This post is in response to http://thelawmanchronicles.blogspot.com/ 12/15 post on Misinterpretation of Scripture taught in modern American church
So many of the "christian churches" in America are feeding this mis-interpretation to anyone who will listen. They fail to mention sin, and our desperate need for a Savior. They leave out the consequences of disobedience to God's law and try to present our Holy and Righteous God as an all accepting, all loving, god of peace and tolerance. Idolatry is what it really is. The "christian church" has created a god of its own that is thinks it is free from condemnation and consequence. A god that professes religious tolerance and all of us becoming one with each other. Not becoming one with a Holy and Righteous God who commands our faith, devotion regardless of what is happening in our lives.
I've heard statistics as high as 90% of the american christian church is deceived. While, I'm not sure what the exact percentage is, I am sure it is Biblical. God said it would be like this. That we should beware of those professing to be Christians who are not. That these would be in our churches to deceive the very elect if it were possible.
I've seen several movements out here in Nevada.
1. The Revival movement - preachers talkiing about a "revival" in our town in our country and in our world. Taking the verse about "the Gospel must first be preached to all the nations" out of context and promoting themselves based on their numbers.
2. Entitlement: God will give you abundance of all the money you could ever need or want- misinterpreting the Promise that we will have everything we need. The fact is, what we think we need and what God thinks we need are often 2 separate things. Brett recently had a pastor call him to see how he was doing and asked "is God blessing you with more money than you could ever imagine?".
3. My church is my evangelism.
A) I recently asked a pastor to pray about starting an evangelism team. He held his arm out accross the congregation and said, "this is my evangelism team". I replied "No, I mean, an actual group of people who go out into the streets and meet folks where they are and preach the Gospel to them". He looked at me as if he were a deer caught in the headlights. While I'll admit that in a living, breathing, church, the congregation members should all be evangelists, this pastor was thinking of evangelism as getting the word out that he has a church that folks can come to. Evangelism = Marketing the fact that he has a church and counting the numbers in the door.
B) Another local church has an opening for a worship leader. This church has about 1300 regular weekly attendees. The position looked like it was made for me. Leading the worship team, training the choir, writing drama ministry, coordinating the video presentations, etc. It had a modest salary with full benefits and a multi- million dollar annual budget for the arts. This job looked like it was built for me. Then I read the following in the job description "1200 out of our 1300 regular attendees do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ" . Also, "You must be ok with listening to, keeping up with and playing modern, secular music". These two tiny statements made my heart weep. Then I realized that the modern emergent church movement is filtrating into almost every church in America. The mega-churches with the "let's not make anyone uncomfortable" philosophy, the churches offering themselves as a social alternative to clubbing on Saturday night, but who have no foundation in Christ are everywhere. We may no longer be able to evangelize on the street and then direct someone to a "Bible believing church in your area" because the "Bible toting" and the "Bible walking, believing, life changing church" are two separate things.
C) There is a movement among churches to create these "havens" for "sinners" to come and feel accepted and loved, and assure there is no need to change who they are to be accepted. While I can see some good of a Pastor who is truly rooted in Christ to use his church as an evangelism ground. Meaning, the pastor could get them into the church and then give them the truth. But that doesn't happen. It's more like "get them here, make them comfortable, don't say anything to offend them, build programs and home fellowships, dinners, trips, and daycare, and then, when they see a real Christian, maybe, just maybe, they will see something different in them and want to be like them and ask about God. The fact is, Christians, true Christians can't be in real fellowship in these types of churches -- light cannot be in fellowship with darkness. We can outreach to them, but not be in fellowship with them.
D) Tolerance: Yesterday I was thinking about how much tolerance is being taught to our children in schools. Tolerance of different races, cultures and beliefs. Religious tolerance is one that is pretty popular now. When they say "tolerance" they really refer to "religious acceptance". I was reminded that God separated man for a reason. He sent the tribes off into different lands and gave them different tongues and customs so that the people would not be able to unite and think they are better than God and build another tower to show how great man is. But where are we heading? Is religious acceptance Biblical? We are to be tolerant, yes, but accepting of other gods, no. But I'm seeing so much among our youth being taught that we all have different ideas about God and different pathways to God (this phrase was right out of the Vatican). I was reminded of what happened to man the last time we "united" and seeing the "uniting" today in the name of tolerance and anti-terrorism, it certainly had an impact on me.
I'd rather be at a church that reaches out to the homeless, abused, poor and weak, then have my fellowship with unbelievers who think they are believers. Especially with having a family. We go to these types of churches and put our son in sunday school there and he comes out worse than when he went in. With bad habits and age inappropriate teaching. We actually had a church teach our 4 year old son to pray in "your name" instead of in "Jesus Name" as his parents taught him. Our son participates in prayer whenever we drive, eat, sleep, play, prayer time, you name it, he prays with us and we had to unteach what the church taught and teach him that the church was wrong, that Jesus is the name we pray in.
We ask ourselves, as he grows, what will this turn into? Rebellion. "Well, mom, at Youth Group so and so does this and the pastor doesn't say it's wrong, so why can't I?"
I did receive a thread of hope this weekend for these churches. My mother, who gave her life to Christ 2 years ago, goes to a large church in Pennsylvania. Her Pastor built the church from the ground up in an old movie theater. They had the big band and the lights and the social events, and all of the accepting atmosphere of a modern american church. Several years into it, the Pastor got born again. He then stood in front of his church and apologized. His sermon was on the parables and how there is a veil drawn so that the unbelievers could not understand the hidden meanings in the parables, but the believers would hear the message clearly. He confessed that up until that point, he hadn't understood what that even meant. He confessed that he hadn't surrendered his heart, thought and deeds to God and was preaching solely from his head knowledge and had no heart knowledge of Christ. He asked for the congregation's forgiveness, and immediately changed his preaching. They are still going strong today, several years later.
Hearing about that this weekend really warmed my heart. Especially to hear my mother, who from my earliest age hated religion, talking to me with the Truth of God in her words. This is something I prayed for, but had to give up to God several years ago and accept that she may never know Christ. Now she's telling me about the true and false churches! Praise God!
Tags: Jesus Christ church deceived Christian help
