The Danger of Carnality

Rom.8:6-8 - For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
The word carnal in the Greek indicate a control by an animal nature. It applies to men when their desires and appetites are controlled by their fallen nature rather than by God’s Spirit. Paul not only tells of its danger, but he uses the word “death”. And so it is.
We give far too much room for carnality in the church. Rare is the shepherd who can be alert toward signs of the flesh while not moving into legalism. More likely in today’s evangelical mess are the preachers whose entire ministry is built upon the dictates of the flesh. And when people are subjected consistently to the offerings of the flesh, even while draped in religious language, their appetites become satisfied by carnal and fleshly things.
The meat of the Word is distasteful to the average evangelical palate, and any hint of rebuke repels the carnal mind. The average pew dweller desires encouragement and praise from the shepherd’s mouth, even if he is in mortal spiritual danger. Rebuke the president, rebuke Rob Bell, rebuke Joel Osteen, rebuke Muslims, rebuke homosexuals, and rebuke liberals of all stripes, but do not rebuke us. People do not come to church to hear God’s Word, they come to be blessed.
And the average church service is constructed to make people feel good. The pastor works hard to attract people and he never wants to send anyone away, so he avoids any strong message of correction. His job is to convince people that they love their church. Addition not subtraction is the name of this ecclesiastical game. There is a mortgage to be paid, enormous staff salaries, building upkeep, teen activities, and everything else that costs money.
The worst thing that can happen to the movement called Christianity is if it replaces the power of the Spirit with the power of the flesh. Nothing is wrong with technology unless it replaces the Spirit and draws men through manipulation and carnal coercion. The flesh loves to hear all positive messages that reinforce the carnal lifestyles people already live. Positive attitudes and thoughts of success and the pursuit of prosperity are always on the fallen menu. But there is nothing more positive than allowing the Spirit to conform us in the image of God’s Dear Son.
The church has traded the sacred for the carnal. No longer is the name of Jesus the Christ spoken with awe and reverence. No longer is the presence of God so evident in the gathering of believers that conviction of sin is pervasive. No longer is the ministry of the Spirit of God welcomed among the company of believers. Everything is hype and tinsel, loud and forced, and manipulative and self serving. The carnal equation is simple - the bigger the church, the more God is blessing.
Do believers arrive at the church building on Sunday mornings bathed in prayer? Have they worshiped the Christ privately before they worship Him corporately? Have they come free from a schedule so that the Spirit is free to move as He pleases? Have their lips shared the gospel of Christ at all during the week? Have they watched more television than they have spent in God’s holy presence? What kind of religion are we practicing if there is such a great disparity between what we say and what we do? Doesn’t James address that kind of religion?
It is time to repent and dismantle, and to destroy what man has made and make room for what God desires. There is so much of God’s glory being ignored, and yet to hear these carnal men one would believe they have God’s blessing. And the ultimate question has always been this: Do we actually and demonstrably believe that we have inherited eternal life through Jesus Christ? Well, how can we know that?
To the extent we serve and love this life, is to the extent we are living in unbelief, and that in spite of all our religious rhetoric, we are living a fraud. And with that indictment placed upon the western church, there looms a supreme prospect that carries the weight of eternity within that possibility. And just what is that possibility?
It is entirely possible that much, if not most, of the western evangelical congregations have never been regenerated by God’s Spirit and are caught in a religious system that provides a false and diabolical comfort for lost and religious souls. And if that is the case, then the carnality active within that system is doing much more harm than just compromising the believer’s walk. The current ecclesiastical structure in the west has become a greater evil than just practicing a shallow form of Christianity. It now serves as a monstrous deception that guides fallen souls to an eternal place of judgment, separated from God forever. And this is being accomplished with a religious veneer, praise and worship music, and the name of Jesus deftly and disingenuously pasted upon its form.
And what words are adequate to describe such an antichrist system?

Anathema maranatha.