Posted on 01/23/2002 6:38:27 PM PST by OrthodoxPresbyterian
Why do so many churches seem to be all light and no heat? Rev. Brian Abshire has an interesting—if extremely unpopular—answer posted at Chalcedon, “Invasion of the Pod People.”
The upshot: “I suspect, that the real problem facing the American church is not a lack of intellectual ammunition, but rather something far deeper and more serious; a lack of regenerate hearts. It is quite possible that the reason why so many ‘Christians’ hate and fear the truth, adopt deviant theology, practice heterodox ethics and mire themselves in subjective religious experiences, is because, at rock bottom, their hearts have never been regenerated.”
Agreeing that a huge swath of broad evangelicalism is not actually saved may be a bit much for some to swallow. It’s a bit much for me to swallow. But think of this: If the church is floundering so badly that a upstanding chap like Abshire begins to assume that many in the churches are simply not saved, then maybe — just maybe — we’re not acting like we’re saved! If that is so, we need to get our acts together. And soon.
God is not generally pleased with folks putting on airs of salvation while living lives like the unregenerate. In fact, he hates it, and being on God’s bad side is not a good place to be.
Check it out: Invasion of the Pod People, Chalcedon
Invasion of the Pod People
Brian M. Abshire
January 18, 2002
For the past twenty odd years (and some of them have been very odd), I have been writing and lecturing about the tragedy, futility and sheer insanity of the broad evangelical church in America. My doctoral dissertation, while on the surface a treatise on the sociological effects of Puritan theology on the formation of distinctive American cultural values, was in reality an attempt to examine academically what I saw personally every Sunday morning: the failure of modern American Evangelicalism.
My Great Miscalculation
Throughout this study, and all the years of ministering in various churches and organizations, I made a serious, but understandable miscalculation — I assumed that the real problem was ignorance; i.e., that my poor brothers suffered from a truncated and distorted view of the Christian life. If only they could be exposed to a consistent, coherent and fully Biblical worldview, then they would abandon the irrelevant mush they had been fed all their lives and adopt a more Biblical form of the Faith! Personal lives would be transformed, families reformed, the church invigorated, and maybe, just maybe, God might grant us true reformation for the nation.
And, for the past fifteen years, I have tried to find ways around the buzzwords that offend so many, to break down difficult intellectual concepts into bite-sized chunks that someone without a Ph.D. could understand, and to give people a taste for the ebb and flow of Christian history so they could get a “feel” for what our Reformed ancestors had accomplished. My hope was that once broad evangelical Christians discovered the power of a fully orbed Christian Faith, they would abandon their defeatist compromises with humanism and join the battle to restore Christian civilization.
And it seems, I failed as often as I succeeded. Oh, many people loved the academics, flocked to my lectures, and really seemed to love a complete Christian worldview, until they realized that something more than simply adopting a new theoretical paradigm was required. It seems that the minute that many “Christians” understood that this new worldview actually required them to change in one area or another, I went from being a hero to a bum! And lest anyone think this is just my problem, please sit down and talk with your favorite pastor, elder, writer or speaker. Repeatedly, the same message comes through: people not only hate, but will actively persecute, men who insist that we have to live in conformity with the Scriptures.
The Real Problem
I suspect, that the real problem facing the American church is not a lack of intellectual ammunition, but rather something far deeper and more serious; a lack of regenerate hearts. It is quite possible that the reason why so many “Christians” hate and fear the truth, adopt deviant theology, practice heterodox ethics and mire themselves in subjective religious experiences, is because, at rock bottom, their hearts have never been regenerated.
Think with me for a moment. Social scientists have been studying the mechanics of “conversion” for well over a century. Men are converted all the time; cults and pagan groups “convert” men to their godless religions regularly. Other men “convert” to the Communist or Nazi parties, still others to various humanistic philosophies like Darwinism or Naturalism. Men regularly “convert” from a “religious” worldview to a “secular” one: according to some studies, about 70% or more broad evangelical Christian children will do so by the age of 25. One can scientifically study the process wherein a person undergoes a life-changing experience, adopts a new worldview and develops the values, beliefs and behaviors associated with it.
Social scientists, of course, rule out a priori the supernatural; therefore, they attempt to study genuine conversions by the same methodology as they do “naturalistic” ones. Therefore, few Christians have found much interest in examining their research studies because we assume, a priori, that God does supernaturally regenerate wicked hearts. Therefore, the naturalistic mechanics are simply irrelevant because only God can convert a sinner.
However, in effect, the Christian theologian, and the secular social scientist are both correct (from a certain perspective), because they are talking about two different things. Regeneration is a change of heart, while conversion, psychologically speaking, is simply a change of the mind.
