As noted in Chapter 1, the church over the course of its history has suffered attack from within (theological compromise) and without (cultural compromise), but the principal thrust of both attacks can be described as nothing less than the diminution and final abandonment of biblical truth.
Within the theological realm, the diminution and abandonment of truth has occurred because the church has failed to recognize and resist the spirit of the world which has invaded the church. The spirit of the world during an age of rampant humanism has redefined and compartmentalized the meaning of truth in all spheres of American life. Decades of this humanistic view of truth has been absorbed in varying degrees by most American Christians and many evangelical churches. As a result the critical importance of biblical truth has been diminished in the minds and hearts of many.
Along with humanism’s infiltration into the thinking of the church, there has been a marked decline in biblical literacy of Christians during the last decades of the twentieth century and in the twenty-first century to the present day (by which is meant a remarkable lack of familiarity with the Bible, its doctrines, central themes, and teachings). Because of the growing ignorance of the Bible’s commands, the evangelical church has not only failed to resist the humanistic spirit of the world but has accommodated much of it within the church.
On the cultural front, the American evangelical church no longer has the power and authority to speak truth to a diseased and dying culture. One hundred years ago the liberal church knelt at the altar of humanism and secularism (see Chapter 13). It appears that the evangelical church is doing the same in the post-Christian world. Their “new vision for the church” is undermining long held doctrines and is producing a powerless church. Without repentance and turning from sin, the church will lose its saltiness and “…be good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” [Matthew 5:13b. KJV]
The Great Apostasy
Apostasy refers to the once faithful who have renounced, deserted, or become traitors to their faith. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3, the Apostle Paul spoke of a time when a great falling away would occur just before the second coming of Christ. The falling away is a rebellion of many in church against God and is called the great apostasy. The coming of the Lord will not occur unless the rebellion comes first.
Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. [2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, KJV]
Here Paul is speaking of the last days which began at Pentecost and will continue until Christ’s second coming. The falling away (Great Apostasy) of the church will occur near the end of the last days. That the church is in the time of Great Apostasy is revealed by the emergence of three significant trends, all of which that testify to the soon coming of Jesus Christ spoken of by Paul.
Chasing the world by compromising the message of God’s Word
Paul spoke of the compromise of sound doctrine in his second letter to Timothy.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned to fables. [2 Timothy 4:3-4. KJV]
Many churches have incorporated questionable methods in their scramble to survive in a rapidly changing and increasingly hostile culture. By doing so they have also gradually and subtly changed and softened the Bible’s message as well. Over time the adulterated message of these churches becomes unrecognizable when compared with sound doctrine and teachings of the Bible, and without a foundation of biblical truth, they have become powerless.[1]
In 2001, Jim Cymbala wrote that as the church confronts an antagonistic culture it needs to take a look at what the church is doing.
Instead of being a holy, powerful remnant that is consecrated and available to God (in the New Testament sense of the words), the world’s value system has invaded the church so that there’s almost no distinction between the two.
Wouldn’t it be wise to ask ourselves what kind of teaching has brought about this sad state of affairs? What are we doing, or not doing, that causes such a breakdown in the spiritual fiber of professing Christians? We had better start asking some hard questions and be prepared to throw overboard whatever has made the church so weak and carnal.
Instead of that, a massive cover-up is going on. Rather than face the obvious facts around us, certain church leaders proclaim that everything is fine because they have a “new vision for the church.”[2]
When the world’s value system invades the church, the church becomes worldly. The Bible is very explicit about what constitutes worldliness. The Apostle Paul gave a very clear picture of what it means to not be worldly. “For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world.” [Titus 2:11-12. RSV]
Do not misunderstand, the church should reach out to the lost by being charitable, helpful, friendly, encouraging, and welcoming through our activities in the community. Churches can and should be involved in certain secular activities, but it is wrong to adopt methods that are by their very nature worldly to the point of impiety which brings reproach upon Christ’s church and the gospel message. The church must guard against a compromised message and methods that incorporate corrupting elements of worldliness that lead to impiety whose synonyms are sin, sinfulness, irreverence, transgression, immorality, and ungodliness.[3]
Mixing light with darkness
In their efforts to be ecumenical and culturally relevant, many churches have attempted to find common ground with organizations and false religions that stand in opposition to God’s word.
