This article should be of interest to Christians and those who may not be Christians by confession and lifestyle but who believe in the importance of maintaining a biblical Christian worldview in America. Christians are the church. The church is not the buildings or organizations that serve the church body. So when we speak of the seduction of the church, we are speaking of the seduction of individual Christians and particularly the leadership of churches and other Christian organizations.

To seduce means to lead away, to persuade to disobedience or disloyalty, or to lead astray. Only one of its definitions refers to the enticement into unchastity.[1] Seduction was Satan’s original weapon used to attack God by separating man from Him. At his first encounter with Eve in the Garden, Satan’s seductive words led Eve into disobedience and disloyalty to God. Seduction worked well because God gave man a free will. Man can choose to obey or not. To love God is to obey Him, but to disobey is sin which results in separation from God. That is Satan’s purpose, to separate man from God.

However, man was not created stupid. He soon reasoned that separation from God led to pain, misery, emptiness of soul, loneliness, and death without God. Therefore, Satan created a new god for fallen man to worship and obey—the god of self. Self would be deified and worshiped in the temple of humanism. Man would be liberated from the need to obey anyone but the new god of self. However, man found that liberation of self merely anesthetized the symptoms of disobedience and separation from God. Soon the morphia of power, wealth, and pleasure wears off and the suffering and loneliness return along with the reappearance of the hideous specter of death apart from God.

The greatest threat to Satan’s seduction of mankind is the empowered and obedient church of Jesus Christ. Frontal attacks against the church are of no avail. Therefore, Satan again resorts to seduction, his most trusted and lethal weapon. Satan’s strategy is to defeat the church by subtly injecting the god of self into the church body. It is the little foxes that destroy the vine. At first he encourages a little compromise here and there. Mix in bit of disunity. Allude to the harshness and inflexibility of the Bible. Question the relevancy of the Bible and the church in light of modern problems. Concentrate the churches’ focus and efforts substantially if not exclusively on the temporal problems and injustices in the world. Attempt to discredit the truth of the Bible through science and psychology. Finally, the church elevates self above God. The new church is now consumer-oriented, and its patrons are clients to be pampered. The gospel is softened so as not to offend. Therapy replaces salvation in dealing with sin. Worship becomes entertainment. Commitment becomes optional as church attendance for many is limited to an hour or two on Sunday mornings a couple of times a month. The gospel of self-improvement is preached instead of the word of God found in the Bible.

David Wilkerson (1931-2011) was the author of the best-selling The Cross and Switchblade and was the founder of Teen Challenge addiction recovery program with centers found in many countries of the world. The recovery rate for its residents exceeds 80%, one of the highest among similar organization. Formerly the pastor of Times Square Church in New York City, Wilkerson preached a sermon in 1998 titled “The Dangers of the Gospel of Accommodation” in which he described the seduction of the modern church in the United States.

A gospel of accommodation is creeping into the United States. It’s an American cultural invention to appease the lifestyle of luxury and pleasure. Primarily a Caucasian, suburban gospel, it’s also in our major cities and is sweeping the nation, influencing ministers of every denomination, and giving birth to megachurches with thousands who come to hear a non-confronting message. It’s an adaptable gospel that is spoon-fed through humorous skits, drama, and short, nonabrasive sermonettes on how to cope—called a seeker-friendly or sinner-friendly or sinner-friendly gospel…The gospel of Jesus Christ has always been confronting—there is no such thing as a friendly gospel but a friendly grace. [emphasis added]

If you are a young man and have certain skills, you find those skills and a part of the city that would best suit you. You move into that area, poll it, and find out what the nonchurchgoers want. “You don’t like choirs. Well, would you go to a church that didn’t have a choir? Yes. You don’t like to wear suits. Would you go where it’s informal? Yes.” Then you go to your computer and design a gospel that will not confront but will shoot out the desires and the needs of the people…then you design your message to help people cope with their needs. The program you design is intended to make the church comfortable and friendly for all sinners who wish to attend.[2]

Wilkerson spoke of three things that identify the heart of the gospel of accommodation:

The accommodation of man’s love for pleasure – “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers…of pleasures more that lovers of God.” [2 Timothy 3:1-4. KJV].

The accommodation of all man’s aversion to self-denial – Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” [Matthew 16:24. KJV]

The accommodation to man’s offense to the gospel – An accommodating gospel is the way of cheap grace. As Wilkerson described it, “It’s cruel, pastor, to lead sinners to the Cross, tell them they are forgiven by faith, and then allow them to go back to their habits and lusts of the flesh, unchanged and still in the devil’s shackles.”[3]

