The Real Chasm

The Real Chasm in the church as visible is not what many might be tempted to imagine it is, that between the denominations, but between those who are Bible-believing Christians and everyone else. Whether or not they are within the denominations is beside the point altogether.  Scripture teaches that the church is a family, which means at bottom, that every member of it has the same Father.

In today's church, this is not even recognised.  It matters little or nothing at all who a church member's father is, so long as he attends church the odd time and throws in a few pounds to the plate to keep the doors open.  If some are the children of God, fine; but if others are "of their father, the devil," then, no sweat!  It seems that many Christians are like the frog that is placed in a saucepan of cold water which is then placed on the electric ring, and all the while the poor thing adjusts to the rising temperature, but stays there until it is burnt to death.  It would have jumped into a pot of boiling water in the first place, but customisation has robbed it of its ability to discern what is happening.

Certainly, today's church people are like that frog; they are in a system that is moving away steadily from its biblical and historical roots, yet are more than content to stay there, not discerning what is really happening. In the past, evangelicals within these denominations used to talk very spiritually about some imaginary line that is drawn beyond which they will not pass, even if t means moving out of the denomination.  That line has been crossed and is now a dim and distant memory, and no more.  Today's evangelicals can remain quite contentedly within denominations that preach a mute,d Gospel if indeed it is Gospel at all!; that have passed resolutions that have taken them deeper into ecumenism: that have gone down roads where the moral markers of the past have been crossed, and no one seems to have noticed.

But it is not just the fact that this has happened that is important, but the reason for it happening. What is that reason?  The church has moved the historic landmarks, so that no one now knows where they are at. They think nothing has changed!  They imagine that all is well in the garden!  They have taken on board the existentialist theology/philosophy of Karl Barth, without even knowing it.  Jean Paul Sartre has claimed their scalps, but no one has noticed.  Humanism has replaced revealed religion, and no one cares.  The Gospel  has been undermined by academic theologians, trainee ministers have been pounded by neo-orthodoxy and humanism, evangelical ministers have been crucified by their elders and church members, the establishment has done a Pilate job and washed its hands off these situations; and all the time, liberalism and its close friend, humanism, have been wrecking havoc on the Body of Christ. 

Who is your Father, is not a question that is being asked in today's decadent church.  The church does not care who its members' father is.  She does not care about the spiritual well-being of those who sit under its ministries week by week. She cares not where many of her members will spend eternity.  She says she does, but does she really? 

Once the church dismisses her once lofty view that there is a qualitative difference between Christians and non-Christians, she has 'sold the pass' altogether, has no message for a lost and perishing world, and offends the only living and true grossly. And why is there no real blessing in those church that boast many evangelical preachers?  Because there is sin in the camp, and no one wants to talk about it.  you must present yourself asa good churchman at all costs, otherwise, what some mistakenly call 'high office' will elude them.

The real and scandalous division in the visible church is not being recognised - that between Bible-believers and non-bible-believers; it's not about differences between denominations; as I said, they are immaterial. The real scandal is that evangelicals are prepared to stay with their theological enemies and Gospel opposers rather than join forces with Gospel believers in the true church of Christ.  You don't want to be viewed as not a good churchman, can you?  Nor do you want to be "a troubler in Israel," because such an accolade will not serve your career ambitions well, will it?  And you certainly do not want to wrong-foot yourself so far as this unbiblical and unreformed 'high office' thing is concerned, do you?

No, you can't have that, can you?