Confronting Darkness

Sin Management Is Big Business

This is an excellent article by Paul Proctor exposing the antinomian state of the apostate church and it's ever-increasing resemblance to the state of religion warned about in 2 Timothy 3:1 - 4:4, and 2 Peter 2:1-3.

The way the writer outlines the parallel between the Aids movement and the church growth movement is very insightful, showing how it's leaders "are more interested in 'managing the disease' than in curing it or stopping its spread." That this is obvious is made evident by the absence of the preaching of repentance from sin in the church, especially by those who lead ministries that are labeled as seeker-friendly and the persecution of those who would speak out against the trend.

"Mega-churches, para-church organizations and their many ministries, affiliates and support groups now seem to have programs for almost every psychological ailment, addiction, disorder, disease and distress known to man. But the one thing that is noticeably absent is the biblical call to repentance. Could it be that those in sin management don't really want such a message preached? After all, if their prospects and participants actually turned to Jesus Christ in true repentance and faith and experienced His healing, deliverance and life-transforming power, many of their popular programs would be rendered irrelevant; and that would spell disaster for the sin management industry called the "church growth movement" and subsequently put a lot of people out of work or, if you prefer, out of 'ministry.'"

How related to this is the "tithe?" Could there be a correlation between the numbers that are sought and the tithe dollars that are represented by these numbers? Only God truly knows the motives of men, but the fact of the matter is "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked..." (Jeremiah 17:9), and these men are neglecting the whole counsel of God. If they preached Biblical repentance from sin, the numbers simply wouldn't be sustained "because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14). As it stands, the numbers increase, but the lost are left in their self-centered, sinful state believing that they can have their cake and eat it too in a "church" where people "generously stroke their self-esteem while 'compassionately' strolling them into spiritual ruin by telling them exactly what they want to hear."

"And we wonder why the fire is gone from today's pulpits and the church is looking more and more like the fallen world around us... You see, if there's no sinful behavior at work, there's no need to repent; and if there's no need to repent, then there's no need to change our ways... so the seeker sensitive, Purpose Driven, church growth 'Christian' simply carries on unconcerned, unfettered and unrepentant in the name of Jesus. That's why today's 'church growth' looks more like a cancer than a cure."

The sad thing is that people's eternal destinies are at stake.

"So, by 'lovingly' focusing only on the symptoms and side effects of sin rather than on the cause and cure, the 'church' not only sustains it, they capitalize on it to grow their numbers while Hell retains the reservations of the unrepentant..."

The Word of God is clear about the fate of the unrepentant and their standing before God:

"For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.'
(Ephesians 5:5-6)

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
(1 John 2:15)

"Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."
(1 John 3:6-10)

The leaders of these seeker-friendly organizations who are responsible would do well to mark the words of Jesus and do some repenting of their own:

"But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves."
(Matthew 23:13-15)

And we would do well to come out from among them, and be separate! (2 Corinthians 6:17)