A recent variant of the accommodating church is the multisite electronic church. One such church has multiple campuses in the metro area, others around the state, and is establishing new churches out of state. The total combined attendance on a recent Sunday morning was reported to be 79,000. Each site may have as many as eight one-hour services on any given Sunday; each tightly packed with rock-concert style worship, simultaneous water baptisms, and a video message from the senior pastor. The founder and senior pastor explained that “…the service is designed to appeal to unchurched people, with casual dress, refreshments in the sanctuary, and a concert-like atmosphere. We’ve found that a lot of unchurched people love to go to concerts, and so our worship experience is very concert-like. There’s intelligent lighting, great sound systems…We’re not doing church for church people…” The pastor defends the accommodating nature of the church services by explaining that every service ends with an invitation to make a commitment to Christ.[4] One wonders if those making the commitments understand that a genuine commitment to Christ leads to the cross and ultimately death to self. Paul’s letter to the Galatians makes this clear. “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, wo loved me and gave himself for me.” [Galatians 2:20. RSV]

Often the gospel preached by the accommodating church tends to perversion or denial of biblical truth over time. A recent example has been a significant topic of discussion in the church world with regards to comments to the congregants by the wife of a pastor of a large Texas megachurch. With her nearby pastor-husband’s nodding approval, she said,

I just want to encourage every one of us to realize when we obey God, we’re not doing it for God—I mean, that’s one way to look at it—we’re doing it for ourselves, because God takes pleasure when we’re happy. That’s the thing that gives Him the greatest joy…So, I want you to know this morning: Just do good for your own self. Do good because God wants you to be happy. When you come to church, when you worship Him, you’re not doing it for God really. You’re doing it for yourself, because that’s what makes God happy. Amen?[5]

This particular ministry had a Godly Christian heritage and history. But the siren song of power, popularity, and success has seduced the new generation to bow to the god of self. Paul in his first letter to Timothy warned of the days in which some of the American church presently finds themselves. “Now the spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, through the pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared…” [1 Timothy 4:1-2. RSV] Many leaders and congregants in the American church have been seduced by Satan and are following the path described by Paul which results in a powerlessness and apostate church destined for judgment and eternal damnation.

Larry G. Johnson

[1] “seduce,” Webster’s Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, (Springfield, Massachusetts: G. & C. Merriam Company, 1963), p. 781.
[2] David Wilkerson, “The Dangers of the Gospel of Accommodation,” Assemblies of God Enrichment Journal, http://enrichmentjournal.ag.org/199901/078_accommodation.cfm (accessed September 2, 2014).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Bill Sherman, “Growing in faith,” Tulsa World, August 17, 2014, A-1.
[5] Heather Clark, “‘Do good for yourself’ Osteen Says. Obedience, worship ‘Not for God’.” Christian News Network, August 28, 2014. http://christiannews.net/2014/08/28/do-good-for-your-own-self-osteen-says-obedience-worship-not-for-god-video/ (accessed September 2, 2014).

A child-like faith

I became a Christian as a child of six. Owasso was a tiny little hamlet of about 250 people, barely four blocks long and two blocks wide straddling a two-lane concrete highway meandering southward towards Tulsa through the perennially-flooding bottom lands and across an old bridge over Bird Creek. This little wide spot in the road had two or three churches, a grocery or two, a school, a collection of small houses, and not much else. Our children’s church teacher and her husband (a nonbeliever) were dairy farmers as were my parents and as my mother’s parents had been. Our teacher helped with the milking and some of the farm work, but on Sunday mornings after chores, she would pick up her grandchildren and any other neighbor kids that were so inclined and take them to church. I still remember well those Sunday mornings when she taught us flannel graph stories from the Bible including Noah, Moses, Joseph, David and Goliath, and Daniel in the Lion’s Den. She mixed in her own stories of “Barney in the Barrel,” “The Little Red Hen,” and others, all reflecting the truth of Christ’s love for each of us.

One Sunday morning she asked if any of us (probably about eight or nine in attendance that morning) would like to accept Jesus into their heart. I moved from the back row of three homemade benches and came to the front and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior. Why did I believe? Some will say my child’s faith was mere emotional manipulation. Others will say it was the Christian influence of family and friends to conform. But the Bible gives the real reason. I believed because my child-like faith responded to the gentle wooing of the Holy Spirit. Luke recorded Christ’s words as He described the utmost importance of a child-like faith, “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” [Luke 18:17. RSV]

Reason

As we grow physically and mentally, our child-like faith must not remain static. Since that day I moved from the back bench to publicly profess my belief, my faith has grown and continues to grow because of reason. Right reason applied to my observations and experiences in the light of the biblical revelation and divine guidance increases my faith and helps me in my everyday life’s walk of faith. Life happens, and bad things happen to people who are faithful to God. How should Christians respond when they experience the trials of life such as when a spouse unexpectedly files for divorce, the death of a child or spouse, loss of job, betrayal by friends, and agonizing pain or loss of health? Here, right reason helps sustain faith in times of adversity. The believer continues to believe because he or she knows the truth of God’s word and because their life’s observations and experiences substantiate the truth upon which their faith rests. All the while the world shouts that there can be no faith in a God who would allow such tragedies, but the world only sees the natural and temporal. Faith transcends the natural to the realm and reality of the supernatural. The Apostle Paul wrote of how Christians should deal with the difficulties of life in their faith walk.

