Special plea for tolerance: Each time I finish a round of meetings I return rejoicing in the goodness and blessing of God. However, I also return more disturbed than ever concerning the present state of the body of Christ. I would rather nourish than rebuke, but I am forced back to this theme. Please understand. Though truly motivated by love, what follows is an urgent plea for Christians. If you do not know Christ personally, this newsletter will carry little meaning for you, but you do need to settle that issue, so contact me right away for some more biblical encouragement!
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| The Judas Goat |
Those who have been following our ministry have endured many warnings regarding the “Bridgers." Bridgers are folks in our own circles who are selling off our assets of sound doctrinal teaching and definitive biblical practices in order to “win” the masses.
I was predictably pleased and blessed by a recent posting in the [i]Crosstalk Blog warning us regarding the increasing presence of Judas goats among God’s people.
According to Wikipedia, “A Judas goat is a trained goat used at a slaughterhouse and in general animal herding. The Judas goat is trained to associate with sheep or cattle, leading them to a specific destination. In stockyards, a Judas goat will lead sheep to slaughter, while its own life is spared. Judas goats are also used to lead other animals to specific pens and on to trucks.
In the words of Crosstalk’s Ingrid Schlueter, “The role of the Bridger is that of the Judas Goat, famed for attracting sheep to slaughter. The Judas Goat is not the actual instrument of death. It attracts the sheep to the place where it will be slaughtered.”
Notwithstanding the intentions or motives on the part of our leaders, it is time to acknowledge that 2010 was a banner year for Judas Goats. Bridger goats will remain as long as the souls of believers are not being nourished and fed the true and living Word of God. Because these Bridger goats will not go away in 2011, we would like to remind you of just a few to watch out for.
In order to attract the non-suspecting Catholic or Lutheran into his service, he blithely asserts: [iii]“Here at ____________, we take communion every weekend. You may know this as the Lord’s Supper, or Mass.” This pastor is not ignorant regarding his statements. After commending the younger generation for its return to liturgical worship, he declares: [iv]“The entertainment-driven 80's and 90's have left believers thirsty for deep, soul-ish nourishment. Maybe we can learn something from the Roman Catholic tradition, without getting metaphysical about it: maybe the idea of a daily communion is not a bad idea. I, for one, would welcome the opportunity. “[Underline mine]
Christian friend, you are already enjoying the presence of Christ within you and you will not find it in the Mass, the Eucharist, or even, the Lord’s Table. While the Lord’s Table is a wonderful ordinance designed to re-center us all on what matters, you will not find His mystical presence there because He already dwells within you. A liturgical, sacramental celebration of the Lord’s Table will not nourish your soul. Further, the Mass is a table of idols, a table of demons. It has lead untold millions directly to a Christless eternity. We admonish our brother to cast out the leaven at his own table. (1 Cor. 5:7).
The disobedient pastor cited above is not alone. An army of Judas goats are echoing his sentiments. Expect more in 2011.
Consider the ever present Community Worship Goat.
Fabulously synchronized worship music and videos do not a worship service make. Nor does worship synced to the local community or culture (Currently: the New Silent Generation or Generation Z). While community focused worship may gratify the emotions for a short period, it never nourishes the soul. Such [v]“redemptive worship” is now so watered down and tepid, that it offers the listener little more than pop psychology mixed with a thin sprinkling of the gospel
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- Redemptive Worship is disobedient worship. Worship done any other way than God’s way is disobedient. Much of today’s worship shares far more in the tenor of Cain’s worship than Abel’s. (2 Cor. 6:17)
- Redemptive Worship implies that all men of all persuasions may worship God together.
- Redemptive Worship satisfies the worship tendency in all men and most often leads to a false hope. Unbelieving men want to believe that they have pleased God through their worship and we contribute to that false assumption by pandering to them. It is more important to the unbeliever that he worships than who he worships!
- Redemptive worship is neither edifying nor soul nourishing. It is an emotive placebo.
And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. Ezek. 33:31-32 KJV
Consider the newer Contemplative Goat.
When we saw folks beginning to weary of entertainment based, seeker sensitive ministries, we dared to hope that folks would return to churches which offered balanced biblically based teaching and evangelistic ministries. It was not to be
.
Instead, we are seeing pastors and churches move in droves toward the new spirituality. We have begun looking within for a more lasting spiritual reality than we found in group worship. On the surface, this seems desirable, but in reality, it results in the pursuit of a false (self-focused) worship experience which is not truly on things above (Col. 3:1-3). New (yet very old) worship techniques are being retrieved from spiritual aliens (Eph. 2:2-3, 12), from pre-modern apostate circles, from eastern religions and from Rome. They are being imported on a mass scale into evangelical Christianity. [vi]The list of evangelicals who are involved (from toe dipping to full immersion) reads like the Yellow Pages.
The Spiritual Formation and Contemplative Prayer movement uses all the right language and appeals to the starving, thirsting soul, who has never learned the simplicity of an abiding walk with Christ. Confronted with their own failure and emptiness they seek new plateaus of spiritual awareness and enlightenment using all the failed methods apostates and religionists have used for years. Don’t go there (Eph. 4:18). You will be swimming in polluted waters and you will become infected.
Christian friend, don’t fall prey to this movement. It will not nourish your soul. It will not edify you. It will not connect you mystically to others. It will leave you poor and blind and naked. Only Christ can satisfy your soul. Master John 14 and 15 and live it! (2 Peter 1:3)
Consider the Affirmational Goat.
