Philosophy matters! The belief system under which you operate has lifelong consequences. Roughly 45 years ago I sat in a course called Contemporary Theology taught by Dr. Don Davis. He made a statement that has turned out to be as true as most things I have ever learned. “Churches and Denominations always move left toward Liberalism and Modernism. Seldom, if ever, do they move back to the biblical foundation upon which they were founded.” Once sound doctrinally, their philosophy changed, their foundations shifted, and great has been the fall thereof.
We are constantly inundated with pressure to conform. We feel the pressure from the world as individuals and even as a church. If you don’t accept our sin, then you are a bigot. We are accused of being unloving, uncaring, and just plain old mean. Would you rather be open-minded or narrow-minded? To most that question is rhetorical and we know the answer, don’t we? Open-minded means you are accepting, tolerant, unbiased, and understanding. Narrow-minded means you are bigoted, opinionated, reactionary, and intolerant. At least those are the current working definitions. Well, let’s think it through. Ask yourself a couple of things. Would you like to have an account at a bank where the banker says that two dollars plus two dollars equals three dollars? Would you rather use a pharmacist who uses a little of this and a little of that, whatever feels good at the moment, to mix your prescription or a pharmacist that follows the doctor’s orders exactly? So, perhaps we should look at individual situations and then decide whether open-minded or narrow-minded is better.
God’s truth is considered optional by a great many preachers and churches in our society. I stand on the belief that when the Lord used the “thou shalt not,” it wasn’t a suggestion, it was a command. The great Charles Spurgeon was once rebuked by a man who said, “Mr. Spurgeon, you are two hundred years behind the times.” Spurgeon responded, “I’m ashamed. I hoped to be 2000 years behind the times.” From the beginning of Christianity, serious Christians have been narrow-minded about certain things and teachings. Certain things are right, true biblically, and foundational to Christianity. Cultural warriors seek to dismantle the very foundations of Christianity. Weekly, churches and Christian based organizations as well as businesses bow to the gods of this world under the guise of reaching the culture. Satan has many friends in the halls of power and on Wall Street. He has many minions on the internet seeking to shame those that hold to 2000-year-old biblical truth.
The church at Pergamos (Revelation 2) was credited with standing, but they’d begun to crack. Within the church there were false doctrines. Two are named; One was the doctrine of Balaam and the other the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. These doctrines brought the world, its ways, and its values into the church. G. Campbell Morgan made this statement concerning Pergamos. They had “become guilty of Broad Church-ism, attempting to find room within her pale for all sorts and conditions of men and faiths.” We see this happening right before our own eyes. Progressive leaders, churches, and denominations from every quadrant of our country are doing the exact same thing. Seeking to placate the world and culture, they reject the clear teachings of the Word of God. Their footings are now shaken. To piggyback on a humorous old commercial ‘they’ve fallen and can’t get up.’ It doesn’t matter if we are referring to an individual, a church, or denomination. There is a pattern. What is the pattern that churches, Christian businesses, individuals, and organizations follow?
We can fill in the blank with multiple issues facing society: Abortion, euthanasia, racism, alcohol in the church, co-habitation, transgenderism, pronouns to identify individuals and the homosexual lifestyle to name a few. I’ll use the last since we are inundated with the topic daily in our media, both secular and Christian. The steps are similar. I’ll use a generic church as our illustration. Keep in mind Dr. Davis’ statement about the leftward downward trend.
Step 1: A church in its beginning takes a stand in favor of traditional marriage and against homosexuality. They hold that position for decades usually until leadership begins to feel the pressure.
Step 2: The church then begins to receive negative feedback along with public ridicule for having such an outdated mindset.
Step 3: Some of the members feel uncomfortable with the negative publicity. Some members may possibly step away from the church in favor of a more accommodating church. Think contemporary church movement.
Step 4: The church begins to de-emphasize its stated doctrinal position in order to not offend those they want to reach with the gospel. (Think seeker-friendly church instead of Savior-friendly church). You must be like them to reach them is how the old saying goes.
Step 5: A few of the millennials, along with Generation Z, fresh from college indoctrination and perhaps their parents (seeking to stay in their children’s world) wonder, “is that sin a sin at all, is it really wrong?”
Step 6: They begin gravitating toward “Christian” writers and singers who claim that homosexuality is morally neutral and it was only the early Christian bigots who propagated the teaching. It was only Paul’s opinion when writing about this issue because Jesus didn’t talk about it. (BTW, Jesus did address this issue.)
Step 7: The church begins to be silent on the issue.
Step 8: The church opens her doors to all of those even with “different moral and doctrinal beliefs.” After all, don’t we just preach love and Jesus? We are open-minded. They are now seeking the affirmation of the world. This church and its members are salt that has lost its savor and good for nothing, but to be cast out for roads and pathways.
We can see this happening every day in our community and we at Corinth even feel the pressure from time to time. A sad truth is that many congregations across the world are like Pergamos. They don’t see it happening to their church and if they do, they feel helpless to do anything. Balaam-ites and the Nicolaitans are sitting on their pews and preaching from their pulpits. I challenge us to stay strong in the faith and hang on tightly to the true Word of God. Remember this, one day we will be judged by the Lord Jesus himself, not the enemies of Christianity. You can never satisfy the devil. I saw this on a church sign twenty years ago, “You give the devil an inch and he’ll be the ruler.”