WHAT DO CAR THIEVES AND CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY HAVE IN COMMON?

WHAT DO CAR THIEVES AND CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANITY HAVE IN COMMON?

The other morning I turned the TV on and the COPS show was on where they set out the bait car with doors unlocked and keys in ignition and wait for someone to steal it.  Then the cops follow the bait car, and by remote control turn off the engine and lock the doors so the occupant/s can’t open the doors from the inside.  The crooks are caught red-handed and can’t get away.   The thieves nearly always lie and make up some story about how some lady asked them to drive it over to such and such a place or how they were on their way to turn it in at the police station.  They don’t realize everything they have said and done has been videoed. 

I have watched this show several times and each time I am struck with how quickly thieves show up and steal the car.  It’s like almost everyone on the streets in the inner cities are ready to steal with no reservations or hesitations.  (I know, they may wait a long time for the cars to be stolen but video is edited for TV.  Nevertheless, there are a lot of takers out there ready to steal.) They steal cars like you or I would pick up a quarter we saw lying on the sidewalk.

I believe this is a reflection of a society that is crumbling from within, having lost all basis or foundation for morality, honesty or integrity and it is most obvious in the big cities where the crumbling has been the worst.  The thieves have no concern for anyone or anything except their own greed, lust and good times.  Why should they care about anything or anyone else?

 We see the same loss of morality and integrity across the board in society at large in business, government, politics, media, education, etc.  So many are out only for their own power, wealth or whatever makes them happy. Rules and laws “be damned”!  The only thing that’s wrong is getting caught.

In a society that has lost its compass and foundation there is no right or wrong.  Each individual determines his or her own truth or lack thereof because there is no authority recognized that is higher than the individual.  The autonomy of the individual is a trademark of Western progressive politics, democracies and religion.  It’s even portrayed as having divine authority and blessing. To be sure, in the beginning this autonomy was understood to be anchored in the concept of God and truth but it is only a matter of time until it reaches its logical conclusion and the “individual” trumps God, Himself.   If you delve into these ideas you will soon discover that Western concepts of democracy in politics and religion are actually, albeit in a subtle and unintended way, forms or expressions of atheism disguised as deism.  The concept of the autonomy of the individual is atheistic in its essence.  But this is another topic for another day.

Turning to contemporary Christianity, as I read discussions on the internet and have discussions with co-workers on Christian beliefs it is obvious that the vast portion of contemporary Christianity is not much different from the car thieves in terms of having any convictions about right and wrong or truth and error.  One belief is as good as another even if they contradict each other.  You can believe in Calvinism or you can believe in free will, it makes no difference even though both cannot possibly be true.  You can believe that baptism is salvific or you can vehemently deny such but everyone is still one big Christian family and the differences don’t matter even though they are at the heart of our salvation and what it means to be a Christian.  You can believe like the Charismatics or not, it doesn’t really matter.  Charles Stanley and Billy Graham are praised even by those who reject their teachings on eternal security.  Why?  Because it doesn’t matter.  It’s all perceived as just different opinions, different hermeneutical principals of interpretation.  There is no right or wrong, just different points of view.  There is no absolute truth except on a few things like the divinity of Christ, His death, resurrection and second coming.  But even on these subjects there is a wide variety of interpretations and disagreements.  It seems that most of the Bible is completely unnecessary.  It could easily be reduced to a few lines on an index card.  Heresy?  There is no such thing anymore in contemporary Christianity.  But there was for the apostles and there has been for the True Christian Church throughout history. 

Since contemporary Christianity is so big on Bible study, let’s see what the Bible says about all of this.

It is said of the early Church that they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine…

This consisted of much more than a few “cardinal” doctrines since the apostles sometimes taught the people in a given place for two or three years and their Epistles are filled with doctrines.  When a pastor tries to avoid doctrine he is in direct opposition to the apostles and is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

St. Paul’s charge to St. Timothy:  …I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. I Tim 1:3

It is clear from this that there was a clearly defined apostolic doctrine from which no deviations were permitted.

Rom 16:17: Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

When was the last time your pastor preached from this text?  Seen any Calvinist and Armenians applying this verse lately?  Instead they pray together and bless one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.  Both of these doctrines cannot be apostolic.  One has to be contrary.  If you think the other is contrary from yours and that yours was taught by the apostles why don’t you abide by this Scripture?

2 John 9, 10:  Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God.  He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.  If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine receive him not into your house (house church), neither bid him Godspeed.  For he that biddeth him Godspeed is a partaker of his evil deeds.

The doctrine of Christ includes all that is given in the four Gospels and much more as taught to the apostles, some of which is in their Epistles.  To say “God bless you brother” is to bid him Godspeed.  Notice that false doctrine is not just a different opinion but is an evil deed.

Gal 1:8: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Of course many try to reduce the gospel to essentially “Jesus loves you” but that is not the context here nor is it the understanding of the word throughout the New Testament.  It embraces all that Christ taught and passed on to His apostles. 

Eph 4: 11-14 St. Paul says that God gave apostles to establish the Church in a unity of faith so we would not be “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine…”

All the Epistles admonish the Church to all speak the same thing and to be of one mind and one spirit.   Divisions of doctrine and practices are portrayed as expressions of carnal self-will.  The only real unity in contemporary Christianity is the belief that all beliefs are opinions and no one can really say which is right or wrong. 

St. Paul admonished the Corinthians for following after different teachers claiming allegiance to one teacher or another.  It was akin to our age with some saying I am of Calvin or I am of Luther or I am Rick Warren, etc. He reminded them that there is only one Spirit and one Truth and all such divisions are carnal and evil and contrary to Christ who established one Faith and one Truth.

When divisions, debates and variations of practices arose in the early Church, the apostles sent directives or went themselves to bring the churches into a unity of faith and practice and admonished the churches to have no fellowship with those who walked contrary to their teachings.

One of the signs of the apostasy of the last days is that people will not endure sound doctrine but will follow teachers that please their ears.  This sounds like all the contemporary groups of “What’s Happening Now” who downplay doctrine and anything that will offend or keep the crowds from coming.  What an evil perversion of the understanding of the Church of Christ whose mission is not to please the crowd but to worship the Holy Trinity in Spirit and in Truth.

Thus contemporary Christianity is shown to be a complete deviation from the teachings of Christ, the apostles, martyrs, confessors and the True Christian Church.  It has lost all sense of right and wrong, much like the car thieves in the bait cars.  Only the bait car is not a car but contemporary Christianity.