THE LORDS OF LAODICEA
by
Stephen T. Nieman

Chapter 2

"Christ in His earthly ministry met people where they were at in life, and we ought to do the same." This particular statement is certainly acceptable if it is made by someone who has a well-developed concept of Biblical separation. It is even admirable in the mouth of the same if he so believes this that he gives his life and fortune to go to the mission field. He leaves his suburban home and friends, brings his family to a primitive tribal village, and preaches Christ crucified to free them from the oppression of their sins. In order to do this he is going to have to present Christ as antithesis to the god that they are now worshipping. It is going to come as no surprise to this man that most of their tribal culture is arranged to appeal to their deities. If he is faithful to the Word, he will expose their depraved condition as a result of their oppressive gods and call them into a new life in Christ.

Yet there is another approach to evangelism. This is the syncretic approach, ever popular anywhere Romish or modern evangelism has preceded. In short, a syncretic gospel will manifest itself by responding to a societal need. The Elitist will sense a need within a profane environment and accentuate the positive aspects of the Gospel message in response to this societal need. It is here that the Elitist responds with his version of the gospel in a way that is in direct contrast to the earthly ministry of Christ. When Jesus Christ exposed a societal need, he also exposed the complete depravity of the system in which the people resided (See Matt. 5-7). The Gospel was not a band-aid, but rather resurrection from the dead. The Elitist, on the other hand, utilizes as many cultural elements in a given society as a "springboard" for his gospel presentation. He does not expose the culture as devoid of Spiritual light, but rather focuses on a specific need to draw the people into an inductively produced pragmatic acceptance of their gospel. At present we have the occurrence of an ecumenical movement called "Promise Keepers," which utilizes this syncretic approach to the Gospel. Recently, in Atlanta, Georgia, at what was promoted as a "Promise Keeper's Clergy Conference," the synthetic nature of ecumenism was exposed. The conference opened with heavy metal rock music. The ever popular charismatic pastor, Jack Hayford, led the chanting crowd in an "African witch doctor's dance." He explained to the cheering crowd that the Lord had taught him to dance in this manner. The Lord appeared to the TBN favorite in a vision and asked him, "May I have this dance?"

It is important to note that there is a certain pragmatism which exists in a variety of cultures which condemns such acts as adultery, stealing, murder, lying, ad infinitum. If your attempt to identify a culture with Christ is to emphasize the pragmatism (which is the positive experience-based aspect) of the Christian religion without exposing the antithetical nature of their religious system, you have denied the spiritual darkness in which they reside. It is this writers contention that the earmark of a synthetic gospel manifests itself in a system of sacraments or social reforms as opposed to spiritual separation from evil.

What is being posited by the elitist when he makes a statement about "meeting people where they are at," is that in order for grace to truly be grace, it must be free from the burden of "works righteousness." In this they are correct, but it is the writer's contention that in their concept of grace is a seed of error which consistently fails to bring about saving faith in the hearer.

Let me explain by using an example within our society. I might add that any earthly example of a spiritual truth is going to have some inherent difficulties, yet I believe I can shed some light on the erroneous propagation of grace as put forward by the elitist. An adequate example of grace within our society is the concept of government welfare. Now obviously the effects of welfare in our society have made the constituency subservient to a governmental system of taxation. Nonetheless, for purposes of example, let's assume the position of "perfect-case scenario. It is not a Constitutional right of the citizenry of the United States to obtain welfare from the government. Yet, in our contrived scenario, our politicians have graciously provided it. Before a person can obtain these benefits he must first approach the government and express a need. Inherent in this would be that he has fallen short of the societal standard and needs help from the government to exist in this society. When a government official approves the issue of funds to the welfare recipient, if the ideal were to persist, there is an inherent understanding in this as well. The official upon giving the funds presupposes that there is a message conveyed in this transaction. First, that the person receiving the funds does not have to pay them back; they are graciously provided . Secondly, that the government is trying to protect the living standard of its citizenry by graciously providing this money to the welfare recipient. Thirdly, that there is a congenital arrangement between the two parties. That is, that the recipient understand that this is provided for him so that he can attain the standard set by society (Ephesians 2:10).

In contradistinction, the elitist would have the inherent understandings dismissed altogether, casting them out with the charge of legalism or works-righteousness. When this concept of grace is carried to its logical manifestation, which it is presently being done in CCM, the result is truly shocking. A casual perusal of the popular CCM magazine reveals an array of seductively dressed woman performers (Titus 2:4-5; 1 Tim. 2:9) and heavily tattooed men performers . A popular group, "Jars of Clay," vehemently defends its decision to perform in nightclubs and many of the performers list secular performers as their musical idols.

So in reality what is being posited by the "grace charmers" is that in the welfare scenario the government would totally absolve themselves of any pretense of societal standards. They would strip their offices of any pretense of organization. The officials would dress as poorly as possible, finding the lowest possible societal element to image. All this to insure that the recipient was not aware of any subtle standard being represented. The clear message would be that the recipient simply accept this free gift with no inherent responsibility on his part. This is the elitist concept of grace. Is there a scripture that would indicate that there view of grace is flawed? Indeed.

In this passage the Holy Spirit could not have breathed it any clearer. The grace of God that truly brings salvation denies ungodliness and worldly lust. An antithetical statement might posit: "The grace of God that brings pseudo salvation utilizes the ungodliness and lust within a society to bring people to a false faith in a false christ. Furthermore we will rebuke with all authority anyone who questions our synthetic methods." An appeal can readily be made to devout men of the past whose doctrine of grace stands in juxtaposition to the manifestations of the elitists' "Christian" culture.

The first duty of the Gospel preacher is to declare God's law and show the nature of sin, because it will act as a schoolmaster and bring him to everlasting life which is in Christ Jesus.
--Martin Luther¹

The man who does not know the nature of the Law cannot know the nature of sin, and he who does not know the nature of sin cannot know the nature of the Saviour.
--John Bunyan²

They will never accept grace until they tremble before a just and holy law.
-- Charles Haddon Spurgeon³

Evermore the Law must prepare the way for the Gospel; to overlook this in instructing souls is almost certain to result in false hope, the introduction of a false standard of Christian experience, and to fill churches with false converts.
-- Charles Finney⁴