A man of God and his wife who are dear friends of mine were placed in an awkward but all too familiar situation.
They were with other spiritual leaders when hard liquor was offered to them.
They politely refused and slowly excused themselves from the reception trying hard to mask their shock.
That is not the end of it.
A “prophet” later confronted them and told them that they were legalistic for not drinking.
He went so far as to say that unless they got in line with the new “revelation” of freedom their church would not grow.
This is no longer a case of just saying drinking is okay.
Now they are saying you should be drinking if you want to be in the flow.
That “flow” is part of a machinery for growth that compromises in many other areas of Christian life—and programs believers to backslide.
The Bible predicted this deception…
Isaiah 59:15 says,
“So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.”
Some pastors today are preying on church members who seek to be holy…accusing them of a religious spirit.
Have we really come to the point where believers are making themselves a target by pursuing holiness?
The answer is a loud YES!
A machine is churning out converts who are being programmed to backslide.
And don’t fool yourself, this machine is in spirit-filled churches…even in so-called revival churches.
Holiness is now rejected and called a religious spirit.
Satan rejoices at this because it has created the greatest display of false success in the history of the church.
Many churches are now conveyor belts that attract people in but then they rapidly fall off at the end of the belt.
In fact, the ones who fall off may be the fortunate ones.
There’s at least a chance that they will crash and burn and come to their senses in true repentance.
But woe, to those who are backslidden in church but don’t know it because they are taught, they can never backslide.
The growth we celebrate today is a grand illusion that hides the greatest turnover ratio ever.
Doesn’t this explain why so many believers have been bulldozed and reclaimed by the enemy?
Doesn’t this point out the reason the church has no authority to push back against the flood of evil in our nation?
How can we field an army of warriors when our system sets them up to fail?
Forgive me but I am about to get passionate about this!
How can it be that the very vessels chosen of God to equip the saints instead conspired to create a system that rewards carnality and shames holiness?
Listen to most sermons today.
They give the impression the church has exhausted herself trying to serve God, or that she has overdone sacrifice—that now she needs vast portions of comfort food.
That’s the way it sounds when ministers keep telling them to relax, and quit trying so hard, because Daddy is so pleased with them.
Even after there’s proof that a congregation has become a listless, flabby, biblically illiterate, club of moody consumers—preachers will still heap on them one more message of pampered entitlement.
Forgive me for being crude…but it’s kind of like handing a diabetic a case of Snickers bars.
Sundays are too often a celebration of how much God lets you get away with and soothing guarantees that confuse God’s love versus His approval.
1 John 5:4 says
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”
There are two things to take away from this promise:
the first is that a major goal of the child of God is to overcome the world.
That goal is largely missing in modern preaching—preaching that sees the world as a quasi-friend not as a mortal enemy.
Secondly, it shows us the desperately urgent place of faith—faith that overcomes! That is also missing.
We program failure when it is not clear at the moment of conversion that Christ must become lord of their existence.
That is an ultimatum that cannot be postponed.
Without it, you are lying to the new convert about the power they will have over evil or any hope of growing in faith.
You are also robbing them of the joy of the Lord.
Repentance, spiritual warfare, the authority of the believer are all subjects that would protect the child of God and help them to stand against the enemy.
But these preachers never get around to these truths because it will stop the influx of people.
Think of that!
Gently suggest the church could go deeper—call for more prayer meetings—voice concern about inappropriately dressed women—tell them you don’t want to party with them, and they will scream, “YOU HAVE A RELIGIOUS SPIRIT!”
What was once normal discipleship, is now legalistic.
Anything that dampens their festivities is judgmental.
What have we done?
We have unleashed a counterfeit liberty.
These are not the features of a Spirit-led people.
These are the clear symptoms of people with sick souls deceived and careening toward disaster.
But the final nail in the coffin of this deception is this:
It is utterly unnecessary to compromise to get a crowd.
Jesus never had trouble getting a crowd.
That is why He focused on changing the crowd.
Go ahead and boast about growth but you must do it at the expense of truth—the truth that while churches grow, the nation is dying—and the very people tasked by God to save America are having zero impact.
The greatest gift God can send a church is a holy child of God.
Their heart is for revival.
They want the fire, glory and power of God to electrify the church.
Make them your enemy and you have also made an enemy out of God.
Woe is you if you have ever called holiness a religious spirit.
God bless you if you love holiness and understand what a treasure it is.
“1 Timothy 6: 6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Thank God that at this critical hour the Holy Spirit is separating a core to Himself.
These are pastors, and regular Christians who are praying to go deeper.
They are busy saying to each other, “this side show is not God, there’s more!
No way can Satan win if we take our stand on the authority of the cross!”
He is imbuing them with boldness, wisdom, signs and wonders and most of all…a blazing passion for holiness.
“Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” – Hebrews 12:14
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