It is not enough to give instruction in sound doctrine. As ministers, we must also rebuke those who contradict it. We must not stand by while the sheep of the Lord are mangled every week. It ought to do more than give us pause. It should make us weep. It is one thing to be shepherd-less sheep but another to be misled. To be told that salvation is easy and grace is cheap. Beloved these people are not serving Jesus Christ but rather their own appetites. But their talk is so smooth. It is captivating. At the heart however it is flattery as the key verses teach us. After all, what can be more flattering than a Rick Warren or Joel Osteen sermon? The notion that God needs us as opposed to us needing God? Seriously listen to an entire sermon by either one of them and see how much it is about you instead of God. It is all flattery. The hearts of the naïve are being deceived but what makes it virtual agnosticism is the complete spiritual apathy shown. It is not just a matter of being fed poison. We seek the poison out. We crave it. We want it. In the end, we get what we want.
So what then is the answer beloved? When faced with this virtual agnosticism pervading the church what needs to be our response? For starters we cannot say amen and think it is everywhere but my church. We must do the work of a Berean and open our Bibles. We must weigh what we are taught using the scales of the Word of God. We are to go out from their midst.
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)
Make no mistake about it. Virtual agnosticism is essentially idolatry. Whenever we place anything before the one true God we are committing idolatry. Even if that thing we are idolizing we dress up as God in our own hearts. Real persecution is coming beloved. Not the nonsense that passes for persecution we hear about in "Christian" media today but real persecution. Where we will have to decide between the one true God and the golden calf we have crafted to look like Him. We will have to decide between picking up the next best seller by our favorite celebrity pastor and picking up our cross. We will have to decide between truly following the only sound doctrine that can save us and the virtual agnosticism we have grown so comfortable in.
Reverend Anthony Wade - July 24, 2015
