The apostasy of the liberal Protestant churches in the early part of the twentieth century has now entered much of the evangelical church. The fundamentalist churches of that era that stayed true to the fundamentals of New Testament Christianity were demeaned and marginalized in a society that was becoming increasingly secular and humanistic. By the 1940s the fundamentalists emerged as neo-evangelicals and once again engaged the culture with the inerrant truth of God’s word. But as America progressed through the remainder of the century and into the twenty-first century, a large portion of the evangelical church had succumbed to the spirit of the age and slid into apostasy.
The apostasy of Pope Francis described in Parts II through IV of this series centered on the great flashpoints of conflict between the Christian and humanist worldviews. In Part II, the Pope presented salvation as a matter of works, something to be achieved by man on terms that are acceptable to him, be he a Christian or atheist. In Part III, the Pope stated that Christians and Muslims essentially worshipped the same God. In Part IV we saw that the Pope’s words contradict the Bible and the church’s traditional stance that homosexuality was a sin. The extent to which this escalating apostasy has grown is evident in many quarters of the modern evangelical church, and much of this apostasy centers on the teachings of the Church Growth movement and its evangelization through preaching a new cross.
The cross upon which the Son of God was crucified stands at the crossroads of history and the story of mankind. Its stark and demanding message is an irritant in the soul of sinful man. For many its message is too confrontational, an agitant, inconvenient, an offense, something to be mocked or shunned. In modern times the way in which the cross is perceived by many who profess allegiance to Christ has also changed. The message of the cross has been muted if not altogether silenced to minimize its offensiveness in churches filled with people trying to decide if Christianity is right for them. Others have rewritten its message to smooth its abrasiveness and soften its demands by making it a thing of comfort and beauty instead of and instrument of death to self and hope of life eternal. The old message, having been modernized and adapted, seamlessly blends with the world’s fascination with humanistic concepts of self-esteem instead of the reality of the fallen nature of man. The new cross at its core rests on ego and selfishness and is the great enemy of the old cross of Christ.[1]
But preaching a new cross and trying to fit into an increasingly hostile world can make for strange bedfellows. On August 11-12, 2016, the Global Leadership Summit was broadcast by live telecast around the world. Advertisements in print and on the Internet invited people to “join an expected 305,000 leaders from 126 countries who are committed to transforming their communities.” The Global Leadership Summit is an annual event sponsored by the Willow Creek Association (WCA) founded in 1992 by Bill Hybels and Willow Creek Church with the stated goal of serving “…pioneering pastors and leaders through world-class leadership experiences and resources” so that Christian leaders can be inspired, encouraged, and equipped [to] create thriving local churches that redeem their communities for Christ.[2] WCA’s website explains how this is to be accomplished.
WCA’s passion is to help leaders worldwide—men and women—realize God’s vision for their lives, churches and communities. We share ideas and build partnerships. Through The Global Leadership Summit (TGLS), Partners, and WCA Membership we deliver vision and inspiration to resourced regions; and we bring training and opportunity to under-resourced areas.[3]
In addition to the two-day live telecast, other Summit events are to take place throughout the fall at an additional 675+ sites in 125 countries and 59 languages.[4]
From these brief statements about the WCA’s mission and stated goals in conducting the Global Leadership Summit, there appears to be nothing of concern that would cause alarm among Christians. To the contrary, on the surface it appears to support training of Christians for the work of the Great Commission as commanded by Christ in Matthew 28:19-20. But as one digs a little deeper and learns who some of the headline speakers were at the summit, there is great cause for concern. The Global Leadership Summit for 2016 listed thirteen faculty speakers. The first four shown on the website were as follows:
Bill Hybels – Founder and Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church
Melinda Gates – Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Alan Mulally – President and Chief Executive Officer, The Ford Motor Company (2006-2014)
Bishop T. D. Jakes – Founder and Senior Pastor, The Potter’s House
The remaining nine speakers included one other pastor and several authors, professors, business leaders, and consultants. Some of the speakers may be Christians while others may not profess Christ at all. This lineup of speakers was widely advertised on the Summit website and in hundreds of newspaper throughout America and around the world.[5]
But for Christians, the most disturbing member of the faculty was Melinda Gates whose photograph was in the number two position immediately to the right of Bill Hybels. The website biography of Gates reads as follows:
As co-chair of the foundation [the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation], Melinda Gates shapes and approves strategies, reviews results and sets the overall direction of the organization. Her work has led her to focus on empowering women and girls to bring transformational improvements in the health and prosperity of families, communities and societies. After joining Microsoft Corp. in 1987, she helped develop many of the company’s multimedia products. In 1996, Melinda left Microsoft to focus on her philanthropic work and family.[6]
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation endowment is $40.2 billion and provides grants for family planning throughout the United States and in over one hundred countries around the world. From prior to 2009 through 2013, the foundation gave $71 million in grants to the International Planned Parenthood Federation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and numerous other state and local Planned Parenthood organizations.[7] In December 2014, Gates attempted to distance her foundation from abortion by saying that it will now only fund the contraception element of Planned Parenthood. But this is the equivalent of filling the contraception pocket of the abortion provider while her friends fill the abortion pocket. This duplicity is exposed through her foundation’s relationship with Warren Buffett. Through the Sarah Thompson Buffett Foundation named after his late wife, Buffett funneled $231 million to Planned Parenthood between 2010 and 2013. Should it come as a surprise that Buffett is also a Gates Foundation trustee, and “helps ‘shape and develop strategies’ for the Foundation. Buffett is also a large contributor to the Gates Foundation.”[8]
Should Melinda Gates activities, friends, and associates have been of concern to Bill Hybels when he invited her to speak at his leadership conference conducted under the banner of his Christian organization? To say other than a resounding “yes” is to ignore his credulity and lack of common sense. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” [1 John 2:15. KJV]
The “world” is a term that is a frequent reference to the vast system of the age. The term refers to many things. It is not limited to the evil, immoral, and sinful pleasures of the world. The “world” also refers to a rebellious spirit that wars against God and His Word. This spirit exists in all human enterprises and activities. Satan opposes God and His people by using the world’s ideas, morality, and philosophies in all spheres of life including government, culture, education, science, art, medicine, music, economic systems, entertainment, mass media, and religion.[9] The words from Donald Stamps’ Bible commentary leave the discerning Christian little doubt as to the meaning of the world system.
