Modern Christianity

Modern Christianity is often maligned, including by most Christians. The more sincere you are in Christian faith, the further away you will feel from the sinless perfection to which we are called. In other words, Christians are (by definition) supremely humbled before God.

And yet we often see proud Christians, convinced of our status as members of the elect, convinced that we are already saved, predestined even -- which is very much the antithesis of humility.

The Modern Church

It has been said that if there were a perfect church, it would cease being perfect the moment you joined -- and this is of course true as we are sinners, all of us, irredeemable by our own will and works.

Imperfect Church

Even in it's earliest moments, the church was "imperfect".

His chief disciple (upon which He would build His church) denied the Lord three times, siding with the world over God. Two disciples sought privilege at the Lord's side, provoking envy from the rest. And still another betrayed the Lord for thirty pieces of silver.

And even after His glorious resurrection and ascension, the apostles faced internal conflicts from Judiazers and many external conflicts with pagans and gnostics, distorting the teaching and fostering schisms and heresies.

While there can be no perfect worldly church, there unfortunately exists many churches actively promoting heresies and division. These are -- to be clear -- churches in the spirit of antichrist. These are not churches pointing us towards the perfection that is Christ Jesus, these are churches pointing in the exact opposite direction of Christ.

In other words, if we take the gospel to heart and submit ourselves completely to Christ, then it becomes clear that many modern Christian churches are preaching heretical messages contrary to the Biblical teachings of Christ. And yet as Christians we are called to His church.

These divisions extend beyond the obvious transgender Marxist ideologues masquerading as Christians, but more subtly with female pastors and moderm political messaging from the pulpit, trying to "modernize" the church (resulting in the inevitable ecumenism, syncretism, and relativistic spiritualism).

Heresies come in many forms, as do temptations.

The True Church

Many will claim theirs to be the true church of Christ. Many will claim that other churches are not the true church of Christ. Others will claim that the true church is invisible. The physical buildings then are not the true church. And usually that shows. The banality and lack of sacredness of modern churches is self evident, where even shopping malls have more beauty and reverence in their aesthetic.

It is wise to be skeptical as we seek the true church.

None of this is an accident nor is it unprecedented in scripture. The many rebukes and the prophetic warning to the church in Laodicea are extremely apt to our modern churches,

Revelation 3:15-22

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

In our modern age of division and continuous destructive revolutions we may never find the true church of Christ. How can we at least find a non-heretical church, a church where Christ is knocking, and not antichrist? As always, we are called to repent -- for Christ is knocking -- and we need to follow. This may be difficult for many modern Christians and modern churches, but if we are serious in seeking truth and answering the call, then what choice do we have?

John 6:68

But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

They Followed Him

We are not the first generation to be so lost. The generations before Christ were lost in darkness, subject to principalities and powers, holding desperately to prophetic hope. And look how they followed when He called,

Matthew 4:18-22

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

Many are called, but few are chosen. Note carefully those that did not follow the call. And let us reflect honestly and humbly upon the story of the rich young man. A story more apt today than ever before,

Matthew 19:16-24

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

The rich young man is perfectly endemic to our modern age, to modern Christians, who are very much like this rich young man. By any account, this young man is being honest when he says he is fulfilling the mosaic law. We can imagine he was giving his tithing gladly and generously, and was honest and kind with everyone. Yet still he knew something was missing.

Without understanding, he was violating the first commandment, and had placed his possessions -- his worldly status -- above God. And importantly, what is often missed in modern readings of this story, the rich young man was likely healed in that moment. He came to Christ with pride in his heart, believing he might already be perfect; and he left with a broken heart, sorrowful, humbled before God Himself.

Psalms 51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.

Likewise, many modern Christians want the worldly benefits of the Christian lifestyle, and like this young man are fulfiling the worldly commandments, but they have not yet known God. They are not following the greatest commandment: to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul. And as we see in the gospel of Luke, it is not just wealth that we place above God,

Luke 9:57-62

And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.

And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

If we're honest, how often are we placing our careers, our families, our politics, above the worship of God? Contrast that to the apostles who dropped their fishing nets and followed Jesus. And lest one believe this was only due to Jesus walking among us -- there in the flesh -- we can see that afterwards the faith in believers only grew,

Acts 2:44-47

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Imagine such faith, not only answering when His church called, but selling all possessions and devoting their lives to Christ and His church. These followers of Christ succeeded where the rich young man failed, and where we in our modern world fail.

It is difficult to imagine such faith today.

