Originally published 24 Apr 2024 via Deep Dive Bible Adventures.

This post is going to ruffle some feathers and step on some toes. “Sorry, not sorry!” (Hat tip to Danny Bean, my pastor at Next Step Bible Church.)

For starters, let me say that it is very simple for me to slip into the sin of pride. I did not grow up in a Christian home, and when I became a Christian at age 17 (already in the Air Force) I did not have proper Christian mentoring and discipleship until at least 10 years later. Therefore, I “didn’t get the memo” about the snares of pride until much later in life. And, our culture is largely fueled by the idea that being a “proud American” is a necessary thing. So, I’m writing this post while “walking an intellectual tightrope”. But, I’m also writing it because the Holy Spirit told me this morning (Sat, 20 Apr 2024) to write it, and so I am trusting that He will guide my words and attitude. Again, “Sorry, not sorry.”

And, from the start, it is also time for another hat-tip — this time to Pastor Jim Kubic (a former US Army paratrooper and later a police SWAT leader), whose Launchpoint Church is now involved in a teaching series called “The Cruciformed Life” with a focus on rejecting what he calls “Me-ology”. The cure for “me-ology” is humility. (In the past, I was rarely accused of being “humble”> God is still working on me, but I’ve traveled quite a way with Him.) The essence of humility is “strength under control”. Sadly, the idea that churches and pastors need to walk in humility “does not play well” before an audience of … many churches and pastors.

So, with this topic already being covered by others, why do I need to write about it at all? First, because the Holy Spirit told me to. Walking in obedience is the fruit of humility before God. And so, I have learned that when God says, “Do this,” I need to do it. God is the ultimate jumpmaster. (And, on that great day that we Christians hope for, instead of “go”, God will say, “Come,” — and then, our last jump will be up! Glory to Him!)

God declares the end from the beginning. (Isaiah 46:10) So, when we look at how someone conducts evangelism, we need to examine that person’s “end goal”. Are the actions done to glorify God and help others get into the Kingdom? (On the surface, this might seem like a “no-brainer”. But, if that were so, then this commentary would not be needed.) How do we examine another’s intentions? There is a simple, and yet profound, legal doctrine that says: “action proves intent”. In other words, if an adult of sound mind did something, then it is logical to believe that they did it on purpose. Jesus said, “A tree is known by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33)

And, “that axe swings both ways” — whether the intentions were good or bad.

So, if a person has good intentions regarding evangelism, then their actions should be in accordance with God’s Word, and the fruit of their actions should reflect the Kingdom of God. But, if a person has bad intentions regarding evangelism, then the fruit of their actions should just as easy to discern — right? Well, not necessarily. That is why we need to take a “deep dive” into the topic.

Sadly, over the past 100 years, the “ship” of American Christianity has drifted off course — to the point that, on occasion, people are mocked for daring to suggest that we need to use the Holy Bible as a map to get us back on course! The retort comes in a form that sometimes sounds like this: “Well, at Pastor So-And-So’s church, they have an indoor rodeo with fireworks, and look how many people go there….” Of course, those people are “measuring with the wrong rod”. They act as if the numbers of people are the standard for judging a church’s performance. They have “lost sight of the shoreline” and are adrift in a sea of people-pleasing compromise. They don’t mind telling others about Jesus the Savior, but they don’t bother mentioning that He is also Lord — and thus, salvation will require some changes n behavior.

The above situation is sad if it involves an “average” believer / parishioner. But, what if the same situation involves a pastor? Then, the stakes are higher, because the pastor can influence a larger number of souls. That is why James (the first bishop of Jerusalem and Jesus’ half-brother) warned that the standard is set higher for the teacher / leader. (James 3:1) Sadly, there are people in leadership positions that do not have a righteous fear of God, and so they do not worship nor operate as God requires. (see Mark 7:7)

“The Lord moves in mysterious ways….”

As mentioned at the beginning of this post, the Holy Spirit called me to write it on Saturday morning. But then, I got “writer’s block” later that day. I asked myself how it was possible to get writer’s block if the Holy Spirit called me to write this. (Answer: I didn’t start right away. I got caught up in a few worldly distractions “to help me wake up”, and that robbed time from God. As a result, writing this post is much harder that it would have been originally.)

