Dear Pastors,
I have no authority over you. I, myself, am not a pastor. You have no reason by earthly standards to listen to what I have to say.
But, at the end of the day, it is not my job to turn your ear. It is not my job to convince you of anything. It is my job to speak the truth. And so, here it goes:
Some of you are peddling another religion.
Please hear me out.
The recent events in our country have been terrible. We are not in a good place. Many of your congregants are scared. And, no doubt, you are looking for ways to comfort them. You are looking for ways to let them know you are on their side. You are trying to, in the midst of adversity, give them hope.
And you should.
You are also trying to show Christ-like humility to a watching world. You are trying to show them that we, as Christians, have a heart for the downtrodden.
And you should.
But in your best intentions, you are accidentally dabbling in another religion. (and, if you aren’t, rest assured some of your congregants are)
Here’s how…
The culture needs to change. That, underneath the ten tons of insanity that pervades our world and drives people to both commit and justify violence, is the underlying cause. It’s why, when asked what specific policy changes need to be made, nobody can give an answer. And they’re right — the problems in our corner of the world are not primarily a matter of policy, but of culture. The culture needs to change.
But here’s the thing… Every religion shapes the culture around it. And the culture we have now is shaped largely by the majority religion, which is secularism.
Make no mistake. Secularism is as much a religion as Buddhism, Judaism, or Islam. It has its own code of morality, its own system of penance, its own worship songs, and even its own priests. In fact, you can find them preaching from behind their pulpits on every evening news channel.
Christianity, of course, also changes the culture around it. And, as it were, it doesn’t do this the same way other religions do it. Christianity changes the culture THROUGH THE GOSPEL. As Christians, we change the culture THROUGH THE GOSPEL.
One of the key tenants of secularism is humanism. This is the notion that all people are basically good, and so we just need to appeal to each other’s humanity. This is why you get pithy, feel-good social initiatives like posting a picture on Facebook or Instagram, heartfelt pleads for unity from celebrities in their ivory towers surrounded by armed guards, and then violence when the sun goes down. Because, at the end of the day, appealing to each other’s humanity doesn’t work. Humanity is corrupt, sinful, and totally depraved. Humanity is the problem, not the solution.
Dear Pastors, when you appeal to the things they appeal to, you are not practicing Christ-like humility. You are peddling another religion.
As Christians, we appeal TO THE GOSPEL.
Jesus is plan A and there is no plan B. There is no other name by which we are saved. There is no other authority that will fix this world. There is no leader who can put an ultimate end to evil. There is no spilled blood that will end racism except the blood of Jesus, and that was spilled 2,000 years ago. That is the rock upon which we stand. That is the foundation upon which His bride, the church, is built. That is the ONLY chance our world has…
…so stop telling the hurting people in your care that they can find hope in anything other than Christ alone. Stop preaching to the watching world that Christ’s blood is insufficient in ending the ills of this nation.
If you want to help, preach the gospel. Make disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Teach them to follow Christ, not Oprah. See to it that the culture of your church is everything the people outside of it thirsts for their culture to be. Show them how it’s different than what they’re seeing around them, not how it’s the same. Don’t show them cultural relevance; show them a different culture. And, most importantly, introduce them to the One who makes that culture different.
Thus says the Lord: Learn not the way of the nations…
Jeremiah 10:2
When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations…
Deuteronomy 12:9
What is in your mind shall never happen — the thought, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the tribes of the countries…’
Ezekiel 20:32
Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you…
Leviticus 20:23
This essay was re-posted with permission from Andrew Haack’s blog. Andrew is a spirit-filled sage of great wisdom and a world-renown purveyor of good news and bad jokes. You can find his work on his blog or follow him on Twitter!
Secular Humanism is the religion of the world. This is what shaped our public education system. Here is a link to the Human Manifesto 1 and if you read it and look at the people who signed it, you should get a chill down your back. Whenever we promote solutions other than Christ and His atoning work on the cross to deal with the calamities of the culture in which we live, we are promoting secular humanism.