The First Church of the Casual Christian — Part 2

The book of Revelation is a book of prophecy, and for those of you who have not made friends with it, you fear it because it lays bare God’s plan for the judgment of a Christ rejecting world. Chapters 2 and 3 are the same: They are prophetic. And prophecy is history foretold. Thus, God used seven literal churches to map out the course of Christian history prophetically. For those not satisfied with this assessment, the entire book is called prophecy in chapter 1, verse 3.

And let me also say that God, in foretelling this history, glosses over nothing, but gives us an unbiased forecast; he gives us the good, the bad and the ugly, something that modern day Americans are loathe to do.

In continuing on, then, we move past the first two descriptors of this church and on to the third: Their temperature. Revelation 3:15-16 says they are a lukewarm church. Historically speaking, the city of Laodicea piped water from a natural hot springs some miles away via an aqueduct. However, the farther from the source the aqueduct got, the cooler the water became, so that by the time it reached the city it could no longer be used for health baths, but yet it was still too warm to drink. Thus, being lukewarm, it was good for nothing more than an emetic.

The significance of this descriptor in relation to modern day Christianity is huge, and again, we can peg this historically to the mid-20th century. It was during this era that a group of, albeit well-intentioned, individuals proposed that evangelical churches were too distant from mainstream America, and therefore the gap needed to be narrowed. The suggestion was to take a step in the direction of the world in the hopes of making Christianity a little more palatable for them, and thus win them.

Thus, out of evangelicalism, a new movement was born, known today as neo- or new evangelicalism. In truth, what this step represented was a shift away from the source, Christ, and movement in the direction of the world. The principle that Christ gives us here is that the further away from the source Christianity gets, the more worldly it becomes. The trouble is that this church occupies the middle ground, a position that is absolutely revolting and nauseating to the Son of God.

Ultimately, this new movement, the emergent church, represents only the latest step away from the source in its journey toward the world, and is as natural a step as the swinging of a pendulum, but there have been numerous other steps that many fail to consider. One of the greatest of these is that of Bible translations.

While it is not my intention here to fully delve into the issue of Bible translations, it is significant to note that up until the mid-20th century, versions other than the King James enjoyed relatively small readerships, but this has changed in our day. The significance of this change is that it is one of a shift from its source.

It is undisputed that the King James Bible is the most literal, word for word English translation there is, bar none; it draws its strength from the source. But all other versions are dynamic in their interpretation methods; that is, they represent what the translators thought God said, and thus are more of a commentary than even a translation. At best, all other translations represent a shift downstream away from the source and are reflective of their readership.

Which Bible do you read?

Another that is prominent in our day is that of music. I can still remember when contemporary Christian music was in its formative years and was simply known as Christian Rock. Everyone claimed that it was a hybrid of Christian words set to a worldly beat, and their mantra was that there were some who just wouldn’t hear the gospel any other way.

Notice the shift? A step from the source in the direction of the world.

There is yet one more descriptor left to discuss, but before we get there we must closely consider this departure from the source, Jesus Christ. Many of you will howl when issues such as abortion and gay marriage arise, but where is the howling for these other shifts? The reality is that the one is just farther on down the stream, away from the source.

Folks, Jeremiah 6 says, “ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” We need to get back to the source.

Until next time.

Ron Hamman is pastor of Independent Baptist Church of Wasilla. Contact him at 357-4229 or rghamman@mtaonline.net.