How weary we grow of our present bodies. That is why we look forward eagerly to the day when we shall have heavenly bodies which we shall put on like new clothes. For we shall not be merely spirits without bodies. These earthly bodies make us groan and sigh, but we wouldn’t like to think of dying and having no bodies at all. We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will, as it were, be swallowed up by everlasting life. This is what God has prepared for us and, as a guarantee, he has given us his Holy Spirit. Now we look forward with confidence to our heavenly bodies, realizing that every moment we spend in these earthly bodies is time spent away from our eternal home in heaven with Jesus. We know these things are true by believing and not by seeing. [2 Corinthians 5:2-7. Living Bible]

Is Paul saying that faith is blind and denies reason? Absolutely not. Paul is speaking of the eternal hope of the Christian in spite of present circumstances. Faith is not an abandonment of reason. C. S. Lewis challenged the widespread assumption that there is a battle between faith and reason, “It is not reason that is taking away my faith: on the contrary, my faith is based on reason. It is my imagination and emotions [that attack faith]. The battle is between faith and reason on one side and emotion and imagination on the other.”[1]

Reason is an ally of faith. Our observations and experiences of life aided by right reasoning lead us to belief in the truth of Christianity and all upon which it rests in spite of circumstances. In one sense reason leads us to the door of Christianity, but faith invites us in and holds our hand as we continue the faith journey. However, reason was not left at the door. As we move along our faith journey, we encounter life—all sorts of thoughts, ideas, things, situations, difficulties, trials, struggles, disappointments, opportunities, and so forth. At that point reason continues to assist and guide within the framework of truths we hold and have incorporated into our faith walk. In this sense, reason helps us to accept the seemingly unreasonable as we search the Bible, pray for Divine guidance, and work out our own salvation.[2]

Lewis captures well the linkage between faith and reason when he wrote that faith “…is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”[3] It is not blind faith but a faith that is supported and increased through right reason. In time faith grows to be more important to our belief in the God of the Bible than our reasoning ability. Faith never abandons reason for it continues to play a secondary and supporting role. As faith grows and reason diminishes, reason has helped us come full circle once again to a child-like faith, and through faith we can withstand changes in our moods, our failures, our doubts, our circumstances, or any other of life’s challenges.

I believed because of a child-like faith. I continue to believe and my faith grows as right reason filters my observations and experiences in life in the light of the biblical revelation and divine guidance. However, there is a third reason I believe.

Best evidence

We humans have an insatiable thirst for truth about the meaning and purpose of life. Man has always recognized a divine order in the universe, nature, and human relationships. The more science reveals about the earth’s exquisite and complex order, the greater the evidence for a supernatural creator of that apparent order. Those that deny a supernatural creator continue to search for an over-arching theory of everything. For them the universe nothing more than a cosmic box full of puzzle pieces in which each piece must to be analyzed in its minutest detail. Once understood, the pieces can be fitted together to answer the basic questions of life, all of which is to be accomplished without help from a mythical God. In their attempts to fit the pieces together, often forcing un-natural and harmful configurations, they focus on the minutia, constantly arranging and rearranging, and end with meaningless patterns which reveal neither truth nor offer satisfactions demanded. Richard Weaver diagnosed modern man’s affliction which he described as a “…severe fragmentation of his world picture…which leads directly to an obsession with isolated parts.”[4]

The Bible is a book of history, poetry, prophecy, parable, and allegory in which God reveals Himself and paints the grand mural of the creation, the purpose of man, our present sorrow, the means of redemption, and our eternal destination.[5] It is the unifying picture on the puzzle box which in one grand sweep makes sense of everything in man’s experience since his creation. However, the picture is not enough for it is prescriptive and must be applied by each human being in order to fit the pieces together in a way that gives meaning, purpose, and satisfaction in this life and the next.

In spite of all the protestations of humanists, Darwinists, atheists, intellectuals, pundits, false religions, and others, the long view of man’s sordid history on this planet and the heart-breaking immediacy of the world’s pain and suffering revealed by today’s 24/7 news cycle point to man’s failed efforts to answer the basic questions of life with false philosophies and religions that deny the God of the Bible. It is the biblical revelation that gives the best explanation and evidence of who we are, what went wrong with the world, and how we can get out of the mess we are in. This is the third reason why I believe.

Larry G. Johnson

[1] C. S. Lewis, The Complete C. S. Lewis Signature Classics, Mere Christianity, (New York: Harper One, 2002), p. 116.
[2] Larry G. Johnson, Ye shall be as gods-Humanism and Christianity-The Battle for Supremacy in the American Cultural Vision, (Owasso, Oklahoma: Anvil House Publishers, 2011), p. 111.
[3] Lewis., pp. 115-117.
[4] Richard M. Weaver, Ideas Have Consequences,” (Chicago, Illinois: The University of Chicago Press, 1948), p. 59.
[5] Johnson, p. 176.