Hating
Holiness
Commentary by Paul Proctor
I saw something in the mall the other day that nearly turned my stomach. An item for sale caught my attention as I passed by a clothing store, accompanied by my wife. For teens, it is, and always has been, at least for as long as I’ve been alive, chic to
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wear clothes that are, shall
we say, shocking to adults. That’s what rebellion is all about.
Kids obviously love it because it not only challenges societal standards
and authority but gets them the attention and admiration of peers, as
well. Shop owners love it simply because it makes the register ring.
Nevertheless, there, in that little boutique, written across the front
of a brightly colored T-shirt, in bold print, was the proud proclamation:
‘Jesus is my homeboy.’
My initial thought was that some anti-Christian group or organization
was merely mocking God for moolah. Then I realized it was really the
handiwork of hipsters hocking God for hoopla and in the process, degrading
the Divine to the level of street urchin in some opportunistic attempt
to alter the public’s perception of the Prince of Peace into someone
not so sacred, serious or sin conscious. But, my I don’t know about you, but even under grace, the very thought of coming face to face with the Alpha and the Omega is more than a little unsettling. In fact, I’ve yet to find anyone in scripture who wasn’t dramatically affected in some way by the mere presence of God. Scripture tells us that even the Earth trembles before Him. |
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You
see, the flesh hates holiness and so do those who have dedicated their lives
to making the Church more like the world. Frankly, holiness is hard on the
numbers and has a way of annoying the ambitious and offending the obscene.
But, this is the new evangelism, my friends. This is the purpose and passion
of the church growth movement – to dispel all fear of God and make Jesus
our ‘homeboy.’
“The
fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and
the froward mouth, do I hate.” (Proverbs
8:13)
Instead of hating
evil, as scripture commands, today’s Christian is being taught just the
opposite – to hate holiness – not in so many words, but by zealously
ridding the Church and its members of anything that represents or encourages
fear, respect, reverence and awe toward the Almighty – going so far as
to promote a casual, even cavalier attitude and atmosphere in and around church.
Many of you have
probably asked yourselves at one time or another: “Whatever happened
to real worship?” Well, I would say to you that it went the way of fear,
respect, reverence and awe. We essentially exchanged it for Jesus the Homey
so we could appeal to the flesh, feel better about ourselves and artificially
grow the Church.
The
fact is; where there is no fear of God, there is no worship. And where there is
no worship, there is no love – at least not the self-sacrificing,
cross-carrying, truth-telling kind of love that Jesus demonstrated. There’s
only a reciprocating, “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine”, kind of
love – the kind of love that offers amusement for applause, friendship for
flattery and titillation for tithes.
So,
if you’re tired of waiting on the Holy Spirit to grow your church the old
fashioned way – just do what Satan did to Jesus in the wilderness and appeal to
the flesh by offering the world. (Luke
4:5-8) He didn’t take it, of course. But, if your church does, I can almost
guarantee that it will grow at an enormous rate. Just tell all the visitors and
prospects that they can have eternal life AND enjoy everything this world has
to offer by making Jesus their homeboy and you will have more professions of
faith, baptisms, new members, volunteers and missionaries than ever before,
because, without a doubt, the satanic secret of quick and easy church growth is
hating holiness.
“These
things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in
order before thine eyes.” (Psalms
50:21)
The above article appeared on
NewsWithViews.com May 1, 2004. Paul
Proctor, a rural resident of the Volunteer State and seasoned veteran of the
country music industry, retired from showbiz in the late 1990's to dedicate
himself to addressing important social issues from a distinctly biblical
perspective. As a freelance writer and regular columnist for NewsWithViews.com,
he extols the wisdom and truths of scripture through commentary and insight on
cultural trends and current events. His articles appear regularly on a variety
of news and opinion sites across the internet and in print. Paul may be reached
at watchman@usa.com