Cultural Christianity in America

As of late, I’ve been thinking a lot more about the Christian life; reading Christian authors, studying about old theologians and learning about historic Christianity and what it has believed through the ages. Now, I know some of you may be thinking this sounds rather boring… and believe me, I would understand (having been right there too quite recently). Yet, nothing has been more exciting and vitalizing to me that to better understand the ancient truths of the Faith. However I do admit, this is something quite out-of-step with the current pace and focus in our society. I wonder why…

One of the things that have become quite clear to me is the all-encompassing nature of deception that is in the world because of sin and the devil. Scripture talks about the work of Satan being;

“[D]isplayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”(2nd Ths 2:9-12)

Now that’s a strong passage. Nevertheless, wherever man is, he is being deceived – all the time, and from so many sides. There are so many blind leaders and teachers today multiplied by those who unsuspectingly follow at their own peril. However, nowhere has this realization been more appalling than to see its devastating reality within the Christian church.

Having been a Christian for quite some time (perhaps as long as I can remember) I’ve learned to “say ‘no’ to the things of this world” and instead to identify with the things that are “Christian.” In this way we Christians tend to draw lines, and put up barriers. There are certain places where we have our defenses up and are ready and wary of the enemy. And there are other areas where we let our guard down; where we feel safe.

A good illustration of this in my mind is the analogy of two teams: Say you’re playing a pickup game of basketball. You begin by getting your bearings; who’s on your team, who’s on the other team? You look at faces, shirt color, height etc. Pretty soon you get a good idea. You know who you can trust with the ball and who’s going to try and steal it from you. Thus, when you end up passing the ball to the wrong team… well, it’s embarrassing to say the least. I suppose scoring in the wrong basket is even worse.

Similarly a Christian in America develops a trust regarding things that are “Christian” e.g. music, writers, teachers, preachers, etc. What has struck me with huge force over the last half-year or so has been the realization that my team (Christianity in America) has been critically compromised. The deception that is out in the world has worked its way into the church and the breech runs deep. All this time I’ve been identifying with a cultural Christianity not realizing that there are wrong players on the team. Indeed, as one modern theologian, Michael Horton, calls it; “Christless Christianity.” Needless to say the dividing lines I took for granted in my naivety ceased to exist.

This was a huge realization to me. It became vividly clear how much discernment is needed even within the context of Christianity today. Scripture says to;

“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1Tim 4:16)

So, this led to more study and as I’ve noted before, it has been a wonderful expedition; I couldn’t recommend in more highly. However, the more I searched into it, the more things slowly would start making sense. Looking through the lens of historic Christianity helps one betters understand Christianity today. One also sees how the same lies that have assailed the church for millennia are merely resurfacing in a different flavor and being offered up en mass as “new insight.” Before going into any of these deceptions, let me just end for now with a scriptural admonition from the apostle Paul.

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom 12:2)

- Grace and peace