“Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God , which he hath purchased
with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous
wolves enter in among you,
not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking
perverse things, to draw away disciples after them,” Acts
20:28 - 30.
I recently read
an article about a new book being released in May of this year entitled "The Fall
of the Evangelical Nation". Here’s a brief synopsis of the book along
with a short commentary I retrieved from the website
www.sliceoflaodicea.com
"Evangelical
Christianity is dying. The great evangelical movements of today are not a
vanguard; they are a remnant, unraveling at every edge. Conversions. Baptism.
Membership. Retention. Participation. Giving. Attendance. Religious literacy.
Cultural influence. All are down and dropping...With her trademark vivid and
first hand reporting, Wicker (Christine Wicker) takes us deep inside this
crumbling pillar of the Religious
Right, exposing the surprising statistics and details of this unexpected
fall."
This author
appears to be making some pretty bold statements, and it will be most
interesting to see her data. It is also interesting that she chose none other
than Brian McLaren to endorse her book. Brian McLaren doesn't believe in hell
and the penal substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross, which firmly
removes him from the historic definition of evangelical. He does, however,
qualify for the label of the new variety where you can make things up as you go.
He writes,
“Written with intensity, passion and compassion, this is one of the year's truly
important books on the changing face of religion in America .”
Those who hate
the Christ of the Scriptures have a vested interest in declaring evangelical
Christianity dead. The circus church foolishness and the perversion of true
evangelical teaching has given them a pretext to do so. But the real church of
Jesus Christ is indeed a remnant—a remnant that is alive and well and we are
promised by Jesus Christ himself that the gates of hell will not prevail against
her.
“Perverse
disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that
gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.”
1Timothy 6:5
Do I believe
evangelical Christianity is dying? No, that would not be my view on the subject.
More and more thoughwe
see a new evangelical movement emerging, and I believe the roots of such are
emerging from the depths of Hell and being promoted from pulpits inside many of
our Christian Churches . When we read that some big name evangelicals are
beginning to move their beliefs into alignment with the Nicolaitans
(Roman Catholic Church) for
example, we can only conclude that they are being led by the father of all lies.
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1 Timothy 4:1, 2.
Along with the
Nicolaitans leading the
Church astray, we have the new evangelical preachers who deceive the laity by
means of spreading a false prosperity, a health and wealth gospel “Ever
learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth,” 2
Timothy 3:7. We
shouldn’t be surprised by those who excel at tickling the ears of their
followers with false gospels, then with audacity ask or even demand their
audience send them money. The
Bible clearly speaks of such things happening as we move closer to the
end times. “…so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds,
reprobate concerning the faith,” 2 Timothy 3:8.
There is an
incredible amount of wealth among these prosperity preachers. Is it a sin for a
preacher to be wealthy? Before I answer that question let’s take a look at our
Lord’s lifestyle while He lived and walked here on earth. Was Jesus Christ
wealthy? Was Jesus even concerned with material things? Jesus tells us “And
if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have [thy]
cloke also,” Matthew 5:40. Are we not to imitate Jesus in our daily
walk? Jesus had no use for earthly gain.
I’ve known
pastors that work all week at an outside job to make ends meet. Some won’t even
accept a salary from the congregation where they preach and minister. They are
that concerned about erroneously being accused of fleecing their flock. When we
hear of evangelical preachers receiving yearly salaries in the hundred thousand
to multi-million dollar range, and see the lavish lifestyles some have aspired
to, we need only go to the scriptures for clarification. Paul tells us to
“Let your moderation be known unto all men, Philippians 4:5.
Where’s the moderation of these super-rich evangelicals? As
for those who support these false evangelicals, I can only conclude covetousness
and greed must be welcomed rather than being looked upon as sin? “But
they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and [into] many foolish
and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition,”
1Timothy 6:9.
Don’t
misunderstand me I’m not saying wealth is a sin. Abraham was incredibly wealthy
but he didn’t live a lavish lifestyle. Solomon was the wealthiest man in all
history and look what happened to him. What I’m saying is preaching a gospel
that proclaims monetary gain as godliness is sinful. Many of these evangelical
preachers keep the love of money as their god. “For the love of money is the
root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows, 1Timothy 6:9.
Loving money is the root of all evil, whether we are trying to acquire it or
hold onto it. We can be led into all sorts of evil just by loving money.
