The Monster That We Have Created

"I will build My church, and the gates of Hell 
shall not prevail against it."
Matthew 16:18b

In the classic novel written by Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein decided that his ultimate purpose was to recreate life following the horrible sting of death. He assembled a corpse and subsequently brought his creation back across the abyss of eternity. He discovered, however, that what he had done was to create what he called a “fiend;” a “demon;” a “monster.” In the remaining years of his life, Dr. Frankenstein worked to destroy the beast that he had so foolishly and wickedly created.

Jesus was enjoying an intimate conversation with His disciples as they traveled to the tourist area of Caesarea Philippi. They were discussing the religious talk of that day and what others were saying of Him. Listening carefully to His men, He eventually asked them the big question: “But who do you say that I am?” The heart of Peter, that rugged fisherman that we all love and many of us can identify with, was supernaturally moved to answer: “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” he boldly proclaimed.

“Oh, friend, you did not come up with that answer on your own,” Jesus replied (my translation), “that kind of response is a word from my Father in Heaven.”

The following statements from the lips of Jesus are those that everyone in ministry should know and love. He spoke of this great confession from Peter as being our foundation for biblical power. He certainly was not naming Simon Peter as the first Pope, nor was He establishing some order of apostolic authority. Jesus was simply saying that the great truth of who He was and is, gives us the empowerment to conquer spiritual enemies in His mighty name. And within this dialogue concerning our possessing authority, Jesus said, “I will build My church.” Thank God that He did not say Peter would build His church. And praise His wonderful name that He did not say that you and I would shoulder the responsibility of building His church. With boldlness and clarity, and without any type of elaborate explanation, he said, “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH!”

Have it Your Way

  

Over the years, I have become increasingly burdened with the mindset of church leaders that disregard this teaching of Christ. As a result, they labor tirelessly in a vain effort to see their churches grow. When I was in seminary in the early 1990's, church growth was the hot topic on campus, in conferences, and at our annual conventions. This emphasis became so dominant among evangelicals, that a polluted form of humanistic reasoning slowly entered the recesses of our conservative decision-making and now dominates much of what we do at the local church level. And what is this polluted form of humanistic reasoning? Pragmatism.

Now, you might be asking: “What is pragmatism?” It is the philosophy that believes the end justifies the means. In other words, whatever your particular goal is in life, anything and everything is considered acceptable behavior in the pursuit of accomplishing that stated goal. Taken in context of church work, specifically within the emphasis of numerical growth, pragmatism allows us to embrace questionable methods and ministry ideas, all in the name of reaching our target audience and successfully achieving our set goals.

This philosophy introduces the Burger King mentality into the body of Christ, which entices church attendees to come and have it their way. You remember the little jingle, don't you? "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce; special orders don't upset us, all we ask is that you let us serve it your way!" In order to be successful, churches today build interest by pampering to the fleshly demands of carnal members. Entertainment is often the primary focus, not true biblical worship. Key words like atonement, and phrases like the blood of Christ are purposely ignored. After all, such terminology is considered old-fashioned, divisive, and unimportant to the modern thinker. With entertainment and fresh methodology driving the engine to reach the goal, converts know very little about the ugliness of sin, the necessity of repentance, and the demands of discipleship. As one faith hero of mine once stated in a sermon, “We now have redemption without regeneration, salvation without repentance, justification without sanctification, and Christianity without a cross!” To put it quite bluntly, friend, there is no such animal.

Now this kind of thinking is not entirely new to the church. I remember the stupidity of yesterday, and addressed it already in a previous post, when pastors would display their God-fearing attitudes by swallowing live goldfish on Sunday mornings when some attendance goal was successfully reached, or preaching from the roof, or kissing a pig, or having the deacons throw pies in their faces, etc. (Pulpit Truth: Play Stupid Games; Win Stupid Prizes) Today, however, we have taken pragmatism to a whole new level of absurdity. And why? Because we no longer believe that the “gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation.” Like Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament, we have lost our confidence in the word and promises of God. Therefore, the logical thing to do is to realize that God needs our help, and then invite that cute, little Egyptian handmaiden to move into the tent with us.

