False Profits: Tearing Down the Righteous, and Lifting up the Wicked Since 600 BC

The blogosphere (at least in my circle) has slowed down considerably over the past few years, but four or five years ago, several of my fellow preachers, friends and acquaintances routinely took to our blogs to debate theological concepts and worship practices. During this time, the words "seeker friendly" were popularly used, and many criticized traditional churches.

Modern churches and preachers seem to face a new set of challenges... from our culture openly embracing homosexuality, to increasing poverty and drug use, to our culture turning its back on the churches in general.Churches face the challenge of reaching people in this culture, sharing the truth in love, without coming across like the Westboro group.

In facing this challenge, some have chosen to lash out at traditional churches, and to criticize pastors, preachers and teachers who dare to stand on truth, and call sin for what it is... sin. What the "seeker friendly" movement has done for us is that is has basically criminalized speech against sin in our churches. Teach against a sin, and you will be scolded, and admonished to "love the sinner, not the sin." You will also be told that you, too are a sinner, and there is no difference between you and the sinner out there on the street.

I once read the words of one preacher, who claimed to have told his congregation that he'd "rather offend 100 church members than one first-time visitor." That statement has bothered me for years. I understand wanting a visitor to feel welcome, and wanting to gently guide a new believer, or one who is on the verge of making a decision for Christ, to come to a knowledge of the truth, but why the animosity toward existing believers? You know, the people God refers to as "His children," who have received the "Spirit of Adoption whereby they cry 'Abba,' 'Father?'" You know, the people who have tirelessly worked for years to support the Lord's church and its ministries, whose faithful service God has blessed in a way that has resulted in there being a church there for you to teach and preach at in the first place? Why the animosity?

In many of today's churches, people expect their pastors to preach good, encouraging messages. And if he preaches a message against sin (especially if he addresses a specific sin like adultery, fornication, drug abuse, etc), he is criticized and told that we "should love the sinner and not the sin." He is also reminded that "he is a sinner, too," and the only difference between us and them is that we are "sinners under grace." In today's society, people get more offended by a man who goes to the scriptures and says "X is a sin," than they do about the fact that "X" is going on in the first place, or that "X" destroys lives, or that "X" has become a problem in the church. I can think of one church where the pastor had to leave because the congregation made him so uncomfortable because he dared confront adultery going on among its members.

This mentality boils down to the following mission statement: Encourage the Sinners, and remind the Saints of their Place. During my study of the book of Ezekiel (I am currently preparing a sermon series from that book), I found that the same mentality existed in Jerusalem, and all of Judea and Israel before the captivity. Wickedness had permeated throughout all of Judea and Israel, to the point that even the neighboring heathen nations were taken aback. Ezekiel was taken into captivity, where God called him to be a prophet... and Ezekiel's prophecies (words he received from the LORD) called out the sin of Jerusalem, and Judea and Israel in general.

In Ezekiel 13, God turned his ire on to the false prophets that had propagated the sinful activity that led to Jerusalem's downfall. In Ezekiel 13:22, God says, "Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:"

Those false prophets had lied to the people. They blasted the righteous, those who were right with God, and made their hearts sad. They criticized them, and then promised the wicked (those actively engaged in sinful, unGodly conduct) that God would deliver them. They claimed God's authority in saying these things, but God never said them.

As I read those words in my study, I couldn't help but think of all the things I have heard written and said, that were disparaging toward God's people. I couldn't help but think of the preacher who ripped his congregation on facebook because they wouldn't embrace contemporary worship, or the man who would rather run off the faithful so his church can be more appealing to non-church members. It made me think of the man who would tolerate openly sinful behavior from a non-believer, while blasting an older church member "for just not getting it." If the attitude described in Ezekiel 13:22 is prevalent in our churches today, its no wonder why more are closing than opening, and why the percentage of the unchurched continues to grow. God will not bless that environment.

If we condemn and preach against the members of the church, when God has not led us to confront their sin, or when we promise the wicked eternal life when he has not repented and believed, we are lying! And at that point, we have become false prophets.

