Apostasy is the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.
Let me give you a game plan for moving your church away from orthodoxy and into Ichabod.
1. Start subtle. Don't rush your heresy. Use wisdom on when to reveal that you are not orthodox in your Christian beliefs. Be unclear about your beliefs at first. Articulate your apostacy publicly as if you are pondering things deeply. When you do reveal your beliefs make sure you do so with the humility to admit that the more you read books other than the Bible, the more you were convinced everyone has had it wrong about God for the last 2000 years. That's not arrogant, that's education.
2. Categorize Biblical truth in ways that seek to erode its legitimacy. Disregarding the divine inspiration of the Bible is a good way to begin to lay out your blueprints for a new kind of Christianity. As long as people take the Bible seriously, they won't buy your cheap counterfeit. If you are having trouble with some people continuing to hold to it's authoritative stance, accuse them of worshiping the Bible instead of Jesus. It's a false dichotomy, but it sounds like idolatry. You can even call it Bibliolatry. Before your apostacy is fully realized, begin appealing to sources of authority other than the Bible.
3. Characterize holiness in solely terms of social justice. Personal piety, personal holiness, and moral living must be framed in terms of legalism. Remember that we are really working to absolve people of any personal responsibility. When others in the church call you out for your worldly living, claim that you are ministering to people like Jesus and that he was criticized too. Better yet, become a social media activist and take pictures in front of a food pantry.
4. Do not embrace biblical truth that is rejected by culture. Embrace things in the Bible that the world already agrees with. This makes your brand of Christianity more palatable. Learn how to incorporate ideals and values espoused in the media (news, movies, music, etc) into your preaching & teaching. For example, use rainbows to identify more with those in sexual crisis than Christ. There will be more "Christians" if it is only an issue of identity and not lifestyle. You want people walking into your church to come to the revelation: "This church believes what I believe."
5. Characterize evangelism in terms of social justice. Repentance and the forgiveness of sins starts things on a sour note. Since we are created in the image of God we get to make the claim that everyone goes to Heaven. If people buy that then they have to walk away issues of repentance and new spiritual birth. Keep claiming that we don't start with the Genesis 3, but with Genesis 1. Claim it long enough and you might get people to forget about Genesis 3. Do nice things for others but never deal with the only obstacle between humanity and a holy God.
6. Assume that Biblical truths are up for debate. It's obviously clear in Scripture, but with darkened understanding and a few linguistical hurdles anyone can confuse what the Bible says to the masses. When you convince others to make the Bible a buffet to choose from you may also be able to be the one who chooses what everyone believes.
7. Take the intellectual high ground. Redefine words, use elaborate words that a common person couldn't define, and even throw in some words you have misused. Did you go to seminary? Do you have a PhD? These things automatically qualify you to distort the faith that has been passed down to you. Those who disagree with you obviously do so because they have not been educated. They haven't gone to Bible College or seminary. They have not done the in depth research into Freud, Nietzsche, Rob Bell, and others that have helped enlighten you.
8. You will need to employ some revisionistic history. For example, make John Wesley say whatever you want to say. Claim that those that disagree with you are not Wesleyan-Arminian in their thinking. If they don't retreat from your superior intellect take it on the offensive by claiming they are Fundamentalists, legalistic, uneducated, Pharisees, or any other of a number of culturally frightening labels.
9. Here is a plan to help you undercut orthodoxy in your church. Distort the following truths/doctrines/ideas in no particular order: the Bible's authority, de-emphasize piety, instantaneous works of God (entire sanctification, being born again, etc), the Bible definition of love (it needs to be more sentimental than holy), the reality of Hell, the need for repentance, downplay Biblical principles about abortion or living in active homosexual relationship, embrace universalism (everyone goes to Heaven), disregard Biblical atonement and replace with "other theories" (Jesus didn't die as a payment for our sins, he only died because people didn't like him), etc.
10. Finally, be sure to accuse everyone else of being divisive. Convince everyone that we should all seek unity because we are in the same tribe living under the same tent. Never mind that our unity is found in submission to the life and teachings of Jesus in the Bible. You can't be Christian (Christ like) and refute what God says! But try and convince everyone that you are not really the one causing division by holding heretical views and opinions based on human philosophy. Remember, everyone who disagrees with you is unloving.
It's true. I schedule times during the year when I have a guest preacher, called the evangelist, to come in and preach a series of services (beyond Sunday morning and evening). The emphasis is on the relationship of the individual to Christ beginning and growing. It is also a corporate (or community) act in which the whole congregation focuses on growing in Christ together. A lot of people claim it is old fashioned or out-of-date-methodology or even ineffective, but let me share why I still hold revival meetings in my local church.
