Theological liberalism did not set out to destroy Christianity, but to save it from itself. Is the same temptation now evident? The Great Commission, we must remind ourselves, is not a command merely to reach people, but to make disciples. And disciples are only made when the church teaches all that Christ has commanded, as the Great Commission makes clear.In a nutshell, Mohler states that the church's infatuation with numbers is a great threat to orthodoxy. The primary example he gives is from a recent sermon delivered by Andy Stanley, Pastor of Northwood Community Church in Atlanta, which is the 3rd biggest church in America, wherein he implicitly stamped his - and by implication his church's - hearty approval of same-sex marriages, including them in his definition of "the modern family."
Being a pastor myself, I feel the pressure that "evangelicalism" places on churches to be "successful." Of course, being completely ignorant of any time in history but our own, we as North Americans assume that successful has always been defined in terms of numbers and public approval.
I think this is the dangerous mentality that has permeated most (note: not all) megachurches. When their god becomes numbers and not faithfulness to God's Word, this is inevitable. However, as Mohler notes, this is not peculiar to megachurches. Many small churches, that haven't reached that status, are trying to. And how do we fill our pews, er, cool movie theater seats? By cheapening the gospel. Whether or not they are "in" the Kingdom of God is besides the point. They are in our church, and therefore we must be doing something right.
Let's face it. Jesus didn't suffer for preaching a soft-sell gospel. He died because He preached a message that confronted sin, and only offered forgiveness to those willing to part with their sin. As Leonard Ravenhill once said, if all Jesus preached was our American gospel, He would still be alive today.
Like adultery, stealing, gossip, blasphemy, lust, and covetousness, homosexuality is a sin. If this message keeps homosexuals from attending our church, we must be faithful to the Scriptures, and trust that the Holy Spirit will bring them to repentance through regeneration. If our message keeps people who are living in adultery from attending our church, we must preach the gospel & likewise trust that God will bring true conviction and repentance. (By the way, I truly believe that the church has compromised on what the Bible teaches on divorce & remarriage for this reason alone, namely, that our churches are filled with people who treat marriage with such indifferent contempt. God forbid they go across the street to another church! So we let all kinds of people divorce for unbiblical reasons, so they and their families can stay in our church....and keep tithing, of course).
If we "tweek" the gospel, we take away the only tool the Spirit has to bring about the new birth. It's that simple. We can fill our churches with people who pray prayers that are not found in the Bible, but we may be inadvertently filling Hell with people who have been given a false bill of sale.
Satan is no fool. The word "liberalism" is scary, and most 'evangelical' pastors would denounce those who have denied the authority & sufficiency of Scripture in the past. So Satan gives us something noble, namely "soul-winning via a goat's gospel" to destroy the witness of the church, filling it with unregenerate 'members' who have never truly known what "Jesus is Lord" really means. Such professors show up to church on Sunday, sing some songs, laugh at some jokes, give some money, are entertained for 25 minutes, then leave so they can return to 'reality'. One little addition to the gospel can completely change it, just as one molecule can radically change the outcome of a chemical reaction. Since we pander after unbelievers who love their sin, we preach a feel-good gospel that tells them Jesus is OK with our sinfulness. After all, He came to save sinners, right? However, Jesus came to save His people "from" their sin (Matt. 1:21), not "for" their sin. One letter makes all the difference!
I close with a quote from Mohler, who is implying that many of the 'pastors' filling pulpits today are the successors of well-known liberals from the past. This is scary stuff.
The current cultural context creates barriers to the Gospel even as it offers temptations. One of those temptations is to use to use the argument that our message has to change in order to reach people. This was the impetus of theological liberalism’s origin. Liberals such as Harry Emerson Fosdick claimed that the Christian message would have to change or the church would lose all intellectual credibility in the modern world. Fosdick ended up denying the Gospel and transforming the message of the Cross into psychology. Norman Vincent Peale came along and made this transformation even more appealing to a mass audience. Fosdick and Peale have no shortage of modern heirs.Gulp. I would challenge you to check out the 10 Biggest Churches in America. Listen to their "messages" and tell me if the words "sin" or "repentance" are used in their "gospel" appeals. God have mercy on us!
How different from Paul's final letter, written to Timothy. We just finished working through it in our family devotions. It's filled with suffering for the gospel. Sometimes I wonder how we in North America have missed one of the main themes in the New Testament: suffering for preaching & living the (true) gospel. In 2 Tim. 4, Paul reminds Timothy of what needs to be done "in these last days" which are characterized by religious wickedness (ch. 3):
"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, Who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry."May God give us His Spirit in full measure to suffer for the gospel (2 Tim. 1:6-8).
Recommended books:
James Gresham Machen, "Christianity & Liberalism"
Michael Horton, "Christless Christianity"
