A pastor is a
spiritual shepherd who feeds and protects the sheep. Joel and Victoria Osteen
claim to be pastors but they are no such thing. But Victoria Osteen stood
before the people and openly revealed the heart of the modern church. Watch
this 30 second clip.
I have rarely heard
a more succinct revelation of a fallen and religious heart. And as the prophet
said, “And the people love to have it so”. The entire concept is that exists
for the pleasure and happiness of man, and that He feels good when we are
happy. That lie is so layered it is almost impossible to fully unravel the
completeness of its deception. But at the core of such a diabolical falsehood
is that most of the church does not know the True and Living God.
The Apostle John
would lay his head upon the chest of Jesus in love and companionship. But when
that same man saw the glory of the Risen Christ he fell at His feet as though
dead! The average “worship” time in an evangelical church centers around the
well rehearsed music and the wonderful praise team and its leader. After fifteen
minutes or so it ends with a prayer and the people sit down. So John falls at
His feet as though he were dead and we sit back down as if nothing happened?
But in reality nothing did happen. We feel blessed and refreshed and we are now
in a good mood. Yes, we sang songs and perhaps clapped and lifted our hands but
we did not meet God.
Worship has become
an event. “The worship was great this morning!” “Come visit our church. We have
great worship.” Now we can grade worship as if it was a contest. It is all
about the music and the leader and the songs and how anointed the worship
leader is. It has long since ceased to be about God. As people look around and
clap and sing without being affected except feeling “happy” there are created
being around God’s throne who do nothing but say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” And yet we can pretend to
worship and quickly change to some announcements. We are not fooling anyone.
The Apostle Paul
met with Jesus and he was struck blind and yet people can go the entire week
without prayer and on Sunday morning they worship God? No, this is not true
worship and the object of our worship is not Jesus, it is our own flesh and a
god of our own making. In the Old Testament they fashioned a calf out of gold
and called it god. In these dark days the church has fashioned a man out of
gold and called it god. Gone is the majesty. Gone is the glory. Gone is the
holiness. The priest would wear “holiness unto the Lord” on his priestly
headpiece. Today men and women wear “Santa Claus” on their hearts.
It would be a
monumental undertaking to fully expose the spiritual treachery that goes on in
most evangelical churches. How many times after the worship music ends does the
church leader say something like “God is good, isn’t He?” As flippant and
meaningless as saying “God bless you” when someone sneezes. When does the man
of God stand up with tears running down his face and through trembling lips and
a contrite heart he says, “Oh my dear believers God is a holy God and I am
undone this morning.”? I am not suggesting that must happen every time because
even that can become a tradition and a form, but why does it never happen?
Holiness is not
just some attribute of God that we learn in systematic theology. It is not
gained by not sinning or doing good works. God IS holy. It is part of the makeup
of His eternal Being itself. There are no human words that can fully reveal the
Thrice Holy God. Only the Holy Spirit can illuminate a man’s heart with
thoughts and impressions and revelations which pull back the veil a little more
and allow him to see more of Him from whose face the worlds fled. And when we
receive that astounding vision by the grace of that same God we cannot remain
the same. To see the Lamb, the Lion, the Redeemer, and the Lord of Lords
permeates our beings and burns within us. This is the God of all creation and
He is holy.
So how can a group
of people come together and worship this august and holy Being without
sometimes being completely undone and filled with awe and repentance? The
answer is simple. They, as Mrs. Osteen correctly pointed out, have come to feel
happy. But the church has concocted a redundant spectacle which excites the
flesh. For the most part people come to church for the community and not to
meet with a Holy God. Just the carefully orchestrated order of service and the
time allotted shows a disrespect for the Spirit and for God. Sunday after
Sunday people come and go just like they did last week and like they will next
week. It is a finely tuned religious pageant designed to uplift spirits and
make people return. But it is not a genuine hungering and thirsting for the
presence of a Holy God.
And this is also
why a fallen culture as wicked as this one can not only live comfortably alongside
professing believers, but it can even go to church! That is an astounding
revelation. Unsaved people of all stripes sit Sunday after Sunday in church
pews and even like the pastor and the music and enjoy the human fellowship. But
God’s presence was not there or they would either flee or believe. Does that
seem like some throwback to more archaic days when God used to manifest Himself
among His people? Yes, it is. And that is deeply sad.
But let us not
plead ignorance. God will not share His glory. God does not exist for man’s
happiness. God is interested in man’s holiness not man’s happiness. Many sinful
things make men happy. When a married couple who are millionaires and dressed
to the nines stand before people and speak damnable lies it reminds me of when
the antichrist will profess himself to be God. In fact it is that same spirit
that speaks through false teachers like the Osteens. But it is not enough for
us to point out these heretics and their lies. No, we must examine ourselves
and pursue holiness. And just what does “pursue holiness” mean?
It means to pursue
the Crucified and Risen Christ and until He fully apprehends you.
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