Some Brief