Why Are We So Much Like the World? - Dr. Danny Purvis
Why are we so much like the world?
-Dr. Danny Purvis
I saw a study this week that has not left my brain. I have not been able to shake it. If you’re wondering if the study revealed good news or bad news…I will end your angst now. It revealed bad news. I mean really, really bad news. And lest you are tempted to dismiss the results because it reflects the realities of the Church of England (insert denominational joke here), let me tell you that I have seen the same incremental creep in the so-called evangelical churches in America as well. Let me give you the background of the study.
The respondents to the study were 1,185 currently serving Anglican priests. For the sake of attribution, I got this information from an article in Decision Magazine. You can access the article here https://decisionmagazine.com/many-church-of-england-clergy-reject-biblical-teaching-on-marriage-sexuality/ So before we get into some of the most relevant details related to this depressing study, let me remind you that the respondents are not the average, everyday church goer. The participants in this study are clergy…paid, professional clergy. The ones responsible for shepherding the flock and teaching God’s Word. These are the folks who, Biblically speaking, should know better. Keep that in mind as we go through these horrendous results. Here are the most distressing tidbits form that study.
It was reported that 53.4% of clergy said that priests should be free to conduct same-sex weddings. It also was revealed that 62.6% think that the church should not teach that pre-marital sex is wrong. The study goes on to say that 64.5% of clergy said the church “should alter its teaching that homosexuality is incompatible with Scripture”. And 63.3% wanted to remove any ban on homosexual priests from serving in the Anglican church.
Again, lest you think that these results are only significant because they emanate from a very secular nation (that’s true) and a denomination not very well known for its sound, Biblical doctrine (this is also true), please know that the “evangelical” churches in America are well down the road to the same mentality. For many Believers that are serious about their faith and theology, there is of course a plethora of denominations we sort of like to make fun of. We do that due to their, umm, sometimes questionable theology. We’ve heard the jokes and the quips. In fact, we have probably made some of those jokes and uttered some of those quips (my sincere apologies to the Methodists).
But the studies that I have seen with the rank-and-file members of evangelical churches and denominations are often very similar to the results I saw in this study. I will tell you, there was a phrase in the article that I quoted above that is the foundational issue related to these ideals. Above I quoted that the conclusion was the church should “alter its teaching”. That is a very telling statement. It did not say it should alter the Bible. It said the church should alter its teaching of the Bible. Whenever we hear a statement like that, the absolute first question we should ask is…why. In other words…is there ever a time a church should alter its teaching of God’s Word? The short answer is…yes.
If a church has realized that it has engaged in false teaching. If it has determined that what it has been teaching is in direct contradiction to the Word of God…then by all means that church, denomination, movement should immediately alter its teaching. That is the Biblical, smart, and necessary thing to do. But that is not the case related to the conclusions of this study. The 64% of clergy that said the church should “alter its teaching” does not want to alter it because they have been in error. They want to alter it because the culture doesn’t like it. That is the crux of this entire study. That’s it. That is all there is to it. These clergy want to engage in false teaching because the world doesn’t like the true teaching.
I got some news for them. The world is NEVER going to like Biblical teaching. Ever! The world is never going to like Believers because the world hates Christ (John 15:18). Following Christ is not easy. In fact, it is very difficult. Much of that difficulty lies in the fact that we will stand for and believe things the world will mock us and hate us for. So many “Believers” that advocate for a more conciliatory approach to matters of sexuality in the culture often do so for a very simple, but misguided reason. They don’t want to sound mean. It’s mean to teach the truth to these otherwise nice people. But I gotta tell you. I must have a different definition of what “mean” is.
Because I cannot think of a meaner and more hateful thing to do to another human being than to tell them they are (spiritually) alright when they are NOT (spiritually) alright. To do that…to deemphasize sin and let people believe it is ok with God that they are doing so should be anathema to a true Believer. Do not misunderstand me here. I am not saying we need to denigrate people who engage in activities like this. To force our view on them when they do not want to hear them is just plain rude. If they don’t want to hear it, I will not talk to them about at all. After all, that is between them and God.
However, to go too far the other way and openly proclaim that God is ok with sin when we know He is not is incredibly dangerous and uncaring. The single biggest mistake we can make with ourselves and with others is to get comfortable with sin. If there is one thing the Bible states clearly over and over again is that sin is bad. It is very bad. We cannot get comfortable with it in our own life. We cannot contribute to anyone else being comfortable with it in their life. Our task is very simple: Just proclaim God’s Word. All of it. And do so without concern as to what the world will say about it. I can tell you what the world thinks about it. To the world God’s Word is foolishness and a stumbling block (1 Cor. 1:23).
If we want to reach the world…can someone please explain to me why the best way to do that is to be more like the world. That’s not strategy, it is insanity. We need to provide an alternative to the world. In a world of darkness, you don’t add to the darkness. You shine the light. In a world that is dead in sin, you don’t keep beating the dead corpse. You show the way to life. In a world of lies, you don’t double down on the lies. You tell God’s truth. And if we do not do that…if we alter our teaching because the world doesn’t want to hear it…then shame on us.
