AN EVIL PHILOSOPHY THAT HAS ENTERED THE CHURCH!

An alarming trend that I see in the church today is the tendency to discount doctrine as secondary to "relationship", even the relationship we have with Christ. This attitude began to be developed back in the late 70's and early 80's through the "Jesus is Lord" emphasis that we saw across evangelicalism. Even the North American Christian Convention had as one of its themes "Jesus Is Lord". This movement across evangelicalism at large evolved into a general statement of faith that said, "Doctrine is secondary to the ideal 'Jesus is Lord'". As a result, many individuals today believe that to have a relationship with Jesus Christ has nothing to do with doctrinal beliefs or teaching. Caught in the realm of ambiguity, all doctrinal teaching thus becomes relegated to secondary consideration and unimportance. This dicotomy between doctrine and relationship is drawn quite sharply by many. This is made evident when individuals passionately rebuke orthodox teaching and teachers as "judgmental" and "narrow". Dr. Jack Cottrell, professor with Cincinnati Christian Seminary, has labeled this whole ideology as the Christological Fallacy, the belief that you can separate Christian Doctrine from a Christ relationship and belief. Some call for unity today on this basis. They say, "let's just be unified on what we DO have in common", usually boiling it down to "the Lordship of Christ", and yet, I find it quite hypocritical! If Jesus is Lord, then why is doctrine not on par with any teaching that reflects discipleship?! Those who passionately espouse "Jesus Is Lord" teaching as a way to unity (without the unchanging Truth as the centerpiece for unity) should be the FIRST to stand up for doctrine as compulsory, if, Jesus is truly the Lord! Did not Jesus ask, "Why do you call me Lord and do not DO THE THINGS THAT I SAY?" Doing the things that Jesus says, is in essence 'doctrine', or, teaching about Jesus, including His very Words! I recently heard someone say that their goal in teaching youth was to teach them to have a relationship with Christ. Sounds good, except, this statement could be construed to mean that there is a separation between a relationship with Christ and teachings about Him. In actuality, there is NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST AND 'DOING WHAT HE SAYS'. None! The awful truth we try to hide is the fact that, for the most part, this attitude of "Jesus is Lord" apart from Scripture allows many to create a postmodern view that places doctrinal issues into the realm of relativism. I again believe that this is the old deception of the Devil himself! "Has God really said?" was the question asked of Eve which led to hers and Adam's downfall in the Garden of Eden! Satan knows that if he can get mankind away from an objective source for belief and into the realm of the subjective (Jesus is Lord mentality apart from objective Truth), then he can have a heyday with leading us to create God in OUR image and after our LIKENESS instead of the other way around! This is exactly what this philosophy is leading to in our society. It is the essence of postmodernism, the core of relativism, and the basis for rebellion to any form of objective teaching. Truth is still truth even if I do or don't believe it! It is not dependent upon my feelings or even my willingness to espouse it as authoritative! It stands alone as truth and truthful! Jesus Christ is Lord! Yes, He is! But, He is Lord because I have decided to follow, with reverence, HIS WORD (doctrine)! You see, it's not either/or.....it's BOTH!

It used to be that the church was the pillar of the Faith and steadily stood for absolutes and immovable values that served as salt and light in society at large. When Jesus called us salt and light, his point was that we are to bring a different flavor to society by intentional application. When He said that we are to be light, intentional application is the only way to actualize the light. That's why He said that we can't hide the light under a 'bushel' because light without intentional application is ineffectual and irrelevant. I believe that the church today has become, to a very large degree, ineffectual in the application of salt and light. We've done this because we've flirted with the world and invited the "world" into the church to "salt and light" US instead of the other way around. The "world" has been intentionally applied to the church and has made the church very impotent in its very mission! The current ecclesiastical culture is so impotent as to be without passion and conviction about Truth in general. Postmodernism has infiltrated the church with a rabid relativism. In short, we have ultimately lost our way. While preachers of old(notice I didn't say OLD preachers!) spoke with conviction, today's preachers speak with political correctedness. Pragmatism(the idol of the methodological) has superceded "Book, Chapter, and Verse" in discerning purpose. No longer is "Is it the Truth?" the first question qualifying methodlogy. Instead, the operative question is, "Does it Work?". If the church is to again to salt and light we have got to get back to the basics. First, we are created in God's Image for the purpose of glorifying Him. We are NOT here on earth to create God in our image and thus create a system of thought and philosophy congruent to our own feelings or desires. I once had an individual accuse me of "condemning their Catholic parents". In actuality, such condemnation never occurred. The real issue? Biblical Truth and the Holy Spirit were convicting that indivdual and, instead of coming face to face with Truth, the individual chose rather to blame the messenger and the message. Second, we have got to bring conviction about Truth back to the church. Now, I'm not talking about "strong feelings" but true Biblical conviction that is based upon the Bible as the ONLY objectively reliable source for Truth! It doesn't matter what "I" feel in essence. What matters is that "He" said it in His Word, and, as some used to say, "The Bible Says It, I Believe It, and That Settles It!" I would add an addendum to this, too. "The Bible Says It, I Believe It, and That Settles It, No matter how I FEEL!". Third, We must begin again to model "conviction" with our youth today. James Dobson said something I've never forgotten: "Peer pressure is good, but only when the peer group is a Christian peer group. Peer dependence is ALWAYS counterproductive, because, a youth's true dependence should be with Dad and Mom!" This simply means that every family must choose to adhere to and promote Godly convictions and discipleship with their kids at home! The schools have become too surrogate in parenting. And, you may not believe me when I say this, but I believe the church can contribute to this, too! Some churches have taken the 'youth ministry' role way too seriously! Let's face it...God made parents the FIRST AND ONLY TRUE YOUTH MINISTERS! Youth Ministers should never, ever become 'surrogate' in their role as youth disciplers. Instead, they should become servants and partners with the REAL youth ministers, the parents of youth. .......God help us to recapture what true salt and light we should be in our society. Forgive us as the Bride of Christ flirting with another 'man'....current culture.