The Greatest Threat to the Church

In the past few months, I have written some blogs about various movements in the church to be aware of, and indeed to avoid altogether.  I have also written blogs about how to tell when someone is truly saved or if they are just pretending to be, and are really a false prophet that the Bible warns about.  For awhile now, I have not been writing blogs, but instead observing what is truly going on in Christendom and in some of the churches today.  What I discovered was most startling, and one of the greatest assaults of Satan on the Body of Christ I think I have ever witnessed first-hand, and unsuspecting believers are falling for it hook, line and sinker. 

As you probably already know, there are so many different denominations and arms of Protestantism in the world that it would be difficult to number them all.  I have been familiar with many of them and have attended several different denominations through the years.  In each denomination, I was careful to discern whether that particular church was really sincere about God and teaching the many truths of His Word or not.  Did the leadership glorify God?  Did they know enough of Scripture to handle the Word of God correctly?  Did they seem to have a love in their heart for God and one another?  Was this love demonstrated in some form of service and outreach to those in need and to the unsaved?  If I disagreed with something that they hadn’t backed up with Scripture, were they willing to listen and be admonished, or try to admonish me if I was wrong?  Depending on how they responded to me, I could discern whether they cared more about being right (in their own eyes) than whether they had offended me (and others) by either what they said, failed to say, or what they did that could not be backed up by Scripture.  In other words, were they following the first and second commandment to love God and love your neighbour as yourself?  I was met with disappointment almost every time.  Most of the time, I was brushed off and there was no love or humility or even an openness to hear what I had to say and why.    In some cases, I was discouraged from attending the church or fellowship altogether.  One church asked me to leave because I did not follow their (un-Biblical) man-made set of rules that had to be signed and strictly adhered to.  In each instance, I went away with sadness and disappointment.  I had to go through a healing process from the grief.  This is not the Lord’s way. 

In the past few months, I have heard so much hear-say of various movements circulating through the churches, I began to research them in earnest to see what was going on.  When I research, I use the Bible (King James Version), a concordance and a couple of different trusted commentaries (Matthew Henry and Tyndale).  Then I get to work on the Internet and spend many hours a day reading about the various movements (given as a warning) sweeping through Christendom, which people are involved in them, which churches are affected and so on.  Then I go a step further and go to the actual sites of these people and churches/organizations and see what they believe (statement of faith, mission statement) and also how they have responded to these claims that they and their ministry are cultic (not all have responded on their sites, although they may have responded elsewhere).   

What I found is that differences of opinion abound in the different denominations/sects/fellowships.  The main issues that more fundamental/traditional/orthodox Christians had were to do with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, whether they still exist for today, and especially the attitude in which they are taught and encouraged (which the fundamentalist thought was exclusivity and arrogant – calling some Gnostics).  Generally, their overall fear is that charismatic-minded believers are trusting more in the emotional experience than they are in the Word of God.  Prophetic messages and revelations are called into question because they appear to elevate the status of man more than glorify God (humanistic and unscriptural).  What was interesting is that many of the people who are warning about these movements had not actually shared that they had been directly affected by them (other than disagreeing with their theology), but had seemed to only read up about them.  This is what caused me consternation and to doubt whether some or any of these claims were actually true, or just hearsay.  So when all is said and done and I had done several days and hours of research, I seemed to be going around in circles.  The statement of faith for some (not all since I couldn’t even find their web sites) of the ones being accused were soundly Biblical, and everything else on the site appeared above reproach, and since I myself or anyone I had talked to that was concerned hadn’t actually met the people or been to their services, I came to the conclusion that a lot of it amounted to bickering amongst believers.  And I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the most serious problem of all.  I know many people are sincere who believe these are dangerous movements and perhaps some of them are to be avoided (if this is clearly stated in Scripture), but the ones most often accused (Pentecostals, Charismatics, for example) would be equally cautious of fundamentals who have seemed to neglect major and important portions of the Bible (gifts, healings, faith, and so on).  Some have even dared to utter blasphemy against the Holy Spirit believing that tongues is the work of the devil.  This is more cause for alarm than all the movements put together, for if they are erroneously saying this, their own salvation is at stake! 

Mat 12:24  But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Mat 12:25  And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:

Mat 12:26  And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?

Mat 12:27  And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.

Mat 12:28  But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Mat 12:29  Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

Mat 12:30  He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Mat 12:31  Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

Mat 12:32  And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.  

Bickering amongst believers is not new.  Let’s look at the following Scriptural example: 

1Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

1Co 3:2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.

1Co 3:3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

1Co 3:4  For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

1Co 3:5  Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

1Co 3:8  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

1Co 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

1Co 3:11  For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1Co 3:12  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;

1Co 3:13  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

1Co 3:14  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

1Co 3:15  If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

1Co 3:18  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

1Co 3:19  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

1Co 3:20  And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

1Co 3:21  Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

1Co 3:22  Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

1Co 3:23  And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.  

The main goal is to preach Christ.  Look at what Paul says:

Php 1:15  Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

Php 1:16  The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

Php 1:17  But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

Php 1:18  What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

Php 1:19  For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Php 1:20  According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

Php 1:21  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  

Do we think we have a special truth and because we don’t believe or practice certain things, we are better?  Or do we think that because we do believe and practice certain things and others don’t, that we are better?  Do you see where this is going?  We’ve made it about us and not about Christ!  That is a sad commentary on the Christian church today.  Where are the faithful who love Jesus and just want to serve Him and win the lost for Him?  Are we too busy bickering and arguing amongst ourselves about who is right and who is wrong that we are forgetting the Great Commission?  Who will win the lost?  Together we are a mighty force against the wiles of the devil.  We have the Spirit of God and the truth of God’s Word.  We are the body of Christ, all the members necessary and working together to the glory of God, despite our differences.  But if we are divided and scattered, and constantly at odds, Satan wins.  To me, this is far more insidious than all the movements in the world today, for the people whom Christ loves and died for are on their way to hell unless we can set aside our differences and reach them before it is too late.