Someone might be tempted to say: "Yes, Jesus said what He said all those years ago. But this world today is a different place with a post-modern worldview. We live among a society that no longer views truth as our grandparents did." (I would whole-heartedly agree with that last statement, but at least our grandparents knew what a woman was!) But pragmatists would argue that we need to do things differently to help Jesus grow His church. They would state that people no longer want a Bible sermon from an authoritative pulpit. (Think of Adrian Rogers at this point, as he was called a "dinosaur" by an instructor at a church planting seminar that I was attending several years ago.) Pragmatists see nothing wrong with incorporating secular songs, dramatic dance, appealing aromas, and cute PowerPoint presentations to be the highlight of their fifteen-minute spiritual dialogues. And the sad reality is that we have multitudes of worldly pastors who will be more than happy to oblige the reasoning of pragmatism. After all, success is giving the consumers what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. Therefore, we absolutely must bring cute Egyptian handmaidens into our tents to appeal to those without a biblical worldview, to keep them coming back, and to maybe one day have the privilege of sneaking the gospel to them through the back door when their defenses are down.

I remember a few years ago being in a service at a large church in North Carolina. Following a few simple introductions, the lights went down, the praise team mounted the stage, multiple strobe lights began flashing, incredibly loud music began playing, and then slowly moving down from the ceiling in the darkness was the largest “disco ball” that I had ever seen. I’m not sure we worshiped, but the people went wild with excitement. Another church I know about had several weeks devoted to using the “American Idol” theme in their services, with the platform converted to look like the highly successful FOX television program. Each service opened with a song voted on and selected by the congregation via social media. One of these was Garth Brook’s wonderful hymn, “I Got Friends in Low Places.” One acquaintance with extensive experience in church planting told me how they played Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Beatles, among others, as their prelude to worship. Now please don’t judge me when I confess I might crank up “Sweet Home Alabama” a little too loud whenever I hear it while scanning my radio, but it doesn’t prepare me to see Jesus in the beauty of His holiness. When a man discovered years ago that I was involved in a church plant intentionally targeting our collegiate population, he testified how their church had implemented elaborate activities to keep this age group continuing to attend. When I asked for an explanation, he said, “Fun and games, man, it’s got to be fun and games!” Another experience I had was observing the antics of overgrown, muscled-bound men who were using incredible feats of strength to do the work of evangelism. I don't believe that they practiced the spiritual discipline of fasting while praying, as they were all too powerfully built to miss many meals. They held everyone's attention while trying to perform certain antics with their huge muscles that normal men could never do, while one of them quoted a verse of scripture entirely out of context. You know the one: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." It was somewhat like trying to learn spiritual truth from Hulk Hogan. The more I watched, the more sick I felt in my stomach. It was such an unholy carnival of flesh on parade, all done in the name of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit within me wanted to throw up.

Is this the way of Christ? I don’t think so. The Bible says, "Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth." (Psalm 96:9) And the Bible also says, “Whatever is not of faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23) When Jesus was once questioned “what should we do so that we might accomplish the work of God?” He responded, “This is the work of God, that you should believe on Him whom He has sent.” The Bible is our guidebook for both our faith AND our practice. I rejected years ago the pragmatic mindset that was often repeated in conservative circles: "We should never change the message in the church, but we must always be changing the methods of the church!" Hogwash was my response then, and it still is today. Reading His word reminds me (therein might be the problem, church leaders who never read His word) that He alone is the architect and builder, the designer and the contractor, and the only eternal head of the church! In this age in which we live we do not need worldly, stupid gimmicks; cute and novel ideas from some social influencer; nor do we need soulish methods implemented by prayerless leaders in hopes of accomplishing some strategic, measurable goal. Away with that kind of carnal foolishness! Today, more than ever, we need Godly leaders who display the love of Christ, who have gained the mind of Christ, who have acquired the courage of Christ, and who now possess the power of Christ to charge forward against the gates of Hell with the gospel of Christ! AMEN! Then, and only then, will we see individual lives, families, and communities touched and transformed for the glory of God.

Welcome to McDonalds

Now before some of you begin to gloat and say, “Yeah, get ‘em Brother Charles! These new seminary boys with soul patches, long hair, and flip-flops need to get right!” YOU need to know something: The monster I see that we have created is a two-headed beast. Not only have we missed the mark by embracing the Burger King philosophy (pragmatism), we have also missed the mark by seeking to implement the McDonalds mindset. Let me explain…

It was during those awkward early teen years that I was foolish enough to order food from Mickey D’s the way I wanted it. I still remember those hateful stares coming from across the counter. Others stepped from the kitchen area to see who would dare suggest something could be ordered differently than designed or approved by Ray Kroc. Everyone seemed upset, including family and friends, because this unheard-of tactic snatched the fast right out of fast food. Through this experience, I learned that McDonalds built its empire on consistency. Everything is the same no matter where a restaurant might be located. A Big Mac made in Alabama will taste just like a Big Mac made in Alaska, which will taste just like a Big Mac made in Arizona, which will taste… Well, you get the picture. 