Admittedly, conversion of the heart should result in the mind’s being changed, or in Scriptural terms, “renewed” (cf. Eph 4: 23). From the heart of a man flows every other aspect of His being. Therefore, if a man’s heart is changed, so also should his beliefs, values and behaviors (cf. Eph 4:18ff). Therefore, we can and should speak about a “converted life.” But there are conversions, and there are conversions!
In other words, you can change a man’s mind, without necessarily changing his heart. Many well-known, time-tested and effective means of changing a person’s beliefs and behaviors have nothing to do with changing his inner nature; the Chinese proved that to Allied POW’s during the Korean War. Numerous 10-step programs out there do have a remarkable success record. Furthermore, over the past 150 years since the rise of revivalism, there has been a tremendous amount of practical experimentation going on inside the evangelical church to “sell” the gospel; i.e., to get men to make a profession of faith. Then, using principles of conformity behavior, modeling, etc., the church can then shape and mold a person’s external behaviors to resemble some aspects of Biblical character.
Such a “convert” may well look much like the real thing on the outside. He is a person whose social habits will mirror those of his peers. He is likely to find great personal peace and comfort from his private religious experience. He will normally live a self-controlled and respectable life just so long as the social support structures remain to keep him on the “straight and narrow.”
But, he is not really “converted,” because his heart has not been changed. He still thinks from a godless and Christless presuppositional perspective. He does not really value the things of God, nor desire the things of God, because his heart is still spiritually dead. I acknowledge that, for the most part, such a man is better off than his self-consciously consistent pagan peers. He is apt to refrain from drunkenness, immorality and vice. He is likely to hold down a job and provide for his family. Often, he is a “nice” guy (which many people confuse with being godly). But the essence of his life is still his own subjective, religious experience, not submission to Almighty God.
The Reason for the Apostasy
Now, here is the hypothesis for investigation: what if over the past 150 years, especially since the great Baptist and Methodist revivals overturned the Reformed consensus in this country, legions of these unregenerate men have entered the church? Disguised as sheep, they are really goats. Would this not help greatly to understand the widespread apostasy so common in broad Evangelicalism? Think about this: in the opening decades of the twentieth century, every mainline denomination apostatized into heresy by adopting theological liberalism. How could so many different churches, from so many different backgrounds and theological perspectives all go wrong within just a short time, unless their members were in fact largely unregenerate?
While we cannot read a man’s heart, we can read his fruit; Jesus was quite specific here — bad trees produce bad fruit (Mt. 7:17-22). Good trees produce good fruit. Therefore, “by their fruits you will know them.” And sadly, the modern American evangelical church has produced some fairly nasty fruit over the past 100 years. The most successful churches seem to be the ones most willing to compromise on Biblical truth by offering a “threat-free” gospel. Immorality runs rampant through many evangelical churches (quietly covered up or ignored by most evangelicals). Many, many, “Christians” hate and fear the Law of God with an unholy passion and are willing to lie, cheat, pervert justice, slander and destroy those with whom they disagree. Too many “Christian” men are spiritual wimps dominated by shrill, acerbic and vicious women, who tear churches apart with frightening regularity.
Let me suggest that these people are not Christians, no matter how “orthodox” their profession may be. They are pod people, like in those cheesy old 50’s movies, where aliens look like, talk like and act like human beings, but are really something nasty and sinister. They are among us, they fellowship with us, sometimes they preach from our pulpits, teach in our seminaries and serve on our elder boards. And the pod people threaten the stability, prosperity and future of the church.
I would argue that the key to spotting pod people is whether they really love and obey God’s Law (cf. Jn 14:15, 21, 1 Jn 3:24, etc.). For example, social pressure may keep a man from adultery, theft or murder; but how about those sins that are almost universally practiced in the average church? What about those who gossip, slander, backbite, whisper and bear false witness? Scripture says that they are just as likely to be pod people, as the humanist, the fornicator and the apostate (cf. Rom. 1:28-32, 2 Tim. 3:1-5, etc.). Of course, all Christians sin, but if the Spirit of God has regenerated a person’s heart, then he will repent of that sin. He will not justify, rationalize or deny; he will repent and take the proper corrective action. But these sins go unrebuked, every day, in churches all across America.
And thus, the pod people continue to tear apart the Church of Christ with lies, slander, innuendo, creating divisions, factions and schisms. We are so busy dealing with the mess they make of the church that we have no time left for evangelism, discipleship, restoring marriages and families, and doing the work of the ministry. If the church is to survive, flourish and disciple the nations, we will have to start by cleaning out the pod people.
Yup. BTW, while this Reformed pastor's harsh words for the "methodist and baptist revivals" might be taken as a stab at the Baptist communion, I choose to charitably regard it as a reference to the kind of "revival" that was going on... a rejection of the Historic doctrines of each communion (Methodists departing from Old Anglican Calvinism and "New School Baptists" departing from Reformed Baptist Calvinism).
I choose to read the author the same way. Today's Reformed Baptists would prefer, say, Asahel Nettleton's revival work over Charles Finney's any day.
