The Church Needs to Wake Up!

Christian Smith and other researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill conducted more than 3,000 interviews with adolescents. Their findings show that there is a systemic problem in the Church. The youth of America have developed a totally different view of who God is and how we have a relationship with Him. The researchers are calling this new belief system, Moral Therapeutic Deism.

These teens do not consider this to be a new religion, they consider it Christianity, because most of them regard themselves as Christians. But, their beliefs are far from the normal Christian doctrines that have been taught for two millennia. The researchers identified common beliefs held among these teens, when it comes to their beliefs in God. None of these common beliefs include a way of redemption from sin. Indeed, sin is not even included in the dialog. The central core belief of Christianity is that Christ Jesus is the Saviour of all of mankind and without His redemptive blood, we would all be lost. But this is no longer considered a necessary belief to be considered a Christian. This new "christianity" is not just among our youth, but is also becoming the norm in a large section of our society.

The Bible gives a description of peoples attitudes during the last days. “You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5 - ISV). Don't these verses describe our society pretty well? Notice near the end that some people will seem like Christians, but inwardly, they will not be truly committed to the Word.

How did we get into this position?
It seems that many leaders in the Church have adopted the attitude that the Church needs a kinder and gentler gospel. All this talk of sin and death makes people uncomfortable. So, they changed the focus from Jesus atoning for our sins to God wants us to feel loved. After all, doesn't the Bible tell us that God is love? The "new" gospel is God loves you and wants you to be happy. Too many Churches have become little more than civic organizations. Their emphasis is no longer on making disciples of Christ Jesus, but on making people feel good about themselves and their relationship with God.

What must we do to overcome this problem?
The Bible is the answer. We must get back into the Word, for only within the pages of the Bible lies the Truth and it cannot be found anywhere else. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 - ISV).

Paul told us in 2 Timothy that these people “hold to an outward form of godliness, but deny its power.” We have to change the way the Church reaches out to people. Our first priority must be to make disciples, people who are committed to following the teachings of Jesus. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 - NET)

We must let go of the fear that some people will reject the Gospel. Jesus was not afraid to take a stand that was so demanding of people that some walked away from Him. Remember the story of the rich young ruler? Luke 18:18-30 (NASB). This young man came seeking, but when Jesus required of him something that he was not willing to depart with, the young man left. Jesus let this young man walk away. Did Jesus not care? Certainly He did, because “He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 - ISV). So, why didn't Jesus chase this man down and ease the requirements to make this man stay. Luke 18:28-30 (ISV) tells us, “Then Peter said, “See, we have left everything we have and followed you.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left his home, wife, brothers, parents, or children because of the kingdom of God who will not receive many times as much in this world, as well as eternal life in the age to come.” Jesus had called to these men, "come" and they had dropped everything to follow. He would not lower the standard for the rich young ruler, nor will He lower it for this generation.

The Church must proclaim to the world the standards set by Jesus. Let us not have a spirit of fear, but when someone comes seeking, let the Church boldly proclaim to them the Good News.

What is Truth? Two Opposing World Views.

Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? God has turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense, hasn't he? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know God, God decided through the nonsense of our preaching to save those who believe. Jews ask for signs, and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. He is a stumbling block to Jews and nonsense to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God's power and God's wisdom. For God's nonsense is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength.
(1 Corinthians 1:20-25 - ISV)

"What is truth?" This is the question that Pilate asked, when he was questioning Jesus. It is the same question that many people ask today. We live in a society that seems incapable of deciding whether or not there is any truth. If anyone dares to declare that there is truth, then scorn is cast against them. They are derided for being "judgmental." The source of "truth" for many people in our society comes from self, each and every one of us gets to decide what truth is. It is really quite convenient, no one can challenge you, because your "truth" is yours alone and no one can take it from you. For the wisdom of this age is foolishness with God. As it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness." (1 Corinthians 3:19 - NET)

