this paper is still in the process of being completed. When I get some more written, I'll update it. Until then, please be patient.
In the age of the Modern church, many attempts have been made to 'make people comfortable', and 'reach people where they are'. While these ideas seem good at the time, and are often initiated by well-meaning people, they can open the door to 'easy believism' or the Social gospel. This disease can (and has) spread like wildfire in a very short period of time, to infect a large populous. It knows no boundaries of denomination, race, gender, or geography. the time has come to speak out against this social gospel. Be warned. You WILL experience spiritual backlash on every level; from casual acquaintances to deep friendships; most people will defend the social gospel vehemently, even though they don't know what it is they are defending.
What exactly is the 'social gospel'? to put it plainly, the social gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ being perverted by the addition of human wisdom. It is made 'comfortable' for those who do not believe, in an attempt to make it more palatable (in the hope that more people will respond) Although this is nothing new, (the good news has always been distorted by false teachers, even as Christ ascended into heaven; Paul writes the Galatian believers on this subject) Mankind seems determined to come up with new ways to twist God's Word. No sooner does one false doctrine flourish and die, then another rises to take its place. One new 'move of the spirit' gives way to the next, and for some reason, most people do not see the pattern. defining the social gospel
The reason for this is quite astounding. Not only is the Social gospel a disease, it is also a symptom! The root cause of the social gospel is Apostasy, plain and simple. Not only has the Modern church moved away from Biblical teaching, It is now replacing those same doctrines with the teachings of mere men. This is apostasy in its most dangerous form because sound Biblical teaching is replaced by what 'sounds like' biblical teaching. Unfortunately, most modern Christians are not taught to discern the difference between the two.
Even this lack of discernment is a symptom which stems from no real Bible knowledge. People are taught what to believe instead of how to think for themselves ( you've heard the story of 'give a man a fish...or... teach him how to fish...'). Some pastors in the Modern church have given up teaching people to fish...it is easier to throw a fish out each Sunday morning or on a wed. night than to stick to trolling the biblical doctrine in the ocean of scripture; after all, you may run into conflicts with people who have studied scripture, and then what would happen? One of you (or both of you) would have to admit your beliefs were in error; and we wouldn't want THAT to happen!
All Christians should have an independent faith, and know how to study the Bible for themselves; sadly, very few do. This brings us to another point. Because people do not understand God's Word, they do not study it. Lack of study brings on even less understanding, and the cycle continues. You might think this is bad in itself, but it gets worse. Because we are by nature spiritual beings, we start to hunger for spiritual food. Since we don't know how to grow (or catch) our own food, we seek out someone who can feed us. The church and our local pastor would seem the logical place to go, and it should be. After all isn't that the job description in the Bible of a pastor? The problem is that allot of pastors suffer from being taught what to believe (i.e. Baptist colleges, Lutheran colleges, Methodist,.... etc.) and when they encounter any type of doctrinal conflict (justified or not), the safe fall-back position is whatever was crammed into their head (right or wrong). This has lead to conflict between denominations for centuries. [Writers note: this statement should not be taken as an attack on denominations; it is meant to show the conflict that can come by putting a denomination first and God's Word second.]At some point in the not too distant past, someone realized that it was easier to avoid doctrinal conflict, than to wade through it. Unfortunately, the only way to avoid doctrine is to abandon scripture, at least in part. And no self-respecting pastor would admit to that, would they? So the solution is to simply avoid doctrine that can be considered "divisive". this includes but is not limited to, the doctrines of Election, Predestination, the Second coming, the Godhead, the Virgin birth, Christ's earthly incarnation, and so on. it even spills over into non-doctrinal issues such as the method of worship, how we pray, music in worship, clothing, food & drink, etc.
How did this happen?