On Sunday morning, God poured out His grace. I was listening to Christian radio, and I heard a message by Pastor John MacArthur. He condemned the modern American church for being on a “power trip” that is run by “power pastors”, who want to puff themselves up with prideful claims instead of honoring the Holy Spirit for doing the work of evangelism. Kaaaaaaaa-BOOM. That was confirmation of the original call.

Divergent points

At this point, my message will diverge from the pastors named above. (And, to be clear, I am not a pastor. In my younger years, I felt that it was “possible” that God was calling me to become a pastor. But, I also procrastinated back then. Sad. But now, thanks be to God for tools such as the Internet and blogging platforms, I can still share insights gained from five decades of Bible reading and three decades of Bible study.) The above-named pastors gave their messages based upon analyses of the “big picture”. In this post, I am going to focus upon the “small picture” as an illustrative point. I believe that there are a lot of people that can relate to my story — even if they do not publicly admit it. And, that is the beauty of the difference between myself and a pastor. People can read this blog post in the privacy and silence of their computer screen. Then, a change can occur on the inside (where God intends that it occur), and yet without the pressure of any expectation of an immediate change on the outside (as some pastors and congregations expect). It is wrong of them to expect it (in some cases), and that is part of the “pride” issue that is the topic here.

Plowing in the wrong direction

When I was about 10 years old, I was visiting another church near my home. (I usually attended a church that was literally next-door to my home. The church that I was visiting was about two blocks away. I was visiting because a baseball teammate had invited me.) In retrospect, from my viewpoint of now being 66 years old, the pastor was young-ish and not very experienced. I don’t remember much about the topic of his sermon, but I can’t forget the technique of his “invitation” at the end.

“Have you ever held your hand in the gas flame on a stove?” he asked. What a scary thought. He had my youthful attention. “How about keeping your hand in the flame for a minute?” People in the congregation audibly cringed. “How about for an hour?” More cringing, this time louder. “Well, that is what Hell feels like — forever! You don’t want to go to Hell, do you..??!!” Then, the pianist started playing, and the pastor called people to come up front if they did not want to go to Hell. I ran. So did others. I can’t remember the terms of the prayer that he led, but I prayed it. And then, after the service, I went back out into the world … alone. Then, a few days later, I saw my teammate at Little League practice. We went right on pushin’ and shovin’ and cussin’ and telling dirty jokes — just as usual. There was no change in my behavior, nor my “heart” attitude. I had become like my “saved” teammate. ]Big eyr-roll, with sad expression.] That pastor had “sold” me something that I now call “discount fire insurance”. It was not a “genuine” salvation experience. But, how was I supposed to know that??

Small pixel, big picture

Based upon conversations that I’ve had in the decades since, I’m convinced that similar stories happened all over America. We were told to be “good boys”, but there was little discussion about what that meant. And, the only discussion from a spiritual angle paralleled the question, “You don’t want to go to Hell, do you…??!!” My father died when I was 14 (my mother had died when I was five), and so I moved from south Texas to Upstate New York to live with relatives. They were nominal Christians of the Byzantine Catholic variety. (My mother had hated Catholics, and she told me often that they were all going to Hell for belonging to “the wrong church”.) So now, I went from very little guidance to a fair amount of guidance — but, from people that I inwardly thought were destined for Hell. Seemingly, it was a no-win situation — the kind that Satan likes, the kind with no hope of escape.

But, glory to God, I grew up, joined the Air Force right out of high school, and became free to make my own decisions. That was winning — right? Nope. I did have an encounter that I look back to as my “salvation experience”. (That’s a topic for a separate blog post. It was not “normal”, either….) For the first time, I realized that Jesus really did suffer and die as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. (Prior to that, I had been taught “the flannel-board Jesus”, who was always smiling — even while hanging on the Cross!) I wept bitterly as I realized what He had actually experienced. Then, I went back to my little two-man room in the dorm at a training base and wept even more as I realized that He had gone through all that for me! I prayed for salvation, and I thanked God profusely for it. But, I still had no root in Christian mentoring. And thus, nobody taught me that “discount fire insurance” was not enough.

