Eternal Approach

Do we really need more churches?

Surely, some places could use a solid, Bible church.

But there are churches everywhere. And, since there are churches everywhere, why are those churches not already getting the job done?

Why are the people in those churches not being fed?

And, why are most, if not all, of the people in those churches lost?

The Message of Jesus?

In the midst of the growing “missional” fad, leaders might say that this problem is due to the lack of a specific kind of church.

They might say that what is needed is a more contemporary church. With more dynamic speakers and teachers. With a more relevant message. Where the people are more loving and accepting of the new ways of living out the message of Jesus.

Where the music is more contemporary. Where the needs and styles of the young are more readily embraced. Where the older Christians are more receptive and flexible to the newer ways that the younger people wish to go.

Where doctrine is secondary to loving each other. Where good works are emphasized over Bible theology. Where community interaction is more important than isolation from those religious groups that follow different “traditions”.

A New Form of Christianity

You see, that is really what is happening in the Evangelical churches today.

It is not really about getting the word of God out into isolated areas. Like a missionary going out into some remote jungle region. Where the people are shut off from the gospel.

No. This is really about spreading a new ideology. A new form of Christianity.

And, the theory is, that this will not occur in churches where the older generation is already established. Because there will be too much opposition, within those churches, against the newer ways of doing church.

Caught in the Middle

Modern Evangelical leadership lacks the conviction to stand upon the word of God; they lack the resolve to resist spiritual compromise; and so, they will be caught between what they see as simply a resistance of “the elder brothers” (as Tim Keller has characterized us) against the “younger brothers”.

You know, comparing us older, intolerant fogeys, with the Pharisees who opposed Jesus healing on the Sabbath. Who are legalistic against the young, innocent believers; who are just trying to find their way.

Poor things.

New Church Incoming

The real battle today is against the ways that the newer and younger leadership have been trained to go. Trained by the seminaries and Christian colleges that are saturated in the compromised theology and practices of New Evangelicalism.

Their theory is that a new church will have control from the start over a new, fresh brand of Truth.

Where the leadership will seek out the younger people specifically. Bringing them in and allowing them to guide and control the direction of the church.

These leaders are not like young Timothy; who was trained and schooled in the truth and doctrine of the scriptures. Who learned, as Paul’s assistant, to stand upon the word of God and to defend it.

No, the young leaders of today have learned to swim in the shallow depths of New Evangelical theology. Where compromise is the modus operandi. Where social-justice activism and good-works programs are given more emphasis than feeding the people of God with the word of God.

In the future of the church, where this new crop of leadership will assume control, the elder brothers will be subtly marginalized. And their biblical influence, over the direction and spirit of the church, will be carefully limited.

So that the young, the inmates as it were, will be running the asylum.

Sweet.

Image by Edward Lich from Pixabay