A Spiritual Autopsy

A Spiritual Autopsy of the Western Church

Lk.18:8b - Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

What a statement! Many of us believe the Lord’s return is nigh, but what about the implications suggested in our Lord’s statement here? I believe that Christ was prophetically pointing out that there will be a great falling away before He comes again. And in case you haven’t noticed, that is exactly what is transpiring today. Of course God always has His witnesses, but by and large the western church is now dead.

What do we mean when we say “dead”? This indicates a spiritual death. Regardless of much activity or financial prosperity or even numerical growth, spiritual death can and does still occur. Before we get into the autopsy itself, let us examine the symptoms which reveal a disease that has proven terminal. These are not the cause, these are the symptoms.

A reduction of the Word of God. Although we have hundreds of translations and paraphrases, and although it remains a best seller, the Bible has been maligned, deconstructed, and in general treated as a Hallmark card. Just a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals an unwillingness to do what God says regardless of our “literal interpretation” credentials or our “inerrant” doctrinal position. You see, only the Scriptures which find an open obedience in our lives can substantiate our doctrinal positions.

The doctrinal positions we hold today must be defended with Scriptural exposés and systematic treatises bolstered by the original languages. Rarely if ever can we point to the remarkability of our lives and offer that as irrefutable evidence that we hold the Scriptures much higher than those around us. Oh we may be able to build some case if we compare ourselves to the lost, but among professing believers there is an indistinguishable homogenization. Out doctrinal positions alone are what separate us. So words separate us not deeds? Yes, how pathetic.

There are endless commands and directions within the New Testament that find very little obedience. They deal with forgiveness, prayer, the poor, debt, speech, witnessing, mercy, divorce, money, and many other issues.

II Tim.3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

So many stop at the word “doctrine” and leave the correction and instruction in righteousness as a personal interpretive application. You see, the doctrinal truths are absolute but the behavioral applications, the life revealing truths of the Scriptures, are open for discussion. That, my friends, is hypocrisy in a very clandestine form. How self righteous it is to stand upon a platform and boldly state you believe in the inerrancy of the Scriptures, and you castigate those who do not, but your life is no more obedient to the entirety of the New Testament than many of those you castigate.

Disobedience and ambivalence to the uncomfortable commands of the New Testament is just as deconstructing as is denying its inspiration. To foam at the mouth about the Osteens and the Warrens and the Bells while we relax comfortably in the hedonistic atmosphere of this culture is disingenuous. In fact, many of us even embrace certain aspects of this fallen culture and attempt to prove them by those same Scriptures. Just take for instance money and how we spend, save, and borrow it. Our financial habits not only mirror those of our heathen neighbors, but they reveal a real problem with our belief in the eternal. When we say we have eternal life and yet treat our money as do the unsaved we call into question the authenticity of our doctrinal claims. Can you not see that?

Expensive cars, costly vacations, entertainment venues, great sums in retirement accounts, and personal debts are just symptoms of unbelief in the very Scriptures we tout as “inerrant”.

Matt.6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

That Scripture alone, if taken literally, demands an answer as to why we ignore it. Why can we as believers, as well as preachers from every theological perspective, acquire vast sums of money in savings accounts? And are we not embarrassed by our interpretive gymnastics required to defang such Scriptures? Oh yes, the Christian life that follows Jesus and His Words requires a faith which willingly obeys His commands even when culturally inconvenient. The only alternative is to say there are certain parts of the Scriptures that are not literal and have no significant application in a capitalist society.

Indeed, the Word of God has become a slave to the interpretive prowess of man. Literal no longer means literal, and inerrant no longer means inerrant. But if we defend the 24 hour creation day we feel like some divinely approved truth warrior, when in fact we are openly exhibiting Scriptural disobedience in other areas. We have cleverly constructed a doctrinal argument which stones others for their Scriptural departures while it protects ours. Only man could invent such a self righteous construct.

The inerrancy debate is largely moot. Our debate must now turn to what constitutes a living exhibition of the Scriptures and not what were the actual words written above Christ’s head upon the cross. Why do we so aggressively engage in such arguments? Because it deflects any uncomfortable inventory of our own obedience. Men will stand firmly entrenched in the 24 hour creation day and contend that to deny it pulls the thread that will ultimate undue the entire Scriptural garment. But ask them to interpret Matt.6:20 and they have more moves than a street break dancer.

But of course movements like the emergent church or the Purpose Driven construct are rapidly deconstructing the foundational truths of the faith, including the exclusivity of Christ. But let us who are considered “orthodox” not get altogether caught up with what they are doing. Let us look deep into our own mirror. Chasing heretics sometimes lulls us into believing we are not in need of significant repentance. We assume that our deconstructing is not as prevalent or poisonous as is some others.

This is the first installment of a series.