Word Weld

For hundreds and thousands of years people groups, nations, individuals, sports teams, naval ships, aircraft, and even cups, plates, cars, and pens have born insignias to mark them as belonging to something or someone. Ford cars bear the familiar blue oval, Starbucks coffee cups bear their distinctive green lady, and everyone in America is familiar with the Stars and Stripes. We bear emblems, logos, decals, and flags to identify ourselves with those things that we hold dear. Similarly, most churches proudly display crosses or the Christian flag, or we slap a fish on the back of our cars, just to let people know that we identify with the Christian faith, if we don’t have the opportunity to stop and talk to them about it one-on-one. But in our country today, Christians are putting up false flags.

While there are many theories about false flag operations, and some conspiracies, the origin of the term came from naval battles in the area of sailing ships. Often, merchant ships fearing attack from warring states would fly the flags of enemy vessels in order to escape unharmed. A perfect example of an offensive attack using a false flag tactic can be seen in the film Master and Commander. In that film, the British captain outwits the French captain of the much larger vessel they are attempting to capture, disguising his own vessel as a largely defenseless (and neutral) whaling ship. He does this by flying false flags and creating the illusion of a smoke stack characteristic of such merchant vessels. At the critical moment, when the Frenchman comes alongside to take what its crew believes is an easy target, the English seamen and marines surprise them by suddenly boarding the French vessel, and are able to capture the enemy ship.

In our Christian culture, we are actively using false flags also. Some people know it, some people don’t, but it’s hurting our testimonies, our Christian walks, and our brothers and sisters. In order to attract people to the church, many churches have decided to fly the enemy’s colors, then use a bait-and-switch to pull Christianity out of the box at the last minute. We promise people all the peace and blessings of God, while watering down the actual message so that it’s more palpable to lost people. We seem to think, “If we can just get them into the church, then everything will work itself out! God will turn them around!” But when we attract people by appealing to the things they like now in the world, we’re fooling ourselves and damaging the power we could have.

I recently attended a “Youth Revival” where I saw many false flags being raised. As young people filed into the place, and the loud, repetitive music began, I immediately recognized the signs. It was designed to make the young people feel emotional, as if the magical feeling that they were given by the music was somehow God’s presence. It was not. You could tell it was not by the looks on the faces of those older Christians in the church. Many of the words were excessively poetic or just silly, yet the young people swayed and shut their eyes and raised their hands. Then, after we were treated to a thick helping of emotional music, the guest pastor got up and yelled out a sermon about how we need to be “Wild for the World,” a title that seemed almost ironic. The youth there certainly did seem to be wild for the world, because it kept showing up in spots, not merely in the music, but in the way the young people dressed, and in places in the sermon. In one sentence, the pastor would speak a plain truth, and in the next, he would utter something completely unbilbical. My wife and I had experienced this kind of thing before, but it still upset us greatly.

The church of today has stopped believing in the Bible. Even good churches say they stand on the Word of God, but then when the chips are down, the Bible simply isn’t enough. We need newer music like the kids enjoy these days. And we need to emphasize the love and acceptance of the Bible. At one point in that sermon we listened to, the pastor even yelled out that Jesus never mentions your past sins, which is at best a half-truth. After all, Jesus Himself, in confronting the woman at the well, trapped her in a recognition of her sin. After gaining her interest, when Jesus could have simply told her of God’s love, He instead demanded, “Go, call thy husband, and come hither.” This was a trap, for He knew that she was an adulterer, and felt it necessary not only to deal with her sin “eventually,” but to bring it to light then, at the very beginning of His witness. Later, when the woman told her friends and neighbors to come see Jesus at the well also, she stated, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did.” Christ intentionally brought her sins to light, not so that He could judge her personally, but so that He could warn her that she was judged already, a passage the pastor at the revival misused. After all, said the young pastor, it says in John 3:17,

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

But what he didn’t realize when he studied the passage was that Jesus was not saying the world was not condemned at all. He was saying that He did not enter this world, becoming human and dwelling among us, to condemn people. Rather, He came to save people who were condemned already.

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
-John 3:18

In trying to make young people feel accepted, Christians are denying the very motivation for our cause. People sin. Sin is what sends people to Hell. Warn people about sin and point them to the Savior. But we have instead decided to skip to the last part, pointing them to a Savior, while somehow expecting them to figure out why! If there’s nothing wrong with the way they live, the music they listen to, the parties they go to, the friends they keep, the way they practice their sexuality, then what in the world does Christianity offer? The answer, unfortunately, is that it offers a warm, spiritual feeling that makes them feel good about dying because they recited a prayer after feeling an emotional high at a youth revival. We need to stop coddling our young people, and treat them like the adults that they need to become in this godless, evil world. The Jews have a coming-of-age ceremony called Bar Mitzvah, in which they teach their children that once they reach the age of thirteen, they are subject to the powers and responsibilities of an adult. Americans at the age of 13 until some indeterminate period after college are considered a kind of pseudo-child, somehow eligible for the benefits of being an adult but not bound by any of the responsibilities of adulthood. They’re taught that rebellion, acting out, and so forth, are somehow a natural stage of their development, but they aren’t, and I’m going to write an article about that one of these days, because it is the cause of a lot of trouble for both parents and the church.