“What in the world does this have to do with the church?” you might be asking. Well, friend, just as Burger King promotes pragmatism, McDonalds markets traditionalism. Keep it the same, make no changes, don’t rock the boat! Traditionalism is just as much of a monster as pragmatism, and both create confusion and chaos in the church of Jesus Christ. I’ve heard some dumb things in my life coming from the lips of church leaders. Here are four off the top of my head: 

• “Boys, when you get in the pulpit, make sure you have your 1611, or it ain’t God’s word.”

Now I do not want to fire bullets at the most enduring English version of the Bible, the King James Version, but I always wanted to comment to those with this mentality that they themselves are not preaching from the 1611 version, but from the revised 1769 edition. 

• “If it’s not a piano or an organ, it will not be in this church.”

Okay, please show me in the Bible where these two musical instruments are the only ones ordained of God for His glory. By the way, I can show you multiple verses where singers were accompanied by many varied instruments to support and enhance their worship experience.

• “These contemporary Christian songs are of the Devil.”

Oh my, must I even comment on this one? If you do not have access to great contemporary, Christian music, you are missing out on wonderful songs that will touch your heart and lift you into the presence of God Almighty! Don't believe me? Click on this one: https://youtu.be/dhU-Omwg2rU?si=isfdWUEmfWhNLYgM

• “My Brother, you must put on the tie before speaking to the body of Christ.”

I admit, I did not hear this one with my own ears. I learned of this statement from a friend on the mission field in Africa. Men who were to address the church were not to do so without proper attire, which in this case, was a necktie. The missionary laughed and told me about an old, grimy clip-on tie hanging off the pulpit in case someone needed it. Do you wonder where this teaching came from? It probably is based upon the British and American mindset of being properly dressed in order to experience proper worship. The emphasis, therefore, is placed on man’s outward appearance. Is it just me, or do you remember God Himself having to remind one of His men that He does not see as a man sees, for man is impressed by outward appearances, while God looks deep inside at the heart?

Oh, how foolish we are when we embrace tradition to the degree that we miss the activity of God! I well remember the deep, passionate arguments that unfolded when I suggested that the best way to ensure our finishing the worship service by the noon hour on Sunday would be to start earlier. The way some people responded with such misguided zeal, you would think the Bible says: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God at eleven o’clock on Sunday morning, and only at eleven o’clock on Sunday morning shalt thou worship Him!” 

Please read the following quote carefully. It is worth your attention:

Most of us are familiar with Washington Irving’s intriguing little tale, Rip Van Winkle. Though written years ago, it has a startling relevance for the church today. You will remember that Rip had been slumbering away on a grassy knoll in the Catskill Mountains for twenty years, during which time the thirteen British colonies had become the thirteen, newly formed United States of America. Poor old Rip had slept through the Revolution – and there is the story’s relevance for us today.

The fact that the church is living and attempting to minister in a revolutionary atmosphere should be obvious to all. Everything seems to be in a state of radical change. All aspects of society are in a flux. Foundations long accepted as valid are being shaken. No segment of the so-called establishment escapes questioning. The only certainty appears that nothing will ever quite be the same again. But the most disquieting element of this sociological revolution is that often the “sleeping Rip Van Winkle” of the hour is none other than the church. Christians, who should be on the cutting edge of this changing scene and moving society towards God, are often found slumbering away on some grassy knoll of irrelevance or unrealistic traditionalism while the world all but explodes and fragments around them.

In the light of such a situation, it is vital for the church to come alive to the contemporary social atmosphere and address itself to the problems this revolution precipitates. I do not believe that the church is absolutely dead and in need of a decent burial, as some critics advocate. Rather, it more or less finds itself, at least in some of its institutionalized forms, in the grip of irrelevancy and needs to be awakened and updated. And if God’s people can be shaken from their slumbers and made to see the tremendous evangelistic challenge of this turbulent hour, great things can be done. Moreover, it may just be that the disturbing voices being heard in our world today will be used to awaken the sleepers.

That quote sounds very much like what is being said today in numerous circles in an attempt to awaken the church to relevancy. But those words were written when I was ten years old, having been published in 1972 by Dr. Lewis Drummond while he was teaching at Spurgeon’s College in London. He was moved by the lack of spiritual power and the unwillingness to implement changes in the evangelical churches of Great Britain. Today, that once-great missional church that was used of God to exalt Christ around the world is nearly a spiritual wasteland.

What is God’s word to the church today? It is a very simple one: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent… He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The philosophies of pragmatism and traditionalism both lead to empty, vain religious activity. Jesus said that He would build His church. Trust Him to do just that, and then be amazed at what He can accomplish. Amen!