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]
Matthew Henry’s 300 year old commentary gives additional insight into the Apostle Paul’s words of cautioned to the Corinthians.
It is wrong for good people to join in affinity [kinship or relationship] with the wicked and profane. There is more danger that the bad will damage the good than hope that the good will benefit the bad. We should not yoke ourselves in friendship with wicked men and unbelievers. We should never choose them for our bosom-friends. Much less should we join in religious communion with them. It is a very great absurdity. Believers are made light in the Lord, but unbelievers are in darkness; and what comfortable communion can these have together?[4]
There are numerous examples of nationally recognized churches and Christian leaders that attempt to find common ground with anti-Christian secular organizations and false religions in direct contradiction of biblical commandments. When ministers, ministries, and churches mix the light with darkness, they effectively have disobeyed God’s word and bring reproach on their ministry and the gospel of Jesus Christ.[5]
Here we must clarify the difference between being mismatched with unbelievers and Christ’s command to make disciples. Where possible, Christians and the church should reach out to individual non-believers with love and kindness in the hope of a sharing the truth of the message of Jesus Christ. Further, Christians and churches are not prohibited from working with government and private non-Christian organizations in worthy causes, activities, and programs (e.g., foster care, disaster relief, adoption, provision for the poor). However, the church cannot join with other organizations and those parts of our government that actively promote goals, programs, and activities that stand in opposition to God’s word (e.g., abortion, same-sex marriage).[6]
Nonjudgmental Love as a substitute for repentance and turning from sin
Christians must not make judgements in a hypocritical or condemning manner with regard to fellow believers. Also, Christians are to use discernment when making judgement of some who appear to be Christian but are really false teachers and false prophets whose goal is to lead the flock astray (see Matthew 7:15-20).
The world often chastises the Christian for judging the non-Christian and point to the phrase “judge not lest ye be judged.” Those who demand Christians should “judge not” demand tolerance for non-Christians who think and act in ways contrary to the Bible have taken this commandment out of context and ignore the distinctions the Bible makes between judging sinners and fellow believers (see Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:1-5). However, when Christians lovingly and graciously present the gospel to sinners, judgement is not based on their opinions or theories but on what the Bible says. Christians are called to judge between right and wrong based on morality and truth as revealed in God’s word, but such judgement must be done in a spirit of love, kindness, and concern for the sinner, not in a spirit of condemnation.
However, many churches have embraced the world’s definitions of love and tolerance and by doing so have compromised the gospel message. As a result the message of many churches is that God’s love is nonjudgmental and so vast that He will overlook sin if one will only acknowledge Him. In other words, love is all that matters. If this message is true, then sin is of no consequence in determining our eternal destination. And if sin is of no consequence to God, then He does not care about how we live our lives. If the presence of sin is not ruinous of man’s relationship with God, Christ’s death on the cross to purchase forgiveness for mankind’s sin becomes irrelevant. The new concepts of love and tolerance are expressed as unconditional acceptance which is presumed superior to the biblical approach that requires repentance and turning from sin.[7]
To become culturally accepted, the church has resorted to feel-good messages focused on fixing the self in the here-and-now as opposed to salvation and eternity. But, the modern gospel of nonjudgmental love is not new. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a brilliant German theologian who stood against the Nazi regime during the 1930s and 1940s until his death on a cold February day in 1945 when he was hanged on a Nazi gallows. He warned against the gospel of nonjudgmental love which produces a counterfeit grace.[8]
Anyone who turns from his sinful way at the word of proclamation and repents, receives forgiveness. Anyone who perseveres in his sin receives judgment. The church cannot loose the penitent from sin without arresting and binding the impenitent in sin…For its own sake, for the sake of the sinner, and for the sake of the community, the Holy is to be protected from cheap surrender. The Gospel is protected by the preaching of repentance which calls sin sin and declares the sinner guilty…The preaching of grace can only be protected by the preaching of repentance.[9]
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church…In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin…Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner…Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.[10]
Decline of the evangelical church
The reason for the decline of many churches in America is not that the rising tide of secularism and humanism are stronger than the transformational power of the gospel. Rather, in an attempt to continue as a moral force within the culture by becoming culturally relevant, many churches gradually (and for some almost unknowingly) have compromised the biblical message, mixed the light with darkness, and preached nonjudgmental love without the necessity of repentance and turning from sin. However, these doctrinal compromises and non-biblical activities translate into spiritual weakness and generally start with the “what we do” (methods) part of the equation but soon extends to the “what we believe.”