1. My congregation needs to hear Truth from someone besides me. The Holy Spirit speaks through each individual in a distinct way. Neither the message nor the God spoken of changes, but there are distinct, unique ways in which God uses every messenger. If the local congregation that I pastor only ever hears from me, they are done an injustice by not hearing Truth from other 'vessels.'
2. I need personal revival! As one who is weekly seeking God for the message my local congregation needs to hear, a preacher can become somewhat starved. It is easy for a pastor to get so immersed in the daily routine and weighed down by the hurts and pains of the local church that they too need the encouragement of being revived. Pastors need revival too.
3. As a community of believers, our local church needs time focused on getting closer to God and becoming more like Christ. Of course we always want to grow closer to God and become more like Him, but sometimes that becomes secondary or tertiary to the function of the church. We can get so busy doing good things for God that we forget why we are doing those good things to begin with. We need a time to gather together and focus on Jesus! We need corporate spiritual renewal!
4. Attention to an evangelistic emphasis is necessary. Any church can be program based instead of Gospel based. It's easy to slip into. But seeking the lost is why Jesus came and why His body, the church, needs to still be sharing the Good News of salvation. Again, the church can become inwardly focused and comfort oriented, we need to be reminded that our focus is ultimately to see people come to Christ. There is a task at hand and we need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to accomplish just that.
5. The denomination I am currently part of, started in revival and cannot exist without it. The evangelistic and revivalist fervor of the Church of the Nazarene is in our spiritual DNA because it is traced back to our beginnings. We would not exist were it not for the revivals, camp meetings, evangelistic crusades, and tent meetings that have long defined us. Certainly we cannot and should not seek to re-orchestrate these past moves of God. The truth is they were never orchestrated in the beginning, but God's people spent time doing nothing more than seeking the presence of Jesus and He was faithful to show up!
6. It becomes a time when the church can "agree in prayer". The church can become a busy place and people. Children's ministry, youth ministry, food banks, family life, finances, jobs, and so much more can keep us from intentionally aligning on some important things. We are all going in different directions. When we conduct revival services in our local church, everything else stops. These are moments in which we share with the early church an "all together in one place" moment so that we might also experience "the sound of a mighty rushing wind."
7. Determine the relationship. Decision time. Joshua, from the Old Testament toward the end of his life, stood before the people of Israel and challenged them to "choose today who you will serve." A clear, concise decision needs to be made. King Josiah, in the Old Testament, after finding and having the Law of Moses read to him, called the people together so that they would commit together as a people to repent and choose to honor the covenant with God. Many people can slip into a state of casual indifference that leads them away from the "Ebenezer" places of firm and clear commitment in their relationship to God. Revival is a good time to evaluate and clearly discern where we stand with God. I choose Jesus!
8. Churches need to change/repent. The impotence of the church today is not a result of lack of finances, technology, talent, buildings, or resources. Although we are often consumed by such things. The problem of the church today is it's lack of Divine transformative power. While we are busy installing our strobe lights and fog machines the prayer closets go unused. While some are fighting to preserve their favorite traditions and hymn books the upper room remains vacant. Sometimes not only do individuals need to repent, but churches, or even whole denominations can find themselves in need of a repentance.
9. Revival is a time of God moments at work in the church. Where once many churches debated about entire sanctification being a moment vs a process, the line has now been re-drawn over whether justification (new birth) is a moment vs a process. We have made conversion a process that now must include "belong" to the church fellowship before "believing" in Jesus. Much like sanctification the shift, in reality, is a move from God's divine act to our works that do more to make us feel spiritual than to be Spirit filled! The reality is that a call for "belong" before "believing" redefines what it means to be part of the family of God (Can you be part of this family apart from knowing Jesus?), requires sinners to be in relationship with us before Jesus, and emphasizes human organization over divine encounter. There are some things only God can do in our lives: forgiveness of sins, purification of the heart, etc.
10. Revival can expose some hidden things. When you first walk into a room that has a funny smell you recognize it immediately. Interestingly, after a bit of time spent in the room the smell seems to disappear. The reality is that the smell is still present, but we have become accustomed to it. Revival services present a good time to recognize odious things in our lives that we may have inadvertently grown accustomed to. While it can be uncomfortable, God's exposure of hidden things always leads toward reconciliation and redemption!
So what about you? Why do you have revivals in your church? Or why not?
Also check out the following...
I Fired Jesus.
Why I Don't Play the Lottery.
Get a Back Bone
I Sin Every Day
