The Apostate Church
David Breese - “A careful neglect of Calvary, the blood of Christ, divine forgiveness, original sin, and other great Christian themes. Salvation becomes experience-oriented, theology becomes contextual, and ultimate truth becomes contradictory. They announce that Jesus came into the world to bring economic liberation to the oppressed masses of the earth.”
By Apostate church, I am clumping together a large swath of diverse preachers that stray from biblical truth. I make room for mistakes, I do not take preachers as perfect, but those that fit this description are those that stray from core beliefs and make these unbiblical principles a main emphasis of their teachings.
This apostate church is strong and getting stronger. People like to hear what they want to hear. And subtlety is the best offense against a good defense.
Vance Havner - “The devil is not fighting religion; he is too smart for that. he is producing a counterfeit Christianity so much like the real one that good Christians are afraid to speak out against it.”
Please do not take any of this as animosity. I can sound harsh against the apostate church, it is only sadness I feel for those leaders who are leading others astray. The indignation that may be heard is for the lies that are leading others astray. It is the indignation that is directed towards my own frustration and at the idea. Truth is important to me and I can get rather passionate over it. But I do not want you to loose sight of the love I have for them. Love for them as people God created, though I cannot share in their beliefs.
How do I find the Apostate? There is one big tell that can be used as a kind of litmus test. Does the teaching point to God, or does it point to man. Sometimes it is not clear. Discernment is necessary and needed here.
Let me use Rob Bell as an example. I have many a friend who enjoy and love Rob Bell and his videos. I myself have enjoyed watching a video (though I have only watched one of his videos and have not had the opportunity to watch more...).
People close to me have warned me of him. People I trust which raised some red flags, and information has come forward that has me even more wary of him. It causes me pause and it warrants a scrutinizing closer look.
Andy Crouch of Christianity Today - “Bell proposes some great ideas on living life the way God intended. He suggests what it might look like to bring heaven to earth, that heaven is a ‘now’ thing, not a ‘someday’ thing. He suggests viewing salvation as more than just a legal transaction. He suggests that maybe this whole thing is not just about us believing in God, but about God believing in us.”
Rob Bell - “God has given us power and potential and ability. God has given this power to us so we will use it well. We have choices about how we are going to use our power. The choices the first people made were so toxic because they were placed in the middle of a complex web of interaction and relationships with the world God had made. When they sinned, their actions threw off the balance of everything. It is all one, and when one part starts to splinter and fracture, the whole thing starts to crumble.”
Rob Bell - “For a mind-blowing introduction to emergence theory and divine creativity, set aside three months and read Ken Wilber’s A Brief History of Everything... not only are we connected with creation, but creation is going to move forward. It can’t help it. It is loaded with energy. It’s going to grow and produce and change and morph.
The emergence theory and the emergent church is a group of people who in general believe that Christianity needs to be redefined to fit a post-modern world (to fit a secular humanist mindset). (caveat - massive generalization)
My warning here is this. Someone or something may sound like good biblical doctrine, but with slightly different emphasis’ and that emphasis can lead to misdirected support for quite unbiblical principles.
Jared Williams