In nations with a strong Christian influence, Satan must resort to guerilla tactics against the church by chipping away at the edges of the gospel message through compromise as opposed to a frontal attack. But as many American churches embrace an anemic and powerless message in the post-Christian and post-modern era, the church has steadily grown weaker and has begun to experience a greater number frontal attacks by Satan’s guerillas (e.g., challenges to the legitimacy and influence of the church in the public square and all spheres of American life).[11]
The Romans at the time of the early church saw value in all religions. Modern multiculturalists would call them “inclusive” and “tolerant.” The Pantheon in Rome was built to honor all gods, and the Christian God was welcomed if only the Christians would make themselves culturally relevant by giving some tribute and deference to the Roman gods.[12] But those early Christians refused to compromise their beliefs and unequivocally held to God’s commandment, “You shall have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:3. RSV]
Evangelical winter
World systems have predicted the death of the church from its beginning two thousand years ago, but the true church cannot die. As Tozer has written, “The true Church is the repository of the life of God among men, and if in one place the frail vessels fail, that life will break out somewhere else.”[13] Many evangelical churches, denominations, and fellowships in America have become frail vessels that have been depleted of their spiritual vitality within and have lost their effectiveness in speaking to the larger culture without. Beginning over a half century ago, a large number of evangelical churches in America and other parts of the Western world have undoubtedly entered a wintry season which has endangered their survival because they have lived too close to the world. Finding that many modern evangelical churches have little to offer other what the world already has given, many of the once faithful are abandoning evangelicalism and seeking solace elsewhere.
Larry G. Johnson
Sources:
[1] Larry G. Johnson, “Strange Fire – The Church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part II,” culturewarrior.net, December 26, 2014. https://www.culturewarrior.net/2014/12/26/strange-fire-the-churchs-quest-for-cultural-relevance-part-ii/
[2] Jim Cymbala, Fresh Power, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2001), pp. 22-23.
[3] Johnson, “Strange Fire – The Church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part II.”
[4] Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, Ed., Rev. Leslie F. Church, Ph.D, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961), p. 1832.
[5] Larry G. Johnson, “Strange Fire – The Church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part III,” culturewarrior.net, January 2, 2015. https://www.culturewarrior.net/2015/01/02/strange-fire-the-churchs-quest-for-cultural-relevance-part-iii/
[6] Ibid.
[7] Larry G. Johnson, “Strange Fire – The Church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part IV,” culturewarrior.net, January 9, 2015. https://www.culturewarrior.net/2015/01/09/strange-fire-the-churchs-quest-for-cultural-relevance-part-iv/
[8] Ibid.
[9] Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2010), pp. 292-293.
[10] Erwin W. Lutzer, When a Nation Forgets God, (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2010), pp. 117- 118.
[11] Larry G. Johnson, “Strange Fire – The Church’s quest for cultural relevance – Part IV.”
[12] Alvin J. Schmidt, How Christianity Changed the World, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2004), p. 25.
[13] A. W. Tozer, Man—The Dwelling Place of God, (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania: WingSpread Publishers, 1966), p. 155.
