’t let anything or anyone pull you away from the Lord, the Word and prayer. The startling thing about “covering” is this. If you initially came there from another church why didn’t they tell you to go back to your “covering”? But now it’s time to move on somewhere else and……that’s a problem for them. It affects the numbers which is the chief motivator of those who let thismovement into their churches.
3. Something is going to happen. Either the pastor is going to be awaken by the Lord and get the movement out, you are going to change and become part of it or you are going to leave. The people that trained the pastors in this movement also trained them how to deal with opposition. If he is determined to go the way he is going and you are determined to stand with God and the truth, there will be a confrontation. Once they see you will not change and give up your beliefs(that were engraved in you by the Holy Spirit) they are going to kick you out. The same people who told you in previous steps that you could not leave because they were your covering will now tell you you have to leave. When you pray and research this movement and test it with scripture you must conclude that it is the working of deceiving spirits. It is our Heavely Father who convicts and draws men to Jesus Christs for repentance and conversion not our marketing gimmicks or latest trends. Shame on the American Church!
Prior to entering the ministry men must spend time in God’s school of hard knocks. It’s called the wilderness. It’s in this place that we die to self, ungodly ambition, and the unquenchable thirst to be one of the “Big Don’s” of modern day ministry. The wilderness is a place of stripping and filling and a place of preparation. Jesus had a wilderness, Paul had a wilderness, Moses had a wilderness and even Elijah had to learn dependence upon God when his brookdried up. The American Gospel of Accomodation is the only place where it seems more energy is spent trying to avoid God’s place of preparation than just surrenduring and letting Him have His way in us and through us.
My heart grieves at what I see happening to God’s people. The Apostasy is here! We must pray that God will raise up men and provide his people with true shepards who will love them and protect them from error regardless of personal cost. When the remnant begins to leave these modern day so called “churches” they must have somewhere to go and not become spiritually homeless or worse go back to the house of compromise and carnality.