Perilous
Times and the Great Falling Away
American church befriends world, leaves God behind
Posted: October 10, 2011
12:38 pm Eastern
By: Jim Fletcher
The passing of Steve Jobs and the global tributes to the Apple
chief offered, for me, a fascinating look into modern American
evangelical leadership. And, since I discussed a few weeks back a
revolutionary concept I'd read – all companies publish – I have
reflected in the last week on what message the world is hearing
from visible leaders in the church.
On Twitter especially, scores of famous evangelical leaders waxed
poetic about Jobs, a Zen Buddhist and business wunderkind. That
the cerebral, cool Jobs would be feted by evangelicals is ironic
and, probably, somewhat comical. Going out on a limb, I'd say Jobs
would have had something close to contempt for the brand of faith
practiced by professing evangelicals in our society.
Still, that didn't keep the hoards from embracing his memory and
paying homage to him. I'd like to say, too, that when Christian
publishing kingpins made the decisions a quarter-century or so ago
to apply secular business techniques, they began to separate from
what I'd call the old-line faith. This decision explains why such
authors as Jack Canfield ("Chicken Soup" books) came to be in the
mix at Christian book conventions.
Let me put it another way: If Charles Spurgeon (whose voluminous
publishing endeavors in 19th century England are not well-known by
most Christians) strolled down a CBA aisle and saw today's book
offerings, he'd run screaming from the building.
Today, the "big-tent" philosophy prevails in Christian publishing
circles.
In any event, some of the Twitter comments were eye-opening.
Publishing guru Michael Hyatt tweeted that a short video clip of
Jobs from 1997 is "worth watching." The link takes you to
something called "Zen Presentations" and shows Jobs addressing
Apple execs and explaining why they would be changing their
marketing strategies.
Jobs makes some good marketing points, so why I am I (you know me
so well by now) transitioning into making a big deal out of this?
Because I wonder if some prominent Christian leaders in America
have forgotten James 4:4?
"You people aren't faithful to God! Don't you know that if you
love the world, you are God's enemies? And if you decide to be a
friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God."
No doubt many will dispute what I'm saying, but it really doesn't
matter for me. I've observed Christian publishing and ministry
leadership up close for almost 20 years, and my claim is this:
American church leaders are rapidly moving into a point of no
return that will eventually take them into full-blown syncretism.
Few seem to notice or care.
An ABC News story published the day after Jobs died had this to
say about his spiritual worldview: "The Whole Earth Catalogue was
his bible, with founder Stewart Brand's cry, 'We are as gods.'"
I saw several Christian leaders tweet fawning tributes to Jobs.
This is not a mountain out of a molehill.
The pattern of Christian leaders holding up non-Christian leaders
as symbols to emulate is disturbing.
Scott Williams, one of the young turks moving in "Emergent"
circles (this is my characterization of him), wrote on his blog a
few weeks back that he was very excited to attend the Catalyst
Conference in Atlanta. One of his priority items was to hear Dr.
Cornel West, a professor at Princeton and self-described
"non-Marxist socialist" and admirer of Jeremiah Wright and Louis
Farrakhan.
West also calls Jesus Christ a "Palestinian Christian," borrowing
from the propaganda of Yasser Arafat, among other Marxists.
Why are Christian leaders paying homage to Cornel West? Why was he
invited by the organizers of Catalyst?
Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, a leftist publication and
group, has an archived "Conversations" interview on the Catalyst
site. Tellingly, Wallis relates an encounter with Billy Graham
several years ago in which the evangelical icon placed his hands
on young Wallis's shoulders and told him that he loved what he was
doing because Wallis was dealing with some of the issues "some of
us weren't willing" to deal with.
Some of the issues Wallis and Sojourners deal with (if you
subscribe to Sojourners magazine today, you'll get a free Gandhi
poster!) are:
* Opposing the Israeli "occupation" of "Palestine"
* Opposing the death penalty
* Anti-war protests
* Societal equality for gays and lesbians.
To make sure we are specific about that last one, this is from the
Sojourners site:
Policy
Pass anti-hate-crime legislation that prosecutes attacks on
gays and lesbians
Ensure that long-term gay and lesbian partnerships are
afforded legitimate legal protections, such as ensuring that gay
partners are not prevented from hospital visitations by "family
restriction" rules, have an appropriate voice in their partner's
medical treatment and have legal rights in wills and inheritances.
Do you find it extraordinary that Billy Graham would embrace the
agendas of Jim Wallis? I do.
Catalyst's executive director, Brad Lomenick, wrote in his blog
"On the Journey" (September 12, 2011) that in the next few years,
he'd like to meet (among others): Oprah Winfrey, Chris Martin of
Coldplay, Will Smith, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates.
Stunning. Again, why are Christian leaders enamored with
anti-Christian change agents?
Overall, I don't think a high percentage of American Christians
will pay much attention to any of this, or even care, but they
should. So much leftist worldview is being published today for the
younger generations that, one day very soon, American Christianity
will bear no resemblance to biblical faith.
I will continue to stand by that statement.