Brethren, I propose we lay aside the church growth/planting books, and we get back to what made the Christian movement so powerful in the first place. I propose we get back into the Word, the Bible, and learn what God wants, how He sees things, and apply the things we learn to our lives. I propose that, instead of trying to manipulate decisions for Christ based on chords in an invitation song, that we actually go about making disciples, working with people one-on-one, teaching them the truth and exhorting them to turn from sin and trust the Lord... and that involves calling sin, sin.Finally, I propose we get back to what church is all about. It's not about modernizing, crowds, change, or presentation. It's about honoring God, worshiping Him in our gatherings, teaching His Word, and carrying out His mission of making disciples in our communities. Besides, if we can not love our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, with whom we share the common background of the Gospel, how can we claim to love sinners? It's time to turn our hearts back to the Lord.

Don't Give Up!

Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Let's face it... ministry can be downright discouraging these days. While there are churches that are growing and bursting at the seams, chances are you see empty pews when you stand behind the pulpit on Sunday morning.

Not only that, but it seems that no one is interested in hearing about God's salvation when you go out door-knocking. There have probably been days that you felt like the prophet Jeremiah, who preached his entire ministry without a convert.

Lack of "results" can have any preacher questioning his call, his methods, and questioning if he is where God wants him. Don't be discouraged.

For the past several weeks, a member of Grace Pointe and I have been knocking doors in Northwest Brownwood. The vast majority of these doors have gone unanswered, others tell us they are not interested, some don't want to hear our message and some have even refused to take our tracts. One rather famous exchange went like this:

GP Member: Sir, would you like to know about Heaven?
Resident: No. (slams door shut.)
GP Member: Wow. Times are hard when they don't want to hear about Heaven.
Leland: Actually, times aren't hard enough.

Quitting our mission of canvassing Brownwood was never an option, though we did discuss the fact that our job was to merely share the Word. That's when we had a break-through day last week.

We were invited inside twice, had four quality conversations about Christ, and even had two men pray. While their prayers stopped short of "asking Jesus into their hearts," we feel that they were made more aware of the reality of God, His coming judgment, and the salvation that is in Christ Jesus. Besides, the transaction of salvation is between them and the Lord, not between us and them.

One thing I have noticed is that those who are giving thought to eternity are highly interested in what God has to say through His word. Study after study and survey after survey tells us that people are abandoning organized religion in droves. While there may be a mass exodus of people from churches, I don't think it's the organization that they are leaving. They are not leaving church, per se, they are leaving empty religion.

To put it another way, they are not rejecting the idea of church, they are rejecting the churches of which they have been a part. Why? Most will share stories of empty traditional arguments, or hypocritical pastors and leaders, some even point out doctrinal error (what the pastor teaches doesn't match up with what their Bible says.) So, to these people, church isn't bad, they just haven't found a good church. You see, it's not the church they are abandoning. They are setting aside a church that has abandoned God.

The question has often been posed, "Has the church become irrelevant?" If the church has abandoned God's word, or the Gospel, it has. This empty establishment is being left behind in the dust, despite its efforts at marketing, contemporary worship, reducing preaching (ironically), and increasing its appeal to "seekers."

I submit that the vast majority of churches have abandoned God's word in favor of crafting a message and looking for validation in God's word. Many pastors have left expository preaching for topical preaching. Often, these topics and sermons are crafted entirely in the mind of the preacher before God's word is even consulted. An example might be using Proverbs 29:18 to promote building and expansion programs. I once heard a preacher preach on Christ's prayer in the Garden while the disciples slept. His main point was that we need to be better friends to each other than the disciples were to Christ. (The theme here had more to do with Christ preparing to go to the cross than with the sleeping disciples.)

The modern "seeker" isn't looking for a rock concert with a how-to sermon attached to the end of it. The "seeker" is seeking God's word and its counsel. The church and preacher that are able to exegete God's word and teach what it says will be the church that is successful in the coming years. The American people have had their fill of cattle excrement over the past couple of generations. Substance will now prevail.

So, don't seek to convey what you think or say, and don't try to teach what other great preachers have taught. Preach the word and teach what God has to say. It will bear results. I'm not promising that you'll have a Billy Graham style crusade, but you will see the Word work in the lives of those who listen, and you will see God move. After all is said and done, isn't that really what it is about?