We coddle the youth with a watered-down version of Christianity that doesn’t cost them anything. It tells them-and adults too, I might add-that Christianity will never point out their sin, which is a bad thing they are apparently responsible for dealing with on their own if they feel like it. But that’s not what the Bible teaches. Why would the Bible have any passages about Church Discipline if Christians were forbidden from ever “judging” anyone by pointing out sin? On the contrary, Christians do not even have to condemn sin verbally, for the very act of stating you’re a Christian carries a huge burden of condemnation to the lost. If I go to someone’s house where people are getting drunk, and I refuse to drink, I am automatically condemning (i.e. judging) everyone who is. Which is why I would shortly endure a large amount of ridicule. This is the reason homosexuals are so hateful to Christians, because they know, no matter how they may try to twist Scripture, that the Bible is 100% clear on the subject of their sin, and anyone who believes it is automatically their enemy. So no, we can’t avoid “judging” people, not unless we do the same things they do. In other words, the only way to not offend homosexuals is to state that what they’re doing is ok (to deny the Bible). The only way to fit in at that beer party would be for me to start drinking beer. And that’s what we’re encouraging our young people to do. Instead of treating them like adults, and feeding them the music and the meat of the Bible that they need at that point in their lives, we instead try to bring church and the Bible to their comfort zone.

It’s ok, we’ll say, for our daughters to wear immodest clothing to church because we don’t judge sin, even though it is sin to our daughters and actively hinders the young (and older) men in the church. It doesn’t matter, we’ll say, what kind of music it is, as long as it has Christian themes, because God doesn’t judge what kind of music you listen to. But it’s wrong. God cares. He cares about everything we do, and some music is fitting for church and some isn’t. Some clothing is fitting for church and some isn’t. Some talk, some sermons, some food, some drink… In short, nothing is neutral. Everything can be either good or bad. How do we judge what is good or bad? What is the world doing? We shouldn’t be doing that.

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
-James 4:4

When we act like the world, when we listen to the world’s music, when we dress like the world… when we fly their flags, we’re lying to them and to ourselves. We are either Christians or we are the world, not both. Well, that’s just my idea, isn’t it? Actually, it comes from passages like this.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
-2 Corinthians 6:14-18

What other interpretation can their be for such a straightforward command? If we are the light, we cannot look like darkness, can we? If we are righteousness, we can’t do unrighteous things, can we? Does God really care about how we dress? Yes, He does. Does He really care about how we talk? Yes, He does. Does God really care if you can’t tell the difference between AC/DC and DC Talk (ironically, the name stands for Decent Christian Talk)? Yes, He does.

The first Churches weren’t so successful because they made their converts feel comfortable about the way that they were. Rather, they showed them the right way, without beating them down or condemning them, warning them of the dangers of their sin while also providing God’s loving solution: to cleanse them of that sin and forgive them through His Son’s death. Without the recognition of sin, there is no need for repentance. And without repentance, there is no true conversion. Young people are being fed an emotional spiritualism by the Church, instead of a powerful, cutting, biting truth that tears at the soul and demands an answer. We want revival, but we don’t look to the revivals of old, like the Great Awakening, where people were not moved by emotionalism, flashing lights, electric guitars, or chanted poetic phrases set to pretty music. They were moved by the Words of God. We speak of movements and Revivals like the Great Awakening with reverence and awe, yet if we were to sit under just one of those speakers with full understanding of their language today, we would leave angry or bored, and not, as thousands did, fall upon our faces and repent. These sermons are deep and powerful, and must be read thoroughly to fully appreciate them, but here is an excerpt from Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, a sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards, a man who relied upon no emotionalism, but merely shared God’s Word. One observer wrote, “He scarcely gestured or even moved, and he made no attempt by the elegance of his style or the beauty of his pictures to gratify the taste and fascinate the imagination.” Instead he convinced “with overwhelming weight of argument and with such intenseness of feeling.” Here is a part of Edwards’ famous sermon, which led so many people to repent in tears and come to Christ.

They are already under a Sentence of Condemnation to Hell. They don’t only justly deserve to be cast down thither; but the Sentence of the Law of God, that eternal and immutable Rule of Righteousness that God has fixed between him and Mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to Hell. Joh. 3. 18. He that believeth not is condemned already. So that every unconverted Man properly belongs to Hell; that is his Place; from thence he is. Joh. 8. 23. Ye are from beneath. And thither he is bound; ’tis the Place that Justice, and God’s Word, and the Sentence of his unchangeable Law assigns to him. 4. They are now the Objects of that very same Anger & Wrath of God that is expressed in the Torments of Hell: and the Reason why they don’t go down to Hell at each Moment, is not because God, in whose Power they are, is not then very angry with them; as angry as he is with many of those miserable Creatures that he is now tormenting in Hell, and do there feel and bear the fierceness of his Wrath. Yea God is a great deal more angry with great Numbers that are now on Earth, yea doubtless with many that are now in this Congregation, that it may be are at Ease and Quiet, than he is with many of those that are now in the Flames of Hell. So that it is not because God is unmindful of their Wickedness, and don’t resent it, that he don’t let loose his Hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, tho’ they may imagine him to be so. The Wrath of God burns against them, their Damnation don’t slumber, the Pit is prepared, the Fire is made ready, the Furnace is now hot, ready to receive them, the Flames do now rage and glow. The glittering Sword is whet, and held over them, and the Pit hath opened her Mouth under them.

