September 21, 2018
I could not believe what they was saying. I heard the words, but my mind was not able to comprehend them. I had mentioned my shock at hearing a pastor who was preaching that Christ was a representative of God, but did not come as God. Their reply to my statement floored me, as if a punch in the gut that drew the breath out of me. They told me that they had no problem with what the pastor was preaching, that God could be different things to different people. They then went on to tell me, “If Christ was not God, it did not change why Christ had come. Whether as God or as man, Christ was here to uplift people, to help them through their struggles on this earth.” They ended by telling me, “The Word of God remains the same, it is just that many see Him as another Jesus.”
Another Jesus? These words would have troubled me, but would not have surprised me if they had come from any other person. I have often heard this expressed by many, even laypeople in the Church today. I have even heard this said in sermons from pastors who have strayed from the Word of God, preaching their own beliefs instead of filling their sermons with what the Lord has told us. But these words did not come from an ordinary layperson, nor from a pastor who was putting his own beliefs above the Lord’s. This was the regional head of a major denomination. A person who would not only help set the standard their denomination would present, but a person who would have a hand in placing the men and women that would teach that standard.
Another Jesus. Just what do these words mean? And where could such a belief come from? Believe it or not, the first question is easier to answer than the second one. These words have found a home in many of our seminaries, and in many of this nation’s schools of divinity. Their halls are filled with experts who speak, and professors who teach, that God is many things to many different people. They tell us how they now understand more about God’s Word than the One who gave us that Word. They look to again climb the tower, seeking to bring their own thoughts and beliefs to the top of the tower. Their words tells us that what was done at Babel was not wrong, just by the wrong people, at the wrong time.
Of all they teach, two philosophies form a common thread in all they say. Postmodernism and Liberation Theology. Many have heard the terms, but few realize how often they are hearing the teachings of these two philosophies from the pulpit. Even fewer realize how the deep roots of these two philosophies have crept their way into the foundation of the Church, and how much that foundation is now in danger of being destroyed.
Postmodernism teaches that there is no objective or absolute truth, and emphasis this belief heavily when it comes to areas of spirituality and religion. Postmodernism also teaches that everything is relative, and within the philosophy you will find the universalist belief that all religions lead to God. The postmodernist say that truth is understood within the bounds of one’s own culture and experiences, and how one sees these views is how the world is to be interpreted. One’s own revelation of God, is based on all he has observed, and what he has considered to be the truth. Therefore God will be different depending upon one’s cultural and his experiences. It is from this we get the statement, “what may be true to one, may not be true to another”.
Sadly I must say, the majority of the Church today no long has the basic understanding of Biblical principles to realize the dangers that come from this philosophy. The Church today no longer possesses the discernment that comes from God’s Word, and His wisdom that is found in that Word. The Church does not realize the idiocy that is found in the postmodernist statement, “We can never know truth absolutely”. That in making this statement, the postmodernist is stating this absolutely!
Christ came with an absolute truth, and the purpose of His coming was proven absolutely(John 3:16). Christ spent three and a half years ministering to this world while here on this earth, and with each of those days He told this world that He, alone, was the only way to the Father(John 4:16). No One else could have, would have, and has ever, made such a claim. He life comes down to one simple question, a question that separates Christianity from every other religion of the world. Was Christ telling us the absolute truth?
Postmodernism reduces Christ and Christianity to a matter of opinion, and it reduces God’s Word to nothing more than scribble on a page. Postmodernism would tell you that the readers know more about the intent of the author than the One who wrote the book. Postmodernism will never accept or understand that sin does exist, and that their are consequences to our sin. We must face those who follow this philosophy, look them lovingly in the eyes, and ask them the same question Paul once asked so many years ago. “So I have become your enemy by telling you the truth?”(Galatians 4:16).
From out of this philosophy has sprung yet “Another Jesus”. One that Paul warned us about when he gave us the words, “having a form of godliness, but denying its’ power.”(2 Timothy 3:5). Out of the bubbling darkness of Postmodernism, has rose another philosophy, a philosophy whose smile hides the fork in its’ tongue.
Liberation Theology replaces the long standing message of our salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ, and His death on the Cross, with a message that is focused on obtaining salvation through political and social reform. In other words, Christ did not come to bring salvation to man, but to uplift the oppressed. It reduces salvation to nothing more than a way to help mankind escape oppression from this world, and it reduces God and His Word, to nothing more than helpful and suggestive tips on how to overcome that oppression.
In Liberation Theology, we see universalism again peek out its’ head, ignoring man’s spiritual needs by placing its’ focus on man’s physical condition. It places its’ faith in the condition of man, undermining the Biblical doctrine of salvation, that through Christ alone we are saved. Following this philosophy, salvation could be accomplished by building a utopia of this world, by bringing social and political reform to this world. They ignore the fact that nowhere did Christ teach redemption through social and political reform. They ignore the obvious, if this had been Christ’ intent, then He would have simply established an earthly kingdom when He came to this earth over thousand years ago. He would not have come to establish a Heavenly kingdom, where through salvation man could spend eternity in His presence.
With certainty, the Bible teaches all who follow Christ to care for those in need, and to speak loudly when we see injustice in this world(Galatians 2:10, James 2:15-16). But in no verse does the Bible equate social justice with salvation. As important as it is for us to have compassion for those in need, it cannot and will not ever replace the Good News that Christ brought this world. Also, the message that Christ brought was not just for those we see in need, His message was for all mankind, both rich and poor. We are all in need of what Christ brought this world, salvation does not know race, gender, or economic class. Christ sought to bring His church together as one, not to separate it by things that man has so foolishly created(Ephesians 4:15-16).
The pastors and theologians who spew out these tainted philosophies have infected the Church today with this deadly disease. A disease that eats at the Truth, and strips man of the eternal promise that Christ offered. They roll their eyes, and scoff at tradition, telling us that man is not fallen and totally depraved, but simply misinformed and misguided, only in need of being redirected. They redefine the Word of God, denying that it is “God-breathed” and inerrant. They make Swiss cheese of the Scriptures, pulling out the verses they like, and ignoring others. Telling us that only a simpleton would follow and believe every word. They reduce the virgin birth to nothing more than a fairytale, a mythological story created for children. They thumb their nose at the Resurrection, as a Redeemer was not needed, making Christ into nothing more than a man who had a morale message worth teaching. They laugh at the idea of Hell, claiming man can redeem himself through his own works and his own will. And they redefine love, stripping it from the hands of God, and corruptly placing it in the hands of man
Another Jesus. One that teaches a gospel that our Lord does not know. A gospel that replaces the atoning death of Jesus Christ with a social gospel that man can achieve on his own. A gospel that believes man can attain peace without the presence of the Cross, and without the wisdom and mercy of our Lord.
As I watch this “so-called” gospel being preached, and spreading like wildfire through the Church today, I am left without words. I am left dumbfounded at the blindness of the Church today. A Church that seeks to speak for God, but a Church that has forgotten the sound of His voice. A Church that is called to reflect Christ, but a Church that is quickly forgetting the defining lines and crevices that are etched in His loving and familiar face. With each breath I breathe, with each beat of my heart, with each thought that fills my mind, the Lord shows how His will, His wisdom, His grace, and His mercy are all I will ever need. I cannot for the life of me comprehend, why this Church would even think for one moment that it needed another Jesus.
Praying that each of you will see that Christ is all you will ever need.
