By Paul Proctor - May
1, 2004
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I saw something in the mall the other day that nearly
turned my stomach. An item for sale caught my attention as I passed by a
clothing store, accompanied by my wife. For teens, it is, and always has been,
at least for as long as I’ve been alive, chic to wear clothes that are, shall we
say, shocking to adults. That’s what rebellion is all about. Kids obviously love
it because it not only challenges societal standards and authority but gets them
the attention and admiration of peers, as well. Shop owners love it simply
because it makes the register ring. Nevertheless, there, in that little
boutique, written across the front of a brightly colored T-shirt, in bold print,
was the proud proclamation: “Jesus is my homeboy”
My initial thought was that some anti-Christian group or organization was merely
mocking God for moolah. Then I realized it was really the handiwork of hipsters
hocking God for hoopla and in the process, degrading the Divine to the level of
street urchin in some opportunistic attempt to alter the public’s perception of
the Prince of Peace into someone not so sacred, serious or sin conscious. But,
my question is, “What’s the difference?” Aren’t they both trivializing God and
therefore equally blasphemous?
I don’t know about you, but even under grace, the very thought of coming face to
face with the Alpha and the Omega is more than a little unsettling. In fact,
I’ve yet to find anyone in scripture who wasn’t dramatically affected in some
way by the mere presence of God. Scripture tells us that even the Earth trembles
before Him.
But, who’s afraid of Jesus the Homey? No one, I’m sure. Serving a synthetic
savior is a snap; which is why the church growth movement exists today – to
change your perception of God, His Son, His Word, His church and its mission –
to make each of them more desirable and appealing to the flesh – resulting in,
of course, expeditious church growth.
You see, the flesh hates holiness and so do those who have dedicated their lives
to making the church more like the world. Frankly, holiness is hard on the
numbers and has a way of annoying the ambitious and offending the obscene. But,
this is the new evangelism, my friends. This is the purpose and passion of the
church growth movement – to dispel all fear of God and make Jesus our “homeboy.”
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way,
and the froward mouth, do I hate.” – Proverbs 8:13
Instead of hating evil, as scripture commands, today’s Christian is being taught
just the opposite – to hate holiness – not in so many words, but by zealously
ridding the church and its members of anything that represents or encourages
fear, respect, reverence and awe toward the Almighty – going so far as to
promote a casual, even cavalier attitude and atmosphere in and around church.
Many of you have probably asked yourselves at one time or another: “Whatever
happened to real worship?” Well, I would say to you that it went the way of
fear, respect, reverence and awe. We essentially exchanged it for Jesus the
Homey so we could appeal to the flesh, feel better about ourselves and
artificially grow the church.
The fact is; where there is no fear of God, there is no worship. And where there
is no worship, there is no love – at least not the self-sacrificing,
cross-carrying, truth-telling kind of love that Jesus demonstrated. There’s only
a reciprocating, “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine”, kind of love –
the kind of love that offers amusement for applause, friendship for flattery and
titillation for tithes.
So, if you’re tired of waiting on the Holy Spirit to grow your church the old
fashioned way – just do what Satan did to Jesus in the wilderness and appeal to
the flesh by offering the world. (Luke 4:5-8) He didn’t take it, of course. But,
if your church does, I can almost guarantee that it will grow at an enormous
rate. Just tell all the visitors and prospects that they can have eternal life
AND enjoy everything this world has to offer by making Jesus their homeboy and
you will have more professions of faith, baptisms, new members, volunteers and
missionaries than ever before, because, without a doubt, the satanic secret of
quick and easy church growth is hating holiness.
“These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in
order before thine eyes.” – Psalm 50:21
© 2004 Paul Proctor - All Rights Reserved
Other articles by Paul Proctor:
Confessions of a Facilitator | The Ten Commandments Controversy
Taking America back | DIAPRAX Goes to Seminary | The Kiss of Death
HEGELIAN DIALECTIC & THE NEW WORLD ORDER
Paul Proctor, a rural resident of the Volunteer state [Tennessee] and seasoned veteran of the country music industry, retired from showbiz in the late 1990's to dedicate himself to addressing important social issues from a distinctly biblical perspective. As a freelance writer and columnist, he extols the wisdom and truths of scripture through commentary and insight on cultural trends and current events. His articles appear regularly on a variety of news and opinion sites across the internet and in print. Paul may be reached at watchman@usa.com.
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