While Edwards may not be 100% correct in other areas, he was spot on in his approach to witnessing and it is obvious from the result of his sermons that God gave him these very words for the people of God. After all, how much sweeter is God’s mercy, when you realize how fierce his anger is? How does it instill in us a hatred of our own sin, when we realize it is that sin that is damning us to deserved torment in Hell, and yet God loves us enough to forgive us and help us overcome our sin? Is this sermon not true today? Just because time has passed, is God winking at promiscuity, or lying, or rebellion, or immodesty, or homosexuality, or envy, or ungodly music, or being like the world in general? No, God does not change. People change, and the idea that Christianity must adapt to the changes in the culture is a lie rooted in the world and watered by the Devil himself. We don’t need to appeal to young people, we need them to show them what is wrong with this world, and warn them of the real reason they need God! It isn’t because they aren’t fulfilled or happy, it’s because sin is destroying them, both in this life and in the next, and they need to resist sin! No, we can’t overcome sin on our own, but that doesn’t mean that our sin doesn’t need to be overcome. It does.

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
-2 Timothy 2:19-22 (emphasis added)

Where does God stand on judging people? What did Jesus say to the adulterous woman after he had shamed all of the hypocrites accusing her?

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
-John 8:10-11

So often this is used to say that Christ never brought out the woman’s sin, but her sin was already brought out. She was condemned already. But she wasn’t right. She needed to change. She needed to repent. She needed to stop living in sin.

Young people don’t need to be taught that they should be loved, not judged. They need to be taught that they are already judged, and because we love them, we want them, like us, to repent of their sins, and follow after God. We need to show them the power of the Word of God, that it can and will change their lives, and that no matter how boring singing a hymn or truly worshipful song may be, or how dull dressing modestly may seem, there is a great and terrible power that rests behind it, and it is able to change their lives in ways that go beyond spiritualism, emotionalism, and legalism. God is a Holy God, and He is able to purify us, in spite of our own failings. It is true that God casts our sin as far as the east is from the west, and remembers them no more from the standpoint of salvation, but God also says that whom He loves, He punishes, and in love chastises his children. A young person brought up in the church today could never understand God’s chastisement, and would be offended by it. I have experienced the chastisement of God. And while I know He will always love me, I know that it is His love that drives Him to correct my bad behavior. And because I love Him back, I want to fight against those bad behaviors. I pray every day that He will help me resist doing those things that displease Him.

God help us to flee from the world. Yes, we should no be hesitant to invite anyone into the church to hear God’s word, and to love them, no matter the color of their hair or the music they listen to. We are here to warn lost people, sick people. But God help us if we do not show them the right way, the better way. God help us if we don’t share with them the dangers of living their lives in friendship with the world, and in fellowship with darkness, in comfort with sin. There is a difference between witnessing to someone and making them your friend, and inviting them into your church when they can cause harm to those who are already there. We understand this, no matter what we may say. We need to preach against sin, and we need to start waking up to the fact that the Devil already has his tendrils lodged into the church. History has proven that when the church compromises, especially about sin, it will soon fall, and it will soon be punished.

We are living in an age of apostasy and heresy. Churches and pastors are rising up, claiming that you can live however you want, and still be in God’s will. They’re saying that God wants you to have a new car, or that He doesn’t mind if you cheat on your spouse, or that He doesn’t want children to obey their parents anymore. They’re saying it’s okay for girls to show up to church in mini-skirts or short dresses, or for older women to wear netted hose to church functions or wear deep cleavage. They’re saying it’s okay if you can’t tell the difference between the youth revival and a rock concert. But it’s all wrong. God cares. We are the church of Laodicea, and we need to take Jesus’ warning very seriously.

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
-Revelation 3:14-22

We are not calling sin sin. We’re saying everything is ok. We’re lukewarm. We have flags up, but some of them are for Christ, and some of them are for the world. We need to get hot. We need to speak out against sin, and preach God’s loving answer for it. We need to stop talking about God’s forgiveness before we talk about what He is forgiving in the first place. We need to stop sending out a message for the world to be like us, because when the world sees us, they don’t see any difference from them. Our daughters dress like theirs, our sons look like theirs, our dads are just as unfaithful as their dads, and our moms are just as obsessed with their jobs as theirs. We need to start standing out again. We need to start being different, visibly. We need to put our right flags up.