By Marsha West

March 19, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

The real danger to traditional Christianity is not from without, but from within its own ranks. Millions of professing Christians have conformed to the world and have been taken in “through philosophy” and “the tradition of men” and are “not after Christ.” (Col. 2:8) Not that this is anything new. The attempt to blend Christianity with paganism has been going on since the days of the early church. And here we are 2 millennia later, still fighting some of the same battles.

One of the major problems Christendom is combating is pagan spirituality. The pace at which unbiblical pagan beliefs are seeping into evangelical churches is dramatically quickening. Many of the orthodoxy have been sounding the alarm, but few have been listening.

Liberalism, with its false social justice gospel, has also reared its ugly head in the Church of Jesus Christ. The liberal “social justice Christian” sees traditionalists as out of touch with the times. Their clarion call is: The Church must change! The next generation of Purpose Driven pastor’s accuse traditionalists who speak out against change agents of being “haters.” Purpose Driven/charismatic pastor Steven Furtick rapped his disdain for outspoken traditionalists in Hey Haters. “Fall back! It’s a new day!” he rebuked. The orthodoxy’s “day is done.” They are “haters…nit-pickers…black and white…full of opinions, low on the Spirit.” Steven seemed angry, even, well, low on the Spirit. I saw no love emanating from this pastor’s eyes, what I saw was arrogance.

SYNCRETISM

False teaching has made inroads through the blending of religions. It’s called syncretism. Syncretism in Protestantism occurred when elements of other religious beliefs were integrated into mainstream denominations. As syncretism takes place fundamental beliefs change. This can occur when:

a culture is conquered, and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in entirely eradicating the old beliefs or, especially, practices. When the Roman Catholics conquered South America people were baptized massively without them receiving the gospel and names of their idols were replaced with that of saints through whom they could pray. (1)

Satan uses syncretism to separate God from His people. God loathes syncretism:

When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land; Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods. (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)

Grievous wolves (Acts 20:29) masquerading as evangelicals introduced false religious beliefs (abominations) into mainline churches. Many of them are forthcoming about what they’re doing, others not so much. Their main goal is as I stated above, change. The plan (yes, they have a plan) is to dismantle historic orthodox Christianity and usher in a “new paradigm,” a “new kind of Christianity.”

TWELVE-STEP PLAN TO ACHIEVE RELEVANCE

1. Relevant churches must be all-inclusive, non-judgmental and tolerant.
2. Change the atmosphere. (Offer coffee and donuts -- espresso bars keep the consumer-seeker coming back!)
3. Give the church the look and feel of an auditorium. (The consumer-seeker prefers churches in a plain brown wrapper.)
4. Install a smokin’ sound system and a humongous Power Point screen.
5. Have a “worship team” and a live band on stage during worship. (Music must be loud! People want to feel the music.)
6. Play mostly contemporary music. (Whenever possible substitute personal pronouns in place of God and Jesus.)
7. Casual clothing is a must for clergy. (Think: Hawaiian shirt, cargo shorts, flip flops – and consider growing a goatee.)
8. Design the sermon message to please everyone. The “felt needs” of the consumer-seeker must be addressed otherwise you’ll lose ‘em.
9. Abandon teaching on God’s wrath, His judgment, sin, repentance, hell, and keep the focus on God’s love for all mankind. (Do not say anything negative or divisive!)
10. Keep the message to a minimum. (People tune out after 28 minutes.)
11. Have a couple of parking spaces close to the entry for first time visitors.
12. Wow 'em to keep ‘em!

Have I hit a nerve?

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