So, I just bumbled through a worldly life — but now, I did occasionally pray. And, I occasionally “went to church”. But, because of moving around in my military career, I did not become involved in a “home” church for another several years. Eventually, I began reading the Holy Bible on my own. And, slowly, I began to realize that God was going to require some changes in my behavior. To most people, that might seem like a “no-brainer”. But, by this time, I had living under the “discount fire insurance” form of false salvation for 10 or 12 years. There were some habits that had to be overcome.

Now, take that little pixel of my life and multiply it by hundreds of thousands — perhaps even millions. In a prideful desire to have “good numbers” in their personal reputations, many pastors have “neglected the weightier matters” by getting people “saved” without getting them discipled. It’s like launching a fleet of warships with no battle plan, no ammunition, and in some cases no communications. It’s a strategy of abject failure. Sadly, in my opinion, this is the condition of the American church in the wake of “power pastors” building up their images with a stack full of “numbers”.

In the years after I became “awake” to the root of the problem, I went on a search for “the right church”. On the one hand, my mother had ingrained in me that Catholics are going to Hell. On the other hand, I was very wary of Protestant preachers focused on numbers. But then, I met an Orthodox Christian chaplain in the Air Force. He gave me a book that described Orthodox Christianity as “the third side of the coin”. I began to wonder why nobody ever talked about this beautiful gem of spirituality. I attended various Orthodox parishes for 25 years. On two different occasions, I even lived in a monastery for three months at a time. I loved much about Orthodoxy.

But, it was not without its flaws. Because of its hierarchical structure, change comes slowly. And, some bad changes had crept in centuries before. They include: 1) calling priests / pastors “father”, 2) a focus on “formula” rather than “relationship” (although the concept of “personal relationship with Jesus” is taught far more in Orthodoxy than in Catholocism), 3) the veneration of icons (which are not “graven images”, as some claim, but sometimes it is “a distinction without a difference” in actual practice), and 4) prayers to angels and saints — especially Mary. (I have read some theological writings about this from Orthodox scholars. The Orthodox Church does not “worship” Mary, and she is not “the fourth person of the Trinity”. But, again, sometimes — for the average person in the congregation — it is a “distinction without a difference”.) Even with these flaws, I was very happy with the emphasis on Scripture, the rich beauty of worship, and the emphasis on “community”. I was able to largely “tune out” those flaws — in much the same way as Orthodox leaders seem to “tune out” the Scriptural prohibitions against those things. Were it not for these major flaws, then I might have remained Orthodox even after I moved back to the South 23 years ago.

Glory to God, there is a remnant

In recent years, I have been blessed to meet several pastors that have started independent congregations. I consider them (especially the ones named above) to be pastors of the “remnant Church” that will resist the evil of the End Times. (If you have read my other blog posts, then you know that I have studied the End Times for decades, and I am convinced that we are already in the End Times. Specifically, the War of God and Magog [see Ezekiel chapter 37] began when Russia invaded Ukraine.)

Remnant churches care about substance over form. Remnant churches care about souls more than numbers. Remnant churches care about “quality” more than “quantity”. Remnant churches are equipped and motivated to resist the evil that grows daily in our society. Remnant churches are thriving islands of faith in a sea of spiritual confusion. Remnant churches are not “politically correct”.

Here is my personal problem. For 25 years, I was “too Protestant” to fully thrive in an Orthodox environment. Now, for the past decade-plus, I am sometimes regarded as “too Orthodox” to fully thrive in a Protestant environment. And, each side is too “dug in” to acknowledge the good things of the other side. I once considered the possibility — and even started writing the book — of launching a separate Christian denomination that would mingle the good things from both sides. It was a daunting task. (Cue the “Mission: Impossible” music….)

This blog post is longer than my usual style. (Most posts take me about four hours to write, but this post took me five days — partly because of some extra demands at my day job.) But, there was no way to shorten it without reducing its impact. Compared to what is in my heart, I have barely scratched the surface.

My hope is that modern Christians — congregants and especially pastors — will begin to dig deeper into the meanings of the “little things” that they do, and then compare those things to the Holy Bible. (Christian author and activist Chuck Colson said, “Private actions have public consequences.” Nowhere is this more true than in the wake of some “power pastors”.) If it is done to glorify God, then do more of it. But, if it is done to glorify the pastor (or because Pastor So-and-So gets large “numbers” with this technique), then bulldoze it flat and then burn the rubble!! Christianity has had more than enough of “prideful evangelism” that launches souls adrift toward Hell.