CHURCHES IN DECLINE

PART TWO

DECEPTIONS IN WORSHIP
Jesus prophesied that many would come in His name and would deceive many. This has happened in many churches with manmade additions to Christ’s Teaching.
Many worshippers in traditional churches accept these deceptions and believe that this is how God should be worshipped.
The next six essays consider some of these deceptions.

Essay 5 March 2008

DECEPTIVE TEACHING
During some 60 years of regular church worship I heard many misleading messages from preachers
Some of these are noted below.

Salvationism. Some preachers promise salvation to those who join them in declaring their faith and praising God. These negative self serving beliefs are expected to secure their place in Heaven.
God is not served by adulation and formal ceremonies, but by the actions of forgiving and loving our neighbours. Jesus has already promised care after death to those who live by faith in Him.

The Second Coming of Jesus was foretold, mainly in Revelations, written nearly 60 years after Jesus. It is now the cornerstone of some sects. They believe that His return is imminent. Their worship aims to secure their place in Heaven when it happens.
This pursues personal salvation, rather than selfless service to our fellow man, as urged by Jesus.
The destruction of the world sometime is certainly possible, given man’s power over the atom.
It has not happened yet after two thousand years. There is no reason to assume that this is certain or imminent.
What is certain is that we will all die, and we know not when. That is a reason to live each day as if it were our last
It is how we live now that is important to us and to God.

Exclusivity in some sects allege that theirs is the only way to worship and that others are misguided and excluded.
It is inconceivable that a loving Creator, having sent his Son to die for us, would then allow subsequent manmade rules and practices to exclude those who did not accept them.
One such sect claims we must be born again. The only time Jesus called for this was to Nicodemus
Who as a senior priest of Judaism worshipped the pre-Christian God Jehovah. To be a Christian he needed to discard these beliefs and accept Christ’s Teaching exclusively.

Emotionalism is a feature of some services led by eloquent and emotional preachers. They condemn Satan and praise God. They also get excited, shout and sing loud gospel music. This obviously makes these congregations feel good. The only question is whether it helps them to live in Christian love for the rest of the week.
Speaking and preaching are two different ways of conveying a message. Jesus spoke in normal tones and language in His Teachings.
I feel uncomfortable when addresses are preached down to me in emotional stentorian tones. They assume their own righteous authority and talk down to their sinful listeners. Nobody else conveys their message like that. Some audiences clearly accept it, but Jesus merely taught simply that we are all sinners who should commit our lives to our forgiving God.
Supplication is implied in many recitations such as “we are not worthy to gather up the crumbs under thy table”. Surely this serves no useful purpose. Our Creator knows that we are weak fallible sinners. He sent his Son with the message of repentance and forgiveness for our failings.

Personalising worship is natural for humans. It may make us feel good. Surely emotional proclamations of praise and glorification serve little purpose? Our Creator is concerned with deeds not words.

Declarations of Faith in God are often called for. Surely anyone who gets up on a Sunday morning and goes to worship a God he has never seen, already has faith. There is no need to proclaim it. What they need is help to sustain their faith and teaching to help them to serve God.
Theology. Most preachers have a detailed knowledge of the whole Bible. This includes a wide variety of pre-Christian examples of the conflicts and heroic triumphs of the prophets, who were God-fearing warlords. Their challenges were upholding the faith of their people and defending them from hostile enemies.
Their faith and courage as leaders are often the subject of sermons. This sounds noble and inspiring. It is of little value in meeting the challenges of Christian living in our peaceful and very different society today.
It contrasts with Christ’s teaching in simple terms to his followers who were simple farmers, fishermen and tradesmen. What worshippers need are lessons from the gospels updated to help their Christian living in their more complicated lives today.
Conclusion
Listeners to evangelist preaching may respond emotionally, expecting safety and security by regular formal worship God. The second commandment, to love the rest of mankind is central. It necessitates a change in their whole way of life by serving God in al their dealings with people.