-Dr. Danny Purvis
I saw a study this week that has not left my brain. I have not been able to shake it. If you’re wondering if the study revealed good news or bad news…I will end your angst now. It revealed bad news. I mean really, really bad news. And lest you are tempted to dismiss the results because it reflects the realities of the Church of England (insert denominational joke here), let me tell you that I have seen the same incremental creep in the so-called evangelical churches in America as well. Let me give you the background of the study.
The respondents to the study were 1,185 currently serving Anglican priests. For the sake of attribution, I got this information from an article in Decision Magazine. You can access the article here https://decisionmagazine.com/many-church-of-england-clergy-reject-biblical-teaching-on-marriage-sexuality/ So before we get into some of the most relevant details related to this depressing study, let me remind you that the respondents are not the average, everyday church goer. The participants in this study are clergy…paid, professional clergy. The ones responsible for shepherding the flock and teaching God’s Word. These are the folks who, Biblically speaking, should know better. Keep that in mind as we go through these horrendous results. Here are the most distressing tidbits form that study.
It was reported that 53.4% of clergy said that priests should be free to conduct same-sex weddings. It also was revealed that 62.6% think that the church should not teach that pre-marital sex is wrong. The study goes on to say that 64.5% of clergy said the church “should alter its teaching that homosexuality is incompatible with Scripture”. And 63.3% wanted to remove any ban on homosexual priests from serving in the Anglican church.
Again, lest you think that these results are only significant because they emanate from a very secular nation (that’s true) and a denomination not very well known for its sound, Biblical doctrine (this is also true), please know that the “evangelical” churches in America are well down the road to the same mentality. For many Believers that are serious about their faith and theology, there is of course a plethora of denominations we sort of like to make fun of. We do that due to their, umm, sometimes questionable theology. We’ve heard the jokes and the quips. In fact, we have probably made some of those jokes and uttered some of those quips (my sincere apologies to the Methodists).
But the studies that I have seen with the rank-and-file members of evangelical churches and denominations are often very similar to the results I saw in this study. I will tell you, there was a phrase in the article that I quoted above that is the foundational issue related to these ideals. Above I quoted that the conclusion was the church should “alter its teaching”. That is a very telling statement. It did not say it should alter the Bible. It said the church should alter its teaching of the Bible. Whenever we hear a statement like that, the absolute first question we should ask is…why. In other words…is there ever a time a church should alter its teaching of God’s Word? The short answer is…yes.
If a church has realized that it has engaged in false teaching. If it has determined that what it has been teaching is in direct contradiction to the Word of God…then by all means that church, denomination, movement should immediately alter its teaching. That is the Biblical, smart, and necessary thing to do. But that is not the case related to the conclusions of this study. The 64% of clergy that said the church should “alter its teaching” does not want to alter it because they have been in error. They want to alter it because the culture doesn’t like it. That is the crux of this entire study. That’s it. That is all there is to it. These clergy want to engage in false teaching because the world doesn’t like the true teaching.
I got some news for them. The world is NEVER going to like Biblical teaching. Ever! The world is never going to like Believers because the world hates Christ (John 15:18). Following Christ is not easy. In fact, it is very difficult. Much of that difficulty lies in the fact that we will stand for and believe things the world will mock us and hate us for. So many “Believers” that advocate for a more conciliatory approach to matters of sexuality in the culture often do so for a very simple, but misguided reason. They don’t want to sound mean. It’s mean to teach the truth to these otherwise nice people. But I gotta tell you. I must have a different definition of what “mean” is.
Because I cannot think of a meaner and more hateful thing to do to another human being than to tell them they are (spiritually) alright when they are NOT (spiritually) alright. To do that…to deemphasize sin and let people believe it is ok with God that they are doing so should be anathema to a true Believer. Do not misunderstand me here. I am not saying we need to denigrate people who engage in activities like this. To force our view on them when they do not want to hear them is just plain rude. If they don’t want to hear it, I will not talk to them about at all. After all, that is between them and God.
However, to go too far the other way and openly proclaim that God is ok with sin when we know He is not is incredibly dangerous and uncaring. The single biggest mistake we can make with ourselves and with others is to get comfortable with sin. If there is one thing the Bible states clearly over and over again is that sin is bad. It is very bad. We cannot get comfortable with it in our own life. We cannot contribute to anyone else being comfortable with it in their life. Our task is very simple: Just proclaim God’s Word. All of it. And do so without concern as to what the world will say about it. I can tell you what the world thinks about it. To the world God’s Word is foolishness and a stumbling block (1 Cor. 1:23).
If we want to reach the world…can someone please explain to me why the best way to do that is to be more like the world. That’s not strategy, it is insanity. We need to provide an alternative to the world. In a world of darkness, you don’t add to the darkness. You shine the light. In a world that is dead in sin, you don’t keep beating the dead corpse. You show the way to life. In a world of lies, you don’t double down on the lies. You tell God’s truth. And if we do not do that…if we alter our teaching because the world doesn’t want to hear it…then shame on us.
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