If I split my winnings with you, we both will have to repent of the sin of gambling and taking ill-gotten gain derived therefrom.
In any event, it's better than having an an angel Moroni burned on my front lawn at 2 a.m.....
{8-)
Radical, eh?
But for now, we dwell among a people of unclean lips, many of whom falsely believe that they are Saved, and oft-times we are not warning them as we ought.
...are the Halls of the Professing "church".
I didn't get the impression that this guy's article was about the "once saved, always saved" issue. I'm not saying that you think it is, but it is a different issue. Furthermore, defining the problem that way doesn't change my basic question. If the explanations of the gospel that people are receiving are doctrinally correct, why do they make a one-time "sinner's prayer" without substance instead of a true repentance and confession? The thrust of his article still seems to be: "We're telling them all the right things. Why don't the people of the church do what they are supposed to?" My question remains: If they aren't doing what they are supposed to do, how can you be so sure that you are teaching the right things?
WFTR
Bill
Amd the main reason for this dangerous omission is the fact that most churches are Arminian. This creates the misunderstandings which OP was referrimg to.
In order for you to have "won", you must prove that praying for someone is considered bashing.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.Now, when our church goes by and annoints the beams of that temple with oil and prays that God would break the delusion, we are not bashing or being hateful, we are praying that God will command the light to shine in your darkened hearts. Now, you are free to maintain that it is hateful if you like, but I would declare that such a position on your part is just plain bigoted. It is no different than when "black" people behave in a bigoted way around "white" people for no other reason than they are "white" and they must be bigots. So, I would submit that 1 post doesn't qualify as anything, especially given what was said.
"You're going straight to hell if you aren't baptised today!" -- What oddity. This dogma -- the Roman doctrine of baptismal regeneration -- is one which Calvinists have ever staunchly opposed.
The guy, a Calvinist who seemed to revere Calvin more than God, didn't like being told that what God has to say carries more weight.
It is certain that this fellow was no Calvinist, if he affirmed the dogma which you have attributed to him. He did not "revere" Calvin; he frankly opposed Calvin, and preached a dogma (baptismal regeneration) which Calvin called "fatal and pestilential".
If this was his dogma, he had not even read Calvin -- even as many who object to Calvin, have never read his writings either.
May the Lord grant eternal peace to whoever it was that recently died and left you in charge of my salvation....
If he endorsed Baptismal Regeneration, then Calvinist Predestination most certainly did not have "a real hold on the guy". Calvinist Predestination admits zero incorporation of human works (even including the divinely-ordained sacraments of Baptism and Communion) in the ordination of the Divine Election of Predestination. To advocate a theory of Baptismal Regeneration placed this fellow in frank opposition to the Calvinist doctrine of Predestination.
So neither he, nor you, would be in the "good company" of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Most of those hallowed saints died in defense of the Calvinist doctrine of Predestination. Realize that the fundamental reason why the Reformers broke communion with Rome was over the doctrine of Absolute Predestination. That was the fundamental doctrine which Foxe's Martyrs were dying for!!
The Reformation was fought, first and foremost, because mighty Men of God realized that if one honestly inquired what the Bible taught on the subject of Predestination... the only doctrine which one could admit as Biblical was the Calvinist doctrine thereof.
If not for Calvinist Predestination, we'd all be Romanists. At a fundamental level, that was what the Reformation was about. It was the only Doctrine which justified breaking communion with Rome. Why? Because it concerned the nature of Grace itself... the very heart of the Gospel. IF and only IF Rome had gotten THAT wrong -- and had strayed from preaching the Biblical doctrine of Absolute Predestination -- was the Reformation justified. Every other "offense" of Rome was an ecclesial offense (offenses concerning the proper government of the Church) which could be handled within the Church without breaking communion. Only the doctrine of Predestination presented an insurmountable disagreement between Rome and the Reformers... and justified the necessity of a Break in Communion.
Those who disagree with the Calvinist doctrine of Predestination have no ecclesiologically valid reason to be out of communion with Rome.
If you do not know this, you've got a lot to learn (I say in complete and charitable honesty).
Sounds like he was a louse.
Not to worry; from the Wentworth Letter:
Persecution has not stopped the progress of truth, but has only added fuel to the flame, it has spread with increasing rapidity. Proud of the cause which they have espoused, and conscious of our innocence, and of the truth of their system, amidst calumny and reproach, have the Elders of this Church gone forth, and planted the Gospel in almost every state in the Union; it has penetrated our cities, it has spread over our villages, and has caused thousands of our intelligent, noble, and patriotic citizens to obey its divine mandates, and be governed by its sacred truths. It has also spread into England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, where, in the year 1840, a few of our missionaries were sent, and over five thousand joined the Standard of Truth; there are numbers now joining in every land.Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Germany, Palestine, New Holland, Australia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.
But, of course, you already know this. ;-)
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