Finding the Way

Imagine a man who sold everything and went to a modern church, showing up at the door and telling the church staff, "I have sold everything I own, and now I am here to follow Christ".

It's easy to imagine that a modern church would greedily take this man's money, but would they open their doors to this man outside of Sunday? If he refused to leave and stayed in the parking lot, praying day and night, begging for alms, what would the staff of a modern Christian church do?

How many would call the police or social services? For clearly by our modern view such a man would not be in his right mind. Is this not clear evidence of where we and our churches place God in the hierarchy of belief, beneath the power of the state?

And here's an easier question: would you personally give everything you own to your church and trust that they would look after you, distributing the money to all according to need? Or do you fear they would mismanage the money? And perhaps leave you in the cold begging for alms?

Even if you recognized that you are but a steward of any wealth acquired -- that it is God's wealth at the end of the day -- do you trust any modern church more than your own stewardship? And is this not a subtle form of self-worship?

A modern church may certainly ask for a tithing, but why only 10% and not everything? If they are the true church of Christ do they not deserve everything? If they are not the true church of Christ then they are a false church -- why does a false church deserve anything?

Is not such fear and uncertaintly evidence that you most likely do not believe your church is the true church of Christ? And by asking for only a tithing is that not evidence that they do not believe that they themselves are the true church of Christ? Perhaps they are only 10% truth, and your tithe confirms your 10% faith?

It is no wonder that demonic cults emerge in our confused modern age, and cult followers give everything to a charismatic leader. How desperate are we for truth and purpose in life? For we are all worshipping something. How many modern Christians are worshipping the state or mammon or nothingness instead of worshipping Christ Jesus? We are made to worship, and our modern churches are worshipping what exactly?

If you found the true church and believed it was indeed the true church, you would give them everything. You would follow exactly as Peter followed Jesus. Anything less is clear evidence that we are dealing with the prophecied Laodicean church -- where Christ will be knocking.

Christ is Knocking

If we are in a church where Christ is knocking, then we are to answer -- we are to repent as the Spirit commanded. Recognize that the rebuke against our modern church is done out of love. We are to cover our nakedness and annoint our eyes that we may see. In practice this means discerning truth, speaking against heresies, and growing closer to Christ who is there with us.

Tongues and other Demonic Deceit

If we are serious about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, then we should question the gutteral nonsense of modern charasmatic churches, so-called "speaking in tongues", and ask: why are you not speaking ancient Greek or Hebrew?

The ancient Greek language was the language chosen for the revealed truth that is the new testament. Likewise ancient Hebrew was the language of God's chosen people, the language of the old testament. The synthesis between these extraordinary languages gave us the revelation and the fulfillment of prophecy that is Christ Jesus.

Gifts of the Holy Spirit are real. This includes prophecy (speaking revealed truth), as well as the gift of tongues, that is, learning and speaking other languages. We are called by the Holy Spirit to use these gifts, and our Laodicean churches are called to repent. Our modern churches are called to cease the heresies of ecstasy (speaking nonsense and calling it "tongues"), and to cease the heresies of ecumenism (vain unity over truth) -- we are called to language learning, to prophecy (speaking revealed truth), to healing -- we are called to Christ.

A simple test of a faithful church is thus, do they help you study languages (Biblical or otherwise)? Do they reject the heresies of ecstasy and ecumenism? Is it Christ or antichrist that is knocking?

I submit that we are all in need and desperately seeking for the true church. A church where we would gladly give everything -- where there is healing, speaking revealed truth, and language learning. Instead we give according to our weak faith in such -- and, as weak as our faith may be, we pray to find the true church of Christ. Our modern churches are a sad inversion of the true church (where we worship the state and materialism, placing the church beneath both).

If we cannot find the true church, or anywhere that Christ is knocking, then where should we go?

Desert Wilderness

If Christ is not knocking, and the churches are nothing but heresy -- and for many this will be their calling -- we are to go to where the true church will always be found, to the desert, to the wilderness. And we will be carried there by the Holy Spirit.

Hosea 2:14

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.

We see the truth of the wilderness throughout the Bible, in the gospel Jesus goes to the desert after His baptism, and we see this most profoundly in Exodus,

Exodus 19:3-6

And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Note the symbolism of eagles' wings. That same symbolism is in the Book of Revelation as the prophecied church escapes into the wilderness,

Revelation 13:17

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The true home of the church is the desert, the wilderness. And like the desert fathers we are called by Christ -- whether that be in the apostolic church where we sell everything we own, or in a modern Laodicean church where we repent, or in the true church of the desert -- in all ages we are all called to follow Him.