* The Bible and theology become man centered instead of God focused. Jesus is leveraged, not preached.
We see this every Sunday across America. The Bible is not preached it is used. Jesus is not preached, He is used. Used to prop up a failed theology or a topical sermon designed to tickle the ears and "church" the goats. Suddenly every story in the Bible is either about you or is used to better your temporal life. Peter didn't walk on water - you need to! David did not slay Goliath - you did! How often do we hear nonsense like this, "In the garden Eve encountered a snake. How many of you have snakes you encounter in your lives every day?" What??? The story of the fall of man has so many deep and profound theological implications and the best you can do is ask if they have snakes in their lives? The Bible is not about you beloved. It is not about me. It is about Jesus Christ. What this does is present the Bible as something that reveals what God can do for you instead of the account of what He has already done.
Why you may ask? Why does it have to be done this way in this model? Because if you were to actually preach the Gospel you must start and end at Calvary and there are implications from Calvary that have been deemed most seeker-unfriendly. You cannot speak about Calvary and not get to the cross. You cannot speak about the cross and not get to sin. You cannot speak about sin. Period. All topics must be pleasing to the seeker. No discussion of sin or repentance is allowed. Which leads us to the final tenet for today's discussion:
* In order to meet the seeker where they are at and seem relevant, the church must adapt to the culture.
Purpose driven pastors will all insist that they need to be relevant to the culture the unchurched are in. They ridiculously call it "reaching as many for Jesus as possible." This is why you see churches unapologetically using secular music during worship. The word religion becomes code-speak for placing God in a box. It becomes an archaic dirty word. The reality however is the box they are trying so desperately to avoid is known as the Bible. They do not like the Bible because it can be restrictive in terms of what we ought to be doing as the church. Paul recognized this when he was preaching:
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling,and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. - 1Corinthians 2: 1-5 (ESV)
The church toady does the opposite of this. It avoids discussing Jesus crucified as already outlined. Instead, the purpose driven church is built on nothing but the carnal wisdom of man. They seek out the most carnal of secular leaders for their leadership conferences. The CEO pastor model is built on a charismatic speaker full of lofty speech and wisdom. The end result is exactly what Paul is saying here we ought to avoid! The faith of the goats rests entirely upon the wisdom of men, specifically the CEO pastor. This is why there is so much church and pastor worship in these churches. It is not only taught but it is encouraged. Many purpose driven mega-churches indoctrinate the congregation and even the kids in kids church with the notion that God has given the vision to their pastor and they will defend it aggressively! This cult-like phenomena is how we ended up with a tragedy like Jonestown. Anyone who dares to point out the heresy is labeled as a "hater" who is "divisive." People who want to put "God in a box" with their "religion."
The model is simple. You preach about individual purpose. Your altar call is short and designed to effect maximum numbers. They get baptized quickly. They then get into membership and plugged into a ministry, IE - their purpose. They may last the full three years or they may not. It does not matter because the CEO is busy drawing more goats rather than shepherding the sheep. The individual castle grows and grows, while the kingdom of God does not. The problem of course is this is all entirely unbiblical. The key verses today outline the offices God designed for His church and more importantly, the reason why. The shepherds, teachers, evangelists, and even prophets and apostles had a design in the mind of God. They are supposed to build up the body of Christ. That means the saved. The fully churched. The sheep. This may comes as a shock to some but the church is not for the lost. It is for the saved. Now, if the lost come to church seeking God they should find Him in the preached Gospel. The Holy Spirit will draw that person based on the weight of their sins. They will either repent or they will not. Either way, the sheep are still being tended to and fed.
Why is this the model? The key verses teach us that it is so that the sheep can attain the unity of the faith. Not this farce that passes for unity today where we all sing Kumbaya while skipping down the broad path that leads to our destruction. No beloved. True unity is in the knowledge of the Son of God. So that we might mature to the fullness of Christ. What does that mean? According to the key verses it means that we will not be as spiritual infants - tossed about by every wave of doctrine. Did you ever wonder why so many self professing Christians fell for such nonsense like holy laughter or the preaching of such obvious wolves like Benny Hinn? Why do so many chase after false faith healers and hucksters selling clairvoyance with demons as "prophecy?" Because the new wave of heresy comes along and they are too spiritually immature to discern what is from God and what is from the devil! They continue to fall for human cunning and the schemes of deceitful men.
There is no growth in the love of Christ because there is no sound doctrine being preached! The body is diseased because there are too many infants being spiritually starved to death by men who were never genuinely called by God. They do not consider themselves shepherds because they have no intent to tend to the sheep of the Lord. They speak of a kingdom they know nothing about because they are not in the business of building the kingdom. Instead they are building their own castle. A Tower of Babel monument to their own greatness. One day they will answer for all of the sheep they have mangled in the name of human wisdom and carnal progress. Until then beloved, if you find yourself in these churches, I implore you as the Bible commands, to come out from among them.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial?Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty." - 2Corinthians 6: 14-18 (ESV)
Let us pray for the church Jesus Christ loves.
Reverend Anthony Wade - May 16, 2015
