The Apostate Church
- by Paul Proctor
In a recent article from the Charisma News Service, Andy Butcher reported
the following:
"With more Americans dismissing the relevance of traditional Christianity to
their lives, a growing number of church leaders are saying that it is time for a
major change in the way believers try to share their faith...The Off the Map (OTM)
movement tries to turn the accepted idea of "evangelism" on its head by
inverting the typical church meeting. At OTM events, the pastors and lay members
sit quietly in the audience while nonbelievers take the microphone to explain
their lack of faith." Host Jim Henderson says it is the listeners he is trying
to convert..."
Churches Need to Redefine Evangelism, New Movement Says
This is really not as new a practice as Mr. Henderson would like you to
believe. Pulpit sharing, "diaprax" and reverse evangelism have been going on for
sometime within the seeker-sensitive church growth movement. I even commented on
it in my series on Willow Creek a year and a half ago. Here is an excerpt:
"By meeting the so-called 'felt needs' of the godless, THEIR voices are
heard, THEIR philosophies are made known, THEIR music is played, THEIR religion
is taught, THEIR ideologies are discussed and THEIR agenda is carried out
virtually unopposed in the corridors, classrooms and worship centers of every
'seeker sensitive' church in America. Bottom line is; the REAL students here are
the silent, submissive, ignorant, gullible, compromised and compliant Christians
who are held at bay by global socialists surreptitiously destroying our
religious heritage through the church growth movement."
This, my friends is just another organization, promoting another
network, announcing another movement to persuade more
churches to accommodate the world's self-esteem while shrinks, consultants
and facilitators carefully transform our sanctuaries and classrooms into
laboratories of experimentation and psychotherapy by addressing the "felt needs"
of unrepentant "seekers" with touchy-feely focus groups and slick marketing
strategies instead of simply calling them to repentance and faith in Jesus
Christ as we were commanded to do! It is HIGH TIME that the church got back to
PROCLAIMING the Gospel of Christ to a lost and dying world and stopped DIALOGING
with the damned for a consensus of how they FEEL about it! Christian psychology
is not just an oxymoron, it is an affront to Almighty God!
The Hegelian Dialectic is no longer limited to Willow Creek or Saddleback
membership. I can tell you from many hours of research that it is running
rampant across every denomination in America from mega-churches to country
churches transforming mainstream Christendom into a culture club of coddled
consumers. Facts are out. Feelings are in. We don't want teachers with
information! We want facilitators with affirmation! It's just SO much better on
the numbers. As if that weren't enough, we have parachurch organizations
springing up like weeds in the garden of grace with their Delphi techniques,
Alpha programs and phallic philosophies to make sure no congregation gets left
behind in the 21st century. Even "conservative" and "traditional" congregations
that officially reject seeker-sensitive schlock and purpose-driven drivel are
"dialoging to a consensus" more and more instead of yielding to the divine
authority of scripture. This is the dialectic at work, systematically
disassembling and discrediting the doctrines, disciplines and didactic teaching
of God's Word. Unable to recognize or define what is happening around them, many
concerned Christians are left scratching their heads and groaning in frustration
and disbelief as their worship services are turned into clangorous carnivals for
spiritual simpletons.
Unfortunately, most of the offended overlook the disease itself, called "Diaprax"
and focus instead on its superficial symptoms like loud music, casual attire,
hipster lingo, interpretive dance, dramatic skits, no pews, no cross, no choir,
no robes, no hymns, no bibles and NO repentance, in bank-owned "worship centers"
clamoring with combos, chants, clapping and confusion. If you find yourself in a
worship service like this or "Bible study" with a facilitator focused on
shared feelings rather than scriptural facts, vacate the building as if the
fire alarms were going off because that's all the warning you're ever going to
get! The longer you stay, the greater your chances are of getting burned.
"And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness."
(2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)
Paul Proctor, a rural resident of the Volunteer state and
seasoned veteran of the country music industry, retired from showbiz in the late
1990's to dedicate himself to addressing important social issues from a
distinctly biblical perspective. Paul Proctor is a writer for the American Reformation
Project and a regular columnist for
Ether Zone.
Paul can be reached by email at watchman@usa.com