If the church matters, which I believe it does, then how do we proceed? Where do we draw the line? The church is to be holy, yet invade the world with the Gospel. Christ did this when He became flesh and dwelt among us. Yet He retained His holiness. So here is another thought:
Jeremiah 10:2 "Do not learn the ways of the nations."
Exodus 23:13 "Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips."
I think we are heading in the wrong direction. It's taken me awhile to figure this out, but God has been patiently relentless, pounding it into my heart as He allows me to work through it. He is getting me to a place of holy separation.
Our church culture is, in the name of evangelism, embracing and assimilating into the culture of the world. I have piggy-backed onto this movement for many years - hey, who doesn't want to save the lost - and I think I'm wrong. I can feel in my own walk that I'm wrong, as I struggle with the effects of this working through my own spiritual life. Simply put - I am not of this world anymore, and when I get into it, it gets into me, and I feel completely out of sorts as a Christian. No good to anyone, including myself. Jeremiah 10:2 states, we are not to be learning their 'ways.' Their way of life - their 'gods' - should not even be on our lips. Ephesians 5:12 says that it is 'shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret' - so why would we ever tolerate it, never mind enter into it?
When you learn their ways, you quickly enter into their means, their intentions - and ultimately into their true heart. This is an ugly place where we really should not be dwelling. We think separation causes us to lose our ability to testify in this world. Wrong. Assimilation causes us to lose our ability to testify.
I know that this is an unpopular thought in the new church movements. Believe me, I've bought into the impact by assimilation mindset in the past and the fruit has tasted awful. I've seen two negative consequences:
1. My mind, being saturated with these worldly things under the guise of more effective evangelism, has become a stagnant pool. I know, emerging proponents will say that this is my fault and they may be correct - but it is what it is.
2. The 'salvations' have been very shallow and program/people-dependent. As long as you're being like them, they'll listen - but they leave upon the first sign of anything that's intolerant or goes against their own feelings or core beliefs. This is because they haven't abandoned anything to reach for holiness, they've had their way of life catered to.
I do not say this lightly, because I am desperate for the lost to be saved. I say this after years of study and personal experience - but mostly I say this after feeling the pressure from God to allow Him to fully separate me from this world - so that I can be a better witness of the Truth. Please don't get me wrong - I'm not saying separate from the world and focus solely on your own personal holiness. I'm saying that if we strive for personal holiness, we will have a true picture of God to offer to the world - not simply a neutered version of Him.
5 comments:
I think you are right on here
Yes!
I didn't mean to be anonymous
By the word "learn" (as stated in Jeremiah 10:2), I think there is a level of participation assumed. How else can you truly learn something without personally participating in it? If this is true, then there is a difference between "learning" and "witnessing." If you remain a conscious witness to the world, without participation in the ways of the lost, I would argue you are separated where it matters, but not "fully" separated. You will still "learn of" the ways of the lost, but you will not personally "learn" them.
That's a great point, Dan. The concept of learning can be a little vague. Learning and assimilation are not necessarily the same thing. My concern is that we sometimes deceive ourselves, saying we are only "observing" when in our hearts we are embracing. It's a very fine line.
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