The Worship of Man

THE WORSHIP OF MAN

 

We have been called to be "clothed in humility". When people attempted to worship Peter they were rebuked. Peter himself refused to be crucifed right side up because He thought himself unworthy to be crucified just like His Savior. The earth is drenched in the blood of unknown martyrs who gave their lives for Jesus and were never known or honored by God's church.

And yet today we have the open worship of man aropund the world. Look at the pictures below of several Roman Catholic popes. I ask you, is that the humility to which God calls us. Let us not even discuss their doctrine of salvation by works, or as you see below their worship of Mary, but just look at the pope's get up. Look how they have made some ecclesiastical clown suit designed to lift him up and be adored as the representative of Jesus here on earth. And millions bow down to hin.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Is it not open idolatry? Does it not both repulse and grieve you at the same time? How did they go so far away from what Jesus came to do and teach? Instead of living a quiet and humble life, this ecclesiastical construct takes its leaders and makes them some sort of “Holy Men” in the tradition of heathen cultures and false religions. I am Irish on my mother’s side. My great grandmother and my great aunt were riding in a car a ling time ago. They passed the rectory, where the priest of that parish lived, and my grandmother, a little girl then, saw a plumbing and heating truck outside the rectory.

She exclaimed that the priest must be getting his toilet fixed. My great grandmother smacked her across the face for saying such a thing. Why? Because many people considered the priest so holy that he rarely had to go to the bathroom. Millions have similar superstitions about priests and popes. My point is that men have taken the faith once delivered to the saints and turned into a system of liturgical works highlighted by the elevation of certain men. The Roman popes have been assigned the status of the Vicar of Christ on earth, and he dresses like a god among men. It is a disgrace to the cause of Christ, and yet many protestant leaders consider him to be an example of a great Christian.

 

 

 

    

 

 

  

 

Just when you became comfortable with condemning the Roman Catholic Church because of such practices, along comes these men and thousands like them. Displayed as idols and painted with false but alluring imagery, these kinds of “protestant” men are following in the same footsteps as the Roman popes. Millions flock to hear and to see them, and millions venerate them as if they were the very representatives of Jesus on earth. Millions upon millions of dollars are spent on fancy advertisements, photography sessions, air brushed pictures, and all kinds of manipulative imagery and wording that lifts these men up as gods.

Yes, the evangelical community has their heroes who are also given some kind of divine status, and the community has made them millionaires many times over. The television programs are professionally tailored to provide the most alluring imagery and cause the masses to go into an obedient trance designed primarily to elicit funds to feed the beast and line the pockets of men and women like these. And this is being “clothed with humility”? Being filthy rich, dining in the finest restaurants, receiving the adulation of men, and being presented as an elevated spokesman for Jesus, that is humility? Before we isolate the Roman Catholic Church for their worship of man, we must take a long look into a protestant mirror and see how the western church commit’s the same fraud.

 

 

One of Kenneth Copeland's homes.

 

 

One of Creflo Dollar's homes.

 

 

One of T. D. Jakes' homes.

 

So the Son of God was born in a stable and had no where to lay His head, and yet his supposed servants live in opulence and great wealth? Where is the moderation that is called for in Scripture? Are these kind of extravagances representative of a humble life? This is not Christianity at all. This is the product of another gospel and another Jesus. And the only reason that the evangelical community is not overwhelmed with grief and horror is because we have been deceived on some level concerning the faith as well. There is nothing Christian at all about the western church.

But popes and prosperity preachers still provide a smoke screen for our own excesses and spiritual compromises. Like a murderer who has committed 2 murders but pronounces judgment on a serial murderer who kills 30, the so called “orthodox” community lambastes the excesses of these men but refuses to hold up God’s Word and take inventory of our own expression of the faith. And do not believe for a second that this is only about humility. The entire faith of Jesus has been infected with all kinds of cultural and self serving viruses. And even with these unbelievable indictments openly displayed, the church as a whole remains content, self centered, and continuing to practice a religion that is little more than a comfortable part of a well rounded western lifestyle.

How do we say to a lost and dying world that we have the Creator of all things living inside us, and He has made His power available to us, and because of our spiritual birth, we are now completely new creations that have no affection for the things of this world? How can we say that without the unsaved accusing us as being a fraud and a pack of liars? We have systematically constructed a religion that suits us and fits nicely within the community of darkness. Our expression of faith is so Christless that we can easily join hands with unregenerate people is they espouse certain moral positions.

Be advised, when humility left the church, Christ left as well. We still have our buildings; we still have our heroes; we still have our money; we still have our earthly freedom; we still have our orthodox doctrines; we still have our local fellowships; we still have our entertainment; we still have our earthly retirement; we still have our music; we still have our baptism certificate and our church membership.

But we no longer have Christ.

Some trade.