.............I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.--Jude 3
The title of a recent article in the Charlotte Observer was, "Americans take up designer religion". Based on research by George Barna, it exposes the fact that modern American Christianity has succumbed to post modern relativism. Many people who claim to be "Christians" are picking and choosing which beliefs and practices that they will subscribe to and, in effect, making up their own religion. "We are a designer society. We want everything customized to our personal needs--our clothing, our food, our education," Barna said. "Now it's our religion".
The article states: "All of the major trend lines of religious belief and behavior .... measured, ran downward--except two: More people claim they have accepted Jesus as their Savior and expect to go to heaven. And more say they haven't been to church in the past six months except for special occasions such as weddings or funerals. In 1991, 24 percent were "un-churched" . Today it's 37 percent.
An example of the new "Christianity" is Carol Christoffel of Zion, Illinois who drifted through several mainline denominations, experimented with Baha'i for several years, dabbled in Native American pagan healing practices, but still identifies herself as a Christian.
Barna casts the blame on pastors for this contradiction. Pastors have presented a gospel of cheap grace in which everyone is told that Jesus is the answer to life's problems. All one has to do is embrace Him, say a little "Sinners Prayer" and that's it, one is good to go and live life as one pleases.
When Barna measured people by their belief system in seven essential doctrines, defined by the National Association of Evangelicals' statement of faith, only 7 percent of those surveyed qualified. "People say, "I believe in God. I believe the Bible is a good book. And then I believe whatever I want", Barna says.
Just as Jude was written to exhort believers to defend the apostolic faith against the inroads of heretical teaching, 2000 years later, modern Christians must also be vigilant to combat heresy. To do this, we must instill in believers the ability to defend the concept of absolute truth, the knowledge to know what they believe and why they believe it. In other words, they must be able to apply reason to faith, for God is a God of reason. As he says in Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, let us reason together".
To be a Christian in any meaningful sense of the word, there are certain doctrines that a follower of Jesus Christ must believe. Among these are the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, the Trinity, the atoning death of Christ on the cross and his bodily resurrection, the inerrancy of Scripture and that there is no hope of being reconciled to God except through Jesus. These doctrines are non-negotiable and , if compromised, will certainly not result in the faith passed down for 2000 years.
I agree with Barna. Pastors have to quit tickling the ears of their congregants and begin teaching solid theology. Believers have to start reasoning out their faith and develop the ability to articulate their beliefs with reason and grace. If not, we will find ourselves with churches full of Carol Christoffel's.
As Augustine said, "If you pick and choose which parts of the Gospel you believe and those parts that you disbelieve, then it is no longer the Gospel that you believe, but yourself". And that is the crux of the matter. In many ways, modern Christianity as fallen for the age old allure of man setting himself up as the ultimate authority of what is true and what is not true. Man wants to be his own God and that is what got us into this mess in the first place.