The Apostle
Peter tells us in his first epistle “…not for filthy lucre but of a ready
mind”
1Peter 5:2. The
filthy lucre Peter is speaking of is money, should money be the
appeal of the pulpit? In his second epistle Peter explains “And through
covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose
judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not,
2 Peter 2:3.
I believe God has a special place set aside for Bible teachers,
who through deception, are leading His children astray and doing so for personal
gain. “…even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily
shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and
bring upon themselves swift destruction,” 2 Peter 2:1.
False doctrines are damnable heresies.
Pastors who
aspire to the pulpits because they feel a calling by God are following the will
of God to be a shepherd to His children. They are to be committed to God’s truth
and to feed our Lord’s flock with His truth. Believers are to see their pastor
as a leader and a teacher who supplies direction, correction,
and encouragement. Evangelical pastors who have become multimillionaires by
means of exhorbantly high salaries, sucked away from
their congregations, are not adhering to sound doctrine according to the word of
God.
So what are
sound characteristics of an Evangelical Christian? We are born again believers,
our faith is very important in our life, we believe we have a personal
responsibility to share our religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians,
we believe that Satan exists, we believe that eternal salvation is possible only
by grace through faith, not works, we believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless
life on earth, we assert that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches, we
describe God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the
universe and still rules it today. Evangelical Christians who are humbly
pursuing a path of righteousness before God are infinity more in line with His
scriptures than those who are covertly, or even overtly, evangelizing falsely
for the express purpose of acquiring personal wealth.
Today the term
evangelical is becoming a dirty word among many believers. We see the Church
being led in a direction contrary to God’s word by these money seeking, false
teaching, children of Satan, the new evangelical. Jesus’ own words are ear
splittingly loud. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth
and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and
where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also,” Matthew 6:19-21.
Don’t these false evangelicals even read the Bible?
All Christians
need to be about our Fathers business, so shouldn’t we all be evangelists? So,
how do born again believers combat this scourge that seems so focused on
corrupting Christ’sChurch?
“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know [these things] before, beware
lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own
stedfastness, 2 Peter 3:17. We, as believers,
should be able to distinguish between the truth of God’s word and the lies of
those pushing false doctrines.
Personally,
I’ve made a commitment to expose these erroneous doctrines. My weekly
commentaries have in the past, and will in the future, address the falsehoods
being taught and accepted by many of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I
believe what we are seeing come to pass is what’s known as the “Great Apostasy”
of the end times.
There are many
godly people in this country working diligently to expose the false teachings
being promoted by these heretics; devoted followers of Christ proclaiming His true Gospel even in the
face of adverse persecution. Are they working tirelessly for reason of some sort
of worldly gain? No, they know where their treasure lies. I would much rather
address the accomplishments of those who are committed to God’s word and write
about how God is using them to His Glory. However, the pervasive evil of what’s
happening in Christ’sChurch
is too important to overlook.
Christians,
understanding the times we’re in is imperative, and only by studying our Bibles
will we be prepared for what’s coming. Whether or not you agree that we are in
the last days, studying our Bibles is our only course for girding ourselves with
the truth whichGod
has set before us. Biblical prophecies are overwhelmingly coming to pass before
our very eyes, and we must learn their meanings for ourselves. There are many
great teachers all over this country that are very well equipped for leading
believers in the scriptures, especially when it comes to true Bible prophecy. I
recommend a thorough but careful study by one or more of your favorite Bible
teachers with special attention given to eschatology
(the study of end times). Notwithstanding we should always heed Dr. Luke’s
words as he tells us about Paul and Silas’s trip into the area of the Bereans. “And
the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto
Berea : who coming
[thither] went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those
in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and
searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so,”
Acts 17:10, 11. The Bereans searched the scriptures for themselves to
make sure that what Paul and Silas had been teaching was God’s truth. By
diligently studying our Bibles and knowing the scriptures as did the Bereans
these false evangelicals will inevitably slip into oblivion along with their
false gospels.
Is the Gospel
of Jesus Christ still being preached? Are there still conversions and baptisms,
happening in this country? Is church attendance increasing or decreasing? What
about the literacy of the scriptures? Do believers still study their Bibles? If
the writer of the book I mentioned above is correct in her assertions, the fault
can only be attributed to those who make up Christ’s Church. I’ve said it before
in other commentaries apathy is running wild in the Christian Church today. The
author states that Evangelical Christianity is dying. I disagree. Evangelical
Christianity isn’t dying but is in fact changing, and clearly not for the
better.
I would love to
be proven wrong.
God bless you
all,
Ron Graham