Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17
It is my contention that the post modern church is becoming so much like the culture that surrounds it, that it seems to be increasingly difficult to tell the two apart. This is obviously a 'generalised' statement and will not apply to every assembly on the planet. However, in our attempt to become culturally relative and seeker friendly, I argue that many of our Churches have made compromises so that the unsaved might feel more comfortable among us. In this article, I set out to support my view from a Biblical perspective.
Before we get further into this entry let me define a couple of terms so everyone who reads this is on the same page, so to speak (no pun intended but I still grinned as I typed it). For the purposes of this entry, the following definitions are offered:
- Culture: the behaviours and beliefs and characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group (see this source here). For the purposes of this entry this will be considered to be the current dominant post modernist Western culture.
- Dupe: person who is fooled, victim, sucker, chump, fool, mark (see this source here).
It seems to me as time marches on and we move closer to the return of our Lord, the condition of the church (in its current post modern guise) is deteriorating. In our efforts and desires to attract more people to join us, we appear to be jettisoning a great deal of that which separates us from the (Worldly) culture we either live in or are influenced by (even if you do not live in the 'West' you are very likely to be influenced by its culture through its movies, music, education, other forms of media etc). So I wonder, by allowing so much of what the World offers into our churches, have we become dupes of the culture and ultimately dupes to our spiritual enemy; Satan? Rather than being defenders of the faith as they are called to be, have our Christian leaders become friends of the World?
Now, I am certain many of us have used the line "we are in the world but not of it", and to a certain extant this is true. To avoid contact with the things of the world we would have to leave the world (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). However, contact is one thing, conforming is another:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (You can see a more thorough examination of this particular verse
here. Take a look, it is well worth gaining an in depth understanding of the verse which I explored over two brief entries).
Now please do not get the idea that I am saying all music/movies/books/philosophies/behaviours/life-styles/material items etc are evil, because I do not believe that. However, if we are intended to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16), shouldn't we be 'counter-culture' type people rather than 'culture soakers'? Why?
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world Philippians 2:15. John wrote:
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19). Now if the
whole world is under the power of evil, why would we allow worldly ways into our churches? Shouldn't the leaders of our churches be exposing evil rather than inviting it into our assemblies? To a certain extent, it seems that the 'foxes are now running the hen-houses'.
I believe it is a mistake to open our churches to the attitudes of the World by being so seeker friendly. We want others to join us so we soften the message and we compromise our sanctuaries. Consider these assertions of mine in light of the words of Jesus to his disciples:
“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you" John 15:19 (John makes a similar statment
Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you. 1 john 3:13). Do I think we need to be hated just to prove ourselves? No. However, what a contrast many of our assemblies provide when examined in the pure light of God's Word. We shouldn't be seeking Worldly approval or love. Indeed, we should be demonstrating the love of God by our actions and by our adherence to His Word. How? By preaching both repentance and love, justice and mercy; the full counsel of God. We need to do this even at the risk of rejection by the World.
If you are reading this as a mature believer who has studied God's Word, you will be aware that God is not mocked. Indeed, with reference to my argument in this entry, we would do well to heed God's warnings. In the Book of James, we see that friendship with the World is akin to adultery;
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4. So we see from James, that this is no 'light' issue. Yet look around you and you will see how many churches are trying to befriend the World. Do you think some of them are unwittingly (or otherwise) making themselves enemies of God?
We must be aware that a great deal of worldly influence has and will come into our churches from people who should know better. Consider that in John's day, false prophets/teachers went out from among the community of believers and I assume attempted to gather followers to themselves:
They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them 1 John 4:5. Cast an eye over the well known 'personalities' and the emerging 'superstars' of the post modern church and compare their teachings and 'fruit' to what you read in the Scriptures (Don't forget to check your own church against the Bible).
Ask yourself the following:
- Do they preach repentance? (see my article on the word that the church needs to learn again here).
- Do they teach their assemblies about both the mercy and justice of God?
- Do they promote/display unbiblical spiritual (mystical?) actions?
- Is the service more like entertainment than worship?
- Is the service more about the person/people than it is about the Lord?
Essentially, I have outlined an argument here against becoming worldly in a bid to attract new comers to our churches. I believe in doing so we soak up (and promote) the culture of the world instead of standing against it (the culture, not the people). Please understand my argument is against a worldly attitude and practise, not against the unsaved. We must keep in mind Christ died for all and it is not God's will that anyone perish (2 Peter 3:9).
I have a fair amount of anecdotal evidence that many 'solid' believers are leaving churches which have become seeker friendly/culturally relevant/mystical because they are no longer being 'fed' the 'meat' of the word by their Pastors. I have yet to see strong empirical evidence for this but to be honest I have not searched for it. Yet. Nevertheless much of what is coming over the pulpit is either 'milk' only, or worse still, error or deceit.
I feel some assertions made here raise some questions (Important note: Please please please, prayerfully consider these questions in the light of Scripture, please do not attempt to answer them without considering God's Word or you may misunderstand my intent. thank you.):
- Is the church for believers or seekers?
- Is there such a thing as a seeker or are there only believers and unbelievers?
- Does the number of people in any individual church signify that the truth is being shared there?
- Does the number of people in any individual church signify success or failure?
- If any individual church has a large number of people in it, does this mean the leadership of that church have a better relationship with God than the leadership in a smaller church?
- Because of the sheer weight of numbers, should the ones with the bigger church be heard more than those in a small one?
- Do some churches have more cold or lukewarm people in the pews than hot? If so, why?
- Does man add people to the Church (His Church, not the denominations or buildings we all attend) or does God?
I have posed a few questions in the writing of this entry that I am sure many will have the answers to. On a personal note, I would like the reader to understand I do not have all the answers. I have some, but I also have questions. Also, as I write this I am aware that some readers will be wondering what should we do if we are in a church that has surrendered its sovereignty to the current culture? If you have read my blog before you will realise that I have experienced much of what I write about. So here's what I would do:
- Find a church where the Scriptures are taught and considered the final authority
- If I couldn't find a Bible based church, I'd seek out like minded believers and start or join a home fellowship
- If I couldn't achieve the suggestions above, I might be able to find fellowship online. I know there is very good teaching available online but even so we must be good Bereans (Acts 17:10-11) and know our Bibles.
Ultimately, the best advice I can offer is found in the Scriptures. If you find yourself feeling 'down' about the things discussed here; if you are in a situation as outlined here; listen to the author of the Book of Hebrews, who states: Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. (Hebrews 10:35-36).
Do not lose confidence, instead endure what you must. At the end of the day, we are all responsible for our own Christian 'walk'. So stand firm in the faith (1 Corinthians 16:13) and tuck under God's 'wing', and be a true overcomer. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 1 John 5:5. May God bless you as you seek the truth that is Jesus Christ.
