How Sharing the Gospel Has been Changed ...

Chapter Sixty-five:

In today's society we have the mindset that things need to keep changing in order to stay relevant and, sadly, this attitude has seeped into the Christian Church. And one of the main areas it is infiltrating our churches is in the area of Missions. Historically, the objective of missions work within the Church has been to send out its members with the goal of taking the good news of the Gospel to those who have never heard it and do not know Jesus Christ. The hope being that sharing the message of Christ as being the only way of salvation would bring unbelievers into the fold of Christianity. To this end many have labored.  However, times have changed.

The way the Gospel is being presented is rapidly changing.  Many believe it is a good change, a necessary change, all the while overlooking the fact that what they are presenting  does not line up with Scripture. And since the Bible is no longer believed by many to be the inerrant Word of God, I suppose this change should not be surprising. The Bible has become just a book of good principles by which we should live.

What we are experiencing is the belief of inclusion. The belief that all religions and belief systems should be accepted into Christianity without their need of renouncing their heresies or sin. What we are telling those we are trying to reach is that your current religious beliefs do not matter to God, so go ahead and continue being a Buddhist or a Muslim or even a New Ager. None of those beliefs will interfere with having Jesus in your life. 

Those doing missions, with the purpose of finding common ground so that we might experience spiritual unity and bring about a more peaceful world, are teaching people from other religions that they can keep their religious beliefs, that all they need to do is simply add Jesus into the equation. In fact, there are new labels that have come about as a result. For example, those who are Muslim and add Jesus into their religious beliefs are reached under the label of Christlam and are now called Messianic Muslims.  

 In some churches, the Qur’an is placed in the pews right next to the Bible under the guise and garb of loving your neighbor.  These Messianic Muslims are told they can continue to read the Qur'an, visit their mosques and say their daily prayers as long as they also accept Christ as their Savior.  It does not matter that the very premise of the Muslim faith goes against everything Christianity stands for.

 

The Church is teaching people they do not have to call attention to themselves by calling themselves  "Christian".  And the reasons for doing this, we are told, are good and necessary.  It will stop others from becoming offended.  It will stop the persecution that many used to face when they openly confessed Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It will open the way for others to now embrace Christianity as Christianity has often been seen as being narrow minded and intolerant. And one surely does not want to suffer the loss of finances, social status or broken family ties by converting. You can just remain as you are, with all your rituals and gods, just make sure you say you like Jesus. 

It does not matter that we are told in the Word that we have to be willing to walk away from everything, including our family if necessary, to be a follower of Christ.  Matthew 19:29 tells us, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."  

This fast growing trend, where other religions are seen as being just as valid as Christianity, only results in the continued watering down of the Gospel. And a watered down Gospel message opens the door for other spiritual practices to come in. If one believes that one can be a Buddhist and a Christian, then who is to say that the ritualistic practices of Buddhism should be excluded from being allowed into the local Christian Church?  It is an extremely dangerous downward slippery slope that has been brought into the House of God. 

I am deeply troubled with this new way of doing missions and how the Gospel is, or should I say is not, being presented. To tell someone that they do not have to leave their old ways, their old lifestyle behind is totally contrary to Scripture. To tell someone that they can keep their pagan religion, that they can continue living as they always have and that they just have to add Jesus into the mix goes against the very purpose of Jesus dying on the Cross to atone for the sins of mankind. What they are being presented with is not the teachings of the Bible but what people have decided they need to hear. 

Are we now to believe that those who have preceded us, those who suffered persecution and gave up their lives for the sake of promoting the Gospel actually died unnecessarily? That they did not need to confess Jesus as the only way of salvation and did not need to renounce their pagan religions and practices? 

Philippians 3:8 says,  "What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ."  These are the words of the apostle Paul, who died for his faith.  He was telling us that we have to be willing to give up everything for the sake of having Christ in our lives.  He did not tell us we can just add Jesus into the mix.  

The narrow way has become a wide way that embraces any and all religions. Scripture sternly warns against this, that we cannot mix our beliefs. As John 14:6 tells us, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"