Is it possible to answer Pilate's question, "What is truth?" I guess it really depends on your world view. Do you have a Biblical world view or a Humanist world view? The Biblical world view professes that what is contained within the pages of the Holy Bible are God's truths. Humanism is a system of thought that rejects religious beliefs and centers on humans and their values, capacities, and worth. So, how does the world define truth? The Princeton wordnetweb website defines truth as: a fact that has been verified. Now this is a perfectly reasonable definition for the Humanist. The Humanist world view demands proof, preferably scientific proof, backed up with statistics and analysis. Their "truths" are not static, they change when "new" knowledge is gained or societies' opinion shifts. The Humanist god is self, and its religion is science. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world's perspective and the world listens to them.
(1 John 4:5 - NET)

But, I would bring forth the proposition that truth is truth whether it has been verified or not. Just because we discover something does not make it true, it was already true. We were just ignorant of that particular truth. When Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity, wasn't gravity already true? When Galileo discovered that the earth revolved around the sun, did that only become true at the point of discovery or was it already true? If truth can only be ascertained through verification, then mankind will continue to stumble through the darkness without any hope that he will find Truth. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Corinthians 2: 12-14 - NET)

NeoGnostics - Modern Day Heretics?

You may have never heard of Gnosticism before, but I am sure that you have heard its teachings. Gnostics are not talking about the God that most Christians refer to. They describe a spiritual being that, according to them, is far above the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Oprah promotes a teaching that says that God is so big that it is impossible for the human mind to understand anything about him. This is a central view in the Gnostic belief system, but it is quite contrary to what the Bible teaches. The Bible is full of attributes that describe God and how He thinks and feels, giving the reader a very good understanding of who and what God is. (Bible Gateway Link to "God is")

NeoGnosticism, my term, is an insidious belief system that can morph its way into any religion and it has made inroads into modern Christianity. It brings a mythical aspect to Christianity, with claims that you will have a better understanding of the scriptures. Gnosticism has always claimed to be more spiritual. This is the lure that is used by Gnostics, that they can provide you with "deeper" spiritual knowledge. No longer do the scriptures "mean what they say and say what they mean;" no, many Christians now depend on "revelations" from God to interpret the scriptures. Now, experience is just as important as scripture when it comes to rationalizing about how many Christians live their lives. Therein lies the problem. Too many Christians have turned to experience and "revelation" to guide them in their walk instead of obeying the scriptures. (Bible Gateway link to "Obey")

This is the essence of NeoGnosticism, that just following the teachings of the scriptures is no longer enough for the believer, we can have other sources of "truth" that can also help us in our Christian walk. Because of our modern sensibilities, it has become almost impossible to declare that something is true. We are now seeing the result of a whole generation of kids that were raised on the idea that there are no absolutes. "What is wrong for you, may be right for someone else" and visa-versa. Everyone is now entitled to have their own truth, which must not be challenged because you do not have the right to "push" your beliefs onto others.

This is true in the Church also. We are always "agreeing to disagree" even when something is clearly stated in scripture. The doctrine of "I believe" or "What that means to me is..." has become the defacto belief system in the Church. We are willing to believe in the teachings contained in the Bible as long as those teachings conform to our belief system. Modern day Christians are quite willing to jettison Biblical doctrine for a doctrine that is more in line with their own personal sensibilities.

So, what is to be done about this intrusion of doctrine into Christianity? First and foremost, Christians need to start reading the Bible. Romans tells us that through the scripture, we will have hope;"For whatever was written beforehand was written for our instruction, in order that through patient endurance and through the encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope." (Romans 15:4 - LEB).

Secondly, Christians must return to the understanding that only in the scriptures will truth be found. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, reminds Timothy of the value that the scriptures bring to the man of God; "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17 - ISV)

Third, If we believe that all truth is contained in the scriptures, then we need to find our interpretations of scripture from the scriptures themselves and not from our own interpretations. In Peter's second letter, he writes, "First of all, you must understand this: No prophecy in Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, because no prophecy ever originated through a human decision. Instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:20-21 - ISV)

Jesus gave us the great commission; "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:19-20 - NIV). If we are to teach what Jesus has commanded, then by necessity we must believe that His commandments are true. And if His commandments are true, then by necessity, they must be obeyed.

Have we become a modern day Israel?
"But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us? So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. But I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation; with a foolish nation I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But of Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people." (Romans 10:16-21 - ESV)