The Diffusion of Christianity or How Christians Are Rejecting the Core of the Faith

Apostle Paul

Christianity in America has been moving down the path away from the Faith for decades now. The most noted preachers and mega churches got that way by prosperity preaching, making material gain what Christianity is about. The idea that God wants you to be rich, having money and real estate is primary; not the Cross, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Redemption, Salvation, Hope, Love and Charity, and the other elements of orthodox Christianity. Add to this the infusion of New Age mysticism, God is within you and the pantheistic notions which flies in the face of Christian thought. I actually have people in my church say all religions have something to teach and are equal.

I shudder when I hear this. It demeans and possibly rejects who Christ is and what Christianity is. There are commonalities to be sure, but judging Christianity to be the same as other religions is, to coin an old term, heretical. Which brings us to an article in The Washington Post's "On Faith" page. This is a liberal page to be sure, and usually gets things about Christianity wrong, but I read because we must always be knowledgeable of who, is weakening the Faith, and how.

Kathleen Duff has written a piece praising Islam and saying Christians can learn from the Koran. Really and truly. The Koran that teaches killing people that aren't Muslim, or apostates, is beyond just okay, it's mandated; or that the Holy Trinity is polytheism.  Her take is the Koran teaches something we won't find in Christianity, or apparently, in the Bible. She wrote: “The Quran encouraged me to continuously be aware of a gracious and merciful God who cherishes humanity and cherishes all of creation. I came to believe more firmly during my humble Ramadan experience that being cherished by God is an example of divine love beyond the limitations of any one language, symbol and imagination.” ... “This insight into sacred polarity is a perfect teaching paradigm for respectful interreligious dialogue, which is never about win/lose, right/wrong profiling and divisiveness.”

Sacred polarity? Gobbledygook.

I can't think of a more profiling and divisive religion than Islam. What's she talking about? It's what happens when the core of Christianity is diminished by incorporating political correctness and liberal thinking into the Faith. Could Duff have written an article about what Islam can learn from the Christian New Testament?

All the New Age preachers and followers, prosperity preachers and followers I'm concerned about; they are rejecting Christ and who He is. They are rejecting the Faith. They are teaching a watered down Christianity, turning the Word, the Good News, and Christ into something that comfortably fits their needs, not God's. This new Christianity asks what we can get out of God, but not what God can get out of us. (I'm paraphrasing what our Pastor John Adams said in his sermon last Sunday; credit due.) 

These two creeds are our core, and Christianity is moving away, and toward disaster. In 1949 Dorothy Sayers wrote what may be turning into a prophetic book, Creed or Chaos? Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster (or, why it really matters what you believe.)

Apostles' Creed

I believe in God, the Father almighty,

creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the Virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died, and was buried;

he descended to the dead.

On the third day he rose again;

he ascended into heaven,

he is seated at the right hand of the Father,

and he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy catholic Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life everlasting.

Amen.

Nicene Creed

We believe in one God,

the Father, the Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth,

of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, light from light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father;

through him all things were made.

For us and for our salvation

he came down from heaven,

was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary

and became truly human.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again

in accordance with the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,

who proceeds from the Father [and the Son],

who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified,

who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,

and the life of the world to come. Amen.

An UnChristian Christian and His Church

A knucklehead Christian Pastor, Terry Jones, and a knucklehead CNN anchor, Rick Sanchez, had this exchange about Jones's having a "Burn the Koran" day.

Two things here. The Secularists like to trot out these people to discredit Christians; or given Sanchez's 'follower of the prince of peace' self qualification, Christians that don't have a Liberal world view like his. The other thing is this Terry Jones guy is just wrong, and it hurts the Christian Community.

Since the embarrassing Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and others like them are not front and center in the Secularist media, they have no one to hold up to prove their incorrect, intolerant, bigoted view of Christians.

Where did CNN dig this Terry Jones guy up? I spend a lot of time reviewing stories on religion, specifically Christianity, and I've never heard of him or his church, "Dove World Outreach Center". Here's the first paragraph of their mission statement:

Our purpose and our goal here at Dove World Outreach Center is to get people to stand up. We, as the church, need to stand up for righteousness and for the truth of the Bible. That truth is not only love, healing and prosperity, but it is also about getting up. It is not about being entertained on Sunday morning, but about being equipped to do the work of the service: motivating, equipping to get up, organize, and show the world that there is a true and living church.

It's a small Florida organization, and from what I can tell it's about protests and intolerance. Big anti-homosexual stuff. Not too much Christian on their site. This group is going down the hateful path of Westboro Baptist, that does much of the same thing. Big on the homosexual stuff. They're the ones that protest outside military funerals to and have hateful anti-American, anti military signs and slogans. Lots of hate there.

Not a word here about Christ's Love, His Sacrifice, salvation, worship, fellowship, or service. Those are pretty much the foundation of any church, or should be.

Compare to the statement of purpose of my church, First Christian Church Las Vegas:

The purpose of this congregation shall be to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the New Testament, to invite and welcome people to faith in Jesus Christ, to encourage their active commitment, to help them grow in the grace and
knowledge of Christ so that they may increasingly know and do His will, and to work for the unity of all Christians and with them engage in the common task of building the Kingdom of God.

You won't see any pastor of a church like ours on CNN or Rick Sanchez's show, or any other major Jurassic News outlet. The least damaging pastor you'll see is Joel Osteen, but you don't see him on secular new shows talking about Christ and salvation and service. He preaches 'prosperity Christianity', about how God wants you to be successful and financially secure. He's a motivational speaker using Christianity in a marginal way as his foundation. Olsteen at least does little damage to the Christian community; maybe he even obliquely helps because through him some might actually get introduced to what Christianity is really about.

Christians must be quick to denounce guys like this. I have my little blog here, but there needs to be a big media Christian voice out there to follow up when the Jurassic Press trots these guys like Terry Jones and Westboro Baptist to insult and embarrass Christians. You'll never see them bring someone on when Christians are insulted to defend the Faith. Regarding the coverage of Christians in the Jurassic Press, it's a one way street called bigotry with the crossroad of intolerance.