Again, this shepherd preaches a generally sound gospel, but there is not so much as one negative bone in his body. He is the ultimate affirmer. On the rare occasion when he must rebuke, he focuses his attention on believers (most likely “legalistic” brethren who do not share his broad views.) I personally know of pastors in our Baptist and Bible churches who have not mentioned a single apostate in five or ten years of ministry! And yes, I rebuke them (2 Tim. 4:3, Tit. 1:9; 2:1). They have as much zeal for rebuking apostasy and doctrinal compromise as does a dead dog. Above all, they would never cross the thin blue line and rebuke a fellow pastor for false teaching or disobedient practices. Such selective, positive preaching does not nourish the soul. Like sugar, taken alone, it reduces the body’s immunity to infection. A good spiritual diet includes both sweet and savory.
Such pastors truly think they are loving, but they do not love the sheep. Rather, they love being loved and are bonded to their peers because they, themselves, are not secure in Christ’s love (Gal. 1:10). A true sheep lover nourishes Christ’s sheep and edifies him so that he might withstand the winds of error and false doctrine rampant in our day. The pastor who does anything less is a hireling. (John 10:12. Prov. 9:25). God gave pastors:
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: Eph. 4:14-15 KJV
Finally, consider the “Photo Op” Goat.
Like the others, this Judas goat is” essentially” fundamental, but he loves to bask in the glow of the world’s luminaries. He naively thinks the enemies of Christ love him (Gal. 4:16, 17). He glories in recruiting God’s enemies for his personal ministry cause! How may we recognize this Judas goat? Again, in the words of Schlueter:
So while a Bridger will not stand in a church and teach from his pulpit or at conferences that there is no literal hell or that the substitutionary penal atonement of Christ was Divine child abuse, he will favorably quote from the books of those who do teach that. Or he might ask a Wolf to endorse his latest book on the back.
The Bridger will speak at conferences with these same Wolves and have photos taken with them. He will quote, selectively, from the Wolves and throw in the qualifier that he “doesn’t agree with everything the guy teaches or writes”, but he has found so and so’s book on leadership really helpful… This is increasingly the way error is disseminated.” [Underscore mine.]
Please be aware that this practice is becoming common in our own circles. When we quote unsaved men as spiritual authorities we show our own spiritual ignorance, we mock Christ who does not need their assistance, and we fail to teach Christ’s lambs how to discern truth from error. We mock our holy calling and profane our sacred duties.
So, who cares anyway?
This News & Nuggets is not really about the Judas goats, it’s about each of us. It’s about those of us who are regularly attending churches where we observe this kind of behavior and practice. Will 2011 represent another year of slowly slipping and sliding toward even more doctrinal error and spiritual oblivion? Will we separate our names and support from this kind of behavior and seek out biblically sound pastors and defenders of the faith? The chances are, most won’t, because they are already enjoying some perceived benefit (… a benefit that is not really nourishing their souls) by attending one of these churches.
In case you plan to stay in your disobedient church, here are a few patent answers I have received from friends in the past year or two who have long since made their choices to endure to the end:
1. We love our vibrant pastor!
2. We love the worship and the music!
3. People get saved in our church!
4. Our teenagers love the youth activities!
5. No church is perfect, and, above all…
6. We would not be caught dead in some small legalistic church.
Some have chosen their poison and sleep on (Eph. 5:14), but know that in the end neither they, nor their loved ones will be nourished. When they begin withering away because there was no root, we will see that the fast growing seed is not always the healthy one (Matt. 4:16,17). Houses (and churches) build on sand may have the best view, for awhile. Start getting nourished while you still have the strength to make the change. Find a solid, Bible preaching church, put up with its lack of resources, and throw your support behind it. Then, get on with the task of bringing folks to Christ in these last days!
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? Jer. 5:30-31 30 kjv
[ii] Editorial Note: Anyone who thinks the emergent church is dead must be locked up in a library somewhere. The core elements of emergence are thriving. These include a love for all things postmodern, and, of course, ancient liturgical values, persistent shape shifting through label changes and redefinition, and foolish rhetoric that gets the reader nowhere. As there never was an “official” emergent church, it can never be declared “officially dead.” More importantly, it will continue to remain with us in one of its many forms for years to come.
[iii] Sunday Bulletin cover at Adventure Christian Church, Roseville, CA
[v] A historical note: In some circles Redemptive Worship implies that there is a sacramental quality in worship. (See notes above.) Historically, Redemptive Worship has deep roots in some veins of Reformed theology. In our context, it is the contention that worship should be a public experience for both believer and unbeliever alike and that its sacramental overtones may thus be used by the Holy Spirit to draw men to Christ. It is based on the contention that even Israel left Egypt with a mixed multitude, and that our Savior clearly asserted that we are to allow the tares to grow along with the wheat. Redemptive worship gained much impetus in early America by being paired with the Halfway Covenant. The end result was the destructive liberalization of American Christianity which almost buried us in the social gospel prior to the turn of the twentieth century. Early fundamentalism (the movement which rose up and, by God’s grace, saved America) was known for conducting Morning Worship Services and Evening Evangelistic Services. They kept the lines clearly drawn (The Lord’s table, for example, would never, under any circumstances, be served to an unbeliever.) In our desire to win the lost, we have combined the two into one service. The Bible does not forbid the unbeliever from happening in on the believer’s fellowship, but the Bible never recommends or encourages this conduct.
[vi] Consider this resource: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/Colleges.htm
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