//Warning - Wall of text// (This is something that I have been mulling over for a few days. Parts of all 3 books I am reading have contributed to this thought process.) The Spirit of Truth In writing previously on the spirit of an age, I would feel it necessary to expound upon the spirit of truth, the threats against it in contrast to the changes of the spirit of an age. It is the way of man to pass from age to age, adapting to the sounds and colors in the likeness of that age. Time would seem to pass of its own accord at times, each age bearing the fingerprints and designs of its own custom, with man acting as the outward impetus of expressing its sound and fury. Yet, when an age has come to an end, one may not return to the spirit of an age, save memories and recurrent fads of fashion. What about the spirit of truth? When the spirit of an age passes time and changes face through alterations of ideology and social values, does the spirit of truth too change with it? The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. Psalm 119:159-161 Truth absolute changes not, but when truth is dressed in the dogma of men, the truth as presented absolutely, seemingly changes as whimsically as words in the mouths of merry men drunk not of the spirit, but of the world. The church as our mother has been dressed inappropriately by the wandering hands of “wise” men to fit their dispositions of the current age. As such, the outward professions of the church have accepted a syncretism of sorts with modern secular theology; whereas the truth itself has not changed, the practice and preaching of it have. The ideological diseases are many, and political correctness is just one of them. Political correctness is an insolvency of the truth, the failure and inability to pay with words the debt owed to the message of truth we attempt to deliver to the world. It is a dilution of the message, whereas it bears lesser meaning and significance when filtered through the narrow lens of political correctness. The blinding light of love, the real message, becomes dim, and instead of city on a hill, has been reduced to a narrow beam of light, illuminating only what one wants to be illuminated. Why do we allow this? It is because we have suddenly become afraid to offend people. Instead of standing for what is right, and what we believe in, we have made concessions and consolations about our message, watering it down so as not to offend anyone who believes differently. Yet, it stands to reason that anyone that is offended by absolute truth finds themselves with only partial affinity to it, or none at all. We forget that Christ came to us not with a sales pitch, but a prophetic message of truth and love. He did not seek to make friends, but to find brothers and sisters. Christ had many enemies, for he was seen as a radical during his time, and what he taught was hard to accept for many. Even so, Christ did not water down his message to make it more suitable and easier for spiritual consumption by the masses. He preached the truth in spite of the conventions and mores of the time, turning the spirit of that age upon its head. The early church, the first several hundred years after Christ, from the Apostolic age till the reign of Emperor Constantine, and even in modern times, though to a lesser degree, has the church faced persecution. For 300 years after the death of Christ, the church was persecuted heavily by direct and indirect decree from various Roman emperors. They were persecuted for the obstinacy of their faith. They abstained from many aspects and activities of daily Roman life. This brought them the ire of the Roman public, who saw them as snubbing their nose at the greatness of the Roman Empire, when in actuality they were simply abstaining from the various avenues and degree of pagan worship found so prominently throughout every day Roman life. The church refused to conform to the spirit of that age, the age of the Roman Empire. The church refused to change its message of truth, to bow to the demands and edicts of Roman decree, and as such we have a long litany of martyrs and confessors. Political correctness today has watered down the message of truth that has been passed down to us through the ages. Yet, instead of a call to discipleship, living a life of love and sacrifice, we are instead simply called to be good, to be happy, and to give what we can to the church. Any negative aspect of church theology or truth has been stripped away, so as not to allow the church to seem to negative or penitent to the public. We are also told that if we sin, it is ok because we are forgiven, but we make no real change of heart to walk any true path of discipleship. This “happy clappy” message lacks any true theology, and as such, there is very little penitence or true discipleship among the people that attend them, giving itself up to what Dietrich Bonheoffer has called cheap grace. We live in an age of cheap grace, but with expensive expectations. The gospel of prosperity is also finding its place in the church at large. The message that is taught here is that one’s wealth is somehow tied to their salvation, or subsequent spiritual wealth. It is no wonder this message finds popularity with the wealthy middle classes and upper echelons of the socio economic strata. Also, the hopeful less fortunate accept this message in hoping that if they find Christ, then they too will find money. This pattern is not too dissimilar from the social footprint of Arianism when it appeared in the early church. Arianism found its popularity among the Roman legions, the intelligentsia, and the upper class elites of Roman society. While the theologies are worlds apart, it must not be overlooked that the prosperity gospel has many of the same developmental hallmarks as heresies past. “If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ he would just be the prophet for this people!” (Micah 2:11) Heresy is a word seldom used in modern times, unless referencing one of the major heresies of the church from historical account. A heresy is a half truth. This is what makes them so dangerous, in that there is just enough truth in their words as to make them believable to those who lack any proper spiritual formation. In the early church, a catechumen studied and was studied for two to three years before being baptized and accepted into the church. This was done to make sure that they understood what it was they were getting themselves into, that they had the necessary character for discipleship, and that they carried a proper understanding and witness of the word with which they were to live by. This may seem extreme to some, but discipleship is an extreme measure when compared to the expectations and demands of the world around us. Very seldom are we tested and tried any more, and we take for granted what some people in other parts of the world still give up their lives for. Large swaths of the church today are apostate, and many more are on the fence, dipping their toes in and testing waters already lukewarm with the heresies of modern secular theology. The spirit of this age is rapidly changing, yet the spirit of truth has not, is not, and will not change. We must maintain the Orthodoxy of the church, and the spirit of truth that she protects. The spirit of an age will pass, but the spirit of truth will abide in us forever. “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” [1John 2:17]
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 03:56:18 +0000
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