Believers must be aware that behind all human enterprises there is a spirit, force, or power that moves against God and His Word, some to a lesser degree, some to a greater degree. Finally, the “world” also includes all man-made religious systems and all unbiblical, worldly, or lukewarm “Christian” organizations and churches.
Satan has organized the world into political, cultural, economic, and religious systems that are innately hostile toward God and His people…
Loving the world defiles our fellowship with God and leads to spiritual destruction…To love the world means being in intimate fellowship with and devotion to its values, interest, ways, and pleasures…Believers must have no close or intimate fellowship with those who participate in the world’s evil system, must openly condemn their sin, must be salt and light to them, must love them, and must attempt to win them to Christ.[10]
A key phrase in Global Leadership Summit’s promotional materials is, “We share ideas and build partnerships.” The larger problem is that many in the church are looking to the world for ideas and answers which contain the spirit of the world. Why must many Christian leaders rely on the wisdom of the world when they have access to the wisdom of the ages through the Holy Spirit? The Apostle Paul warned about seeking wisdom from the unchurched.
Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So let no one boast of men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s. [1 Corinthians 3:18-23. RSV]
This does not mean that Christians are opposed to education and self-improvement. Rather, the opposite is true, but we should remember that the foundational source of our knowledge is not worldly wisdom. Rather, the world’s wisdom must always be sifted and judged in light of the biblical revelation, prayer, and the leading of the Holy Spirit. And the Christian’s quest for wisdom and accomplishment of the Great Commission certainly does not include partnering with the world. The Apostle Paul’s letter of instruction to the Corinthians is very clear on this matter.
Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God… [2 Corinthians 6:14-16a. RSV] [emphasis added]
One wonders how many Christians among the 305,000 participants at the various Global Leadership Summit locations around the world departed confused or dismayed at the absurdity of having a speaker attempt to teach leadership skills to Christians so they may better do the works commanded by Christ but who personally has funded the deaths of millions of unborn babies.
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In this series we have looked at specific instances of religious compromisers and false prophets that have risen to leadership within the church during these last days at the end of the age. There are many other instances of apostasy in the modern evangelical church that could be discussed, but time, space, and the reader’s endurance will not permit such discussion. For readers who wish to examine other articles in this website that deal with apostasy, a few of those are listed at the end of this article.
One must ask the question as to why so many evangelical churches have lost their courageous, countercultural, prophetic voice and are no longer confronting a deteriorating culture. Writing almost three quarters of a century ago, the words of A. W. Tozer rightly diagnosed the reasons for the apostate condition of much of American evangelicalism then and now.
Christianity is so entangled with the spirit of the world that millions never guess how radically they have missed the New Testament pattern. Compromise is everywhere. The world is whitewashed just enough to pass inspection by blind men posing as believers, and those same believers are everlastingly seeking to gain acceptance with the world. By mutual concessions men who call themselves Christians manage to get on with men who have for the things of God nothing but contempt.[11]
Larry G. Johnson
Additional articles on apostasy at culturewarrior.net:
Seduction of the American church
Strange Fire – The church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part I,
Strange Fire – The church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part II
Strange Fire – The churches quest for cultural relevance – Part III
Strange Fire – The churches quest for cultural relevance – Part IV
The Separated Church – Part I
The Separated Church – Part II
The Separated Church – Part III
The Separated Church – Part IV
Growing apostasy in the last days – Part I
Growing apostasy in the last days – Part II
Growing Apostasy in the last days – Part III
Growing Apostasy in the last days – Part IV
Pacifist Christians in the culture wars – Part I
Pacifist Christians in the culture wars – Part II
Sources:
[1] Larry G. Johnson, Evangelical Winter – Restoring New Testament Christianity, (Owasso, Oklahoma: Anvil House Publishers, 2016), p. 274.
[2] “About WCA,” Willow Creek Association, https://www.willowcreek.com/about/ (accessed September 16, 2016).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] “Faculty,” The Global Leadership Summit, https://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/#about (accessed September 16, 2016).
[6] Ibid.
[7] Susan Berry, “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations says it will no longer fund abortion,” Brietbart, June 12, 2014. http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2014/06/12/bill-and-melinda-gates-foundation-says-it-will-no-longer-fund-abortion/ (accessed September 16, 2016).
[8]Alatheia Nielsen, “Planned Parenthood’s Biggest Donors Gave $374 Million in Four Years,” mrcNewsBusters, July 31, 2015. http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/alatheia-larsen/2015/07/31/planned-parenthoods-biggest-donors-gave-374-million-four-years (accessed September 16, 2016).
[9] Donald C. Stamps, Study Notes and Articles, The Full Life Study Bible – New Testament, King James Version, gen. ed. Donald C. Stamps, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1990), p. 578.
[10] Ibid., pp. 578-579.
[11] A. W. Tozer, God’s Pursuit of Man, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers), p. 116.
