Too often today, the 18 to 25 year old group is standing for issues out of rebellion, a lack of discernment and more often than not, a root of pride and discontentment. We fail to remember that what we gain in zest, we lack in experience. We’re greenhorns charging full steam ahead through could-be-guided territory and have asked the guides to stay put and by the way, keep the maps… we can do this all over again, better than you have the past couple thousand or so years!
When I hear the rumblings of how we have to change church, Christianity and the way in which we as believers engage the culture around us, I have to wonder why. If I remember correctly, we’re commanded to stand firm and hold fast to the gospel. The world hated Christ, how can we possibly be better than He, such that the world would treat us different? Have we perfected the great commission beyond what the Great Shepherd lived out?
What has happened today is the gospel according to Sun Tzu has crept into the church, weaving its way into orthodox circles cloaked under the guise of societal retooling. Sun Tzu in “The Art of War” lays out strategies; some say for war, others say for management, still others say for negotiations. In any case, the phrase that has continually stuck with me is “Maintain a position of no apparent position.” In other words, to avoid being pinned down by an adversary, never reveal your rooted position. If your “position” cannot be determined, there is no way to attack, thus your opponent is continually on the run. This however has one great flaw – exhaustion. You can surmise that if your position can never be determined, you and your enemy will always be on the run, thus your war, battle, negotiation, etc… will never be completed and are truly fruitless. Rather it will render you and your enemy blithering, exhausted, most likely paranoid, idiots.
You can tell who holds to this Gospel by trying to find out exactly what they hold to. They’re evasive, they want to redefine nuances of the scripture and most importantly, they feel that culture demands how we interpret scripture. A person with these characteristics will never stand firm on the hard issues because they’re too concerned with how the world will see them as unloving, dogmatic, too political, etc….
Therefore, under the Gospel According to Sun Tzu, we’ll focus on liberty, yet forget about God’s moral law. We’ll parade for saving the trees while we elect officers of the nation who openly vote for the slaughter of unborn children. We’ll fight for social injustices, yet forget that “The Son of man came to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10) We’ll focus on healing the injustices of the world around yet and disregard the fact that mans lost souls will never allow for true justice to reign.
Slippery is best word to describe these “neo-theologians”. They want all the buzz words to be true about them and their ministry. They want authenticity so bad that they advertise it, market it and tell you their authentic thus precluding them from being so. They want community but fail to build that on solid teaching, which is what ultimately builds common bonds. They want to be missional but forget that the mission is preaching and teaching the word, in season and out. They are tickling the ears of a weak, naïve generation and care more about being cool, hip people that have a Christian faith rather than a Christian who happens be able to relate to those around them because of their love.
“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do, be done in love.” 1 Cor. 16:13-14. We’re told to first stand firm in the faith, to be strong and do all of it in love (love by the way, is doing right in God’s perspective, not ours). Not a syrupy love to the point of being weak and rendering ourselves (or all Christians) emasculated.
To my generation who is dipping toes into the “new” Christianity that is emerging and is seeking to redefine what it means to be a believer, wake up. Truth can never be redefined, fads, movements and trends change, God’s word remains true. If you’re going to hitch your wagon to something that can change to world, make sure it is truly, the undiminished Truth and not a societal wind blowing undiscerning, noisy bible “scholars”.
“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9
