No more silence…

The Western world is rapidly approaching the multicultural, religious pluralism that characterized the first century world of the apostle Paul. Our culture is being thoroughly informed by paganism, pantheism and animism. Not surprisingly, churches are casting about for ways to reinvent themselves. Their efforts would be downright comical if it weren’t for the dire implications their failure holds for people both within and apart from the Church.

Contemporary pastors seem blind to the fact that the loss of Western culture is due in large part to their embrace of that culture. Over the last forty to fifty years, the Western church has relinquished their hold on propositional truth. They have followed secularism’s drive to privatize faith and they have encouraged it to be thought as a matter of personal preference. They have abandoned systematic, expository preaching of the Word of God in favor of delivering pop psychology and book reports. Church services are no longer about the reverent worship of God or the sustained discussion of His Word; today they are motivational seminars designed for personal empowerment and self-esteem enhancement. Pastors have discarded theology as both unnecessary and divisive, and embraced an emotional understanding of faith and love. Feelings have trumped facts and meaning has triumphed over truth.

The American protestant evangelical church has been hijacked by entrepreneurs who have eviscerated the pastorate and remade it into an organ of marketing. Pastors are no longer sought for their knowledge of the Bible or theology; today they are valued for possessing the techniques of church growth, management, and conflict resolution. In fact, many church leaders are even abandoning the title of pastor, preferring to refer to the position as a ‘coach of Christ followers.’ Today’s church developers and managers are quite adept at increasing attendance and activity within their enterprises; the proliferation of megachurches across America based on either the Willow Creek or Saddleback model testify to this fact. Yet for all the growth, for all the participation, it becomes increasingly evident that America’s public culture is growing progressively more polytheistic and pantheistic. One has to conclude that these churches are having no success in either promoting authentic Christian conversion or in fostering genuine, Biblical discipleship in their ‘followers.’

It is no surprise to any right-thinking Christian that as the church abandoned the teaching and preaching of the Word and doctrine, its ability to foster conversion and discipleship disappeared. Yet apparently these megachurch marketers were entirely caught by surprise! How should they respond? By increasing the teaching of the Bible and its doctrines and application? Heavens no! Instead, they will“coach … attendants how to be ‘self-feeding individuals’” and increase their compassion outreach to the world. I suppose if you can’t cooperate with the Holy Spirit in creating Christians, you can increase the opportunities for people to act like Christians! The mere participation in this commitment to social justice will apparently trigger “multiplied impact” around the world. What that impact will entail is yet undefined, but one doubts that it will mean an increase in true disciples. It may very well grow more and larger churches, but whether they are filled with children of God recognizable to Jesus, Paul, John or Peter, well, that may be problematic.

One cannot help but be grieved by the condition of the church in America in our time. What has happened to the pastors? I am staggered by the extent to which our pastors and elders are departing from the biblical model of shepherding. This new generation of “coaches” displays no worthy character traits to emulate; they witness to no supernatural work of the Spirit in their lives or ministry. Rather than humble themselves before the throne of God and pray, they run to one Hybel’s management conference after another. Their intellectual vacuity is displayed by their penchant for assigning Willow Creek books like Reveal to their staff. They don’t even study to prepare their own sermons; they buy ready-made packages with PowerPoint™ slides and everything to offer their congregations each week. Have these men no Bibles to read? Is there not a God in heaven whose ears are open to the cries of His people? Is there no Holy Spirit, who directs the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ in its manifold expressions and worship on the earth?

It is time to tell the truth. These men are cowards, afraid to admit that they know nothing about the work or Word of God. They are deceptive developers, interested more in numbers and activity than in the spiritual habits of the heart and soul. Sadly, many in the church welcome them, and God is giving them what they desire. Elders and search committees lust after the chance to become the next big thing on the Christian landscape. These leaders want to acquire seats at the table of the powerful and talk about the direction of the Church in the days ahead. As a result, we have a Christianity devoid of theology and the Bible, and a faith that demands neither inward transformation nor seeking after God. Instead, we have churches in which we can do good to feel good and be thought of as good by our neighbors.

The time for silence has passed. It is time for the people who know God to rise up in these churches and resist this harlotry. Let us consecrate a fast, let us call a solemn assembly, let us humble ourselves and cry out to the Lord in prayer. Let us remember that these people are still people for whom Christ died; they are not our enemy. It is the Deceiver who is behind this apostasy that we must resist. Let us ask God for light and for vision, that this cancer may be removed from the church. Let us ask the God of the sheep for shepherds after His own heart. Let us take a stand, knowing full well all that it may entail. But if and when that persecution comes, may it witness to the glory of Christ.