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Spurgeon preached those words more than 100 years ago as a warning to his Christian peers and their adoption of early modernism, which he rightly saw as a threat to biblical Christianity.
In 2013, no one disagrees that modernism has infected the church but just how far away have we moved from the historical positions of Christianity?
Last year the Wall Street Journal published an article about a bar in Brooklyn in which two worship services are held – reminders to tip the bartender are heard alongside entreaties to love thy neighbor and praise the Lord.
According to Jay Bakker, the son of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, “The bar is common ground. People can come in and have a beer and have a drink, and I think for a lot of people that is comforting because church has been a painful place for them.”
“My whole life I have gone to Catholic church and hated it because it was boring and miserable,” said Will Zucconi, 27, who has been attending the services for a year. “I like to drink and I like to go to church, and if I can do both at the same time then that’s cool.”
As we make our way into the 21st century, there never has been a time in Christian history when the name of Jesus Christ so frequently is mentioned and the content of His life and teaching so frequently ignored.
The church by and large has become marketers of Jesus – trying to sell His message of love while omitting His call to sacrifice and obedience. After all, who does not want to serve a deity that loves them unconditionally and expects nothing in return?
If the gospel were proclaimed without compromise, the roster of card-carrying Christians in this country would shrink. It is no wonder that the most popular preacher today is televangelist Joel Osteen. He “pastors” the largest church in America, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, which boasts an average weekend attendance of more than 43,000; almost double that of its nearest competitor.
Southern View Chapel offers its take on Osteen's ministry and message, “Osteen has no theological training and it is obvious from his books, sermons and interviews on television that he has little knowledge of the Scripture. Nevertheless, he has caught an unprecedented wave of popularity and could clearly claim the title as the most admired pastor in America. This popularity of course is due largely to his message. Eschewing anything controversial or negative (such as hell or judgment or even sin), Osteen proclaims a message of pure positivism. The title of his first book, “Your Best Life Now”, summarizes what Osteen has to offer his many audiences. If we will follow certain principles or steps (seven to be exact), so the storyline goes, our existence will be happy, healthy, and blessed with everything that would make this life wonderful.”
English Christian Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill once said, “Christianity is not measured in success but in sacrifice.” This truism is lost in today’s climate because the church no longer believes the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is no clarion call to the body of Christ that we are crucified to the world and the world to us. Somewhere along the way, the church became marketers of Jesus Christ instead of imitators.
This should not surprise us. The Apostle Paul warned his protégée Timothy of this very thing, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
We need to come to the place where our lives mirror what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him [Jesus] and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.” This is our charter as believers. As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be ready to obey Christ as unconditionally as the first disciples. That is our calling, not barroom worship services.
"If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself." - Apostle Paul (1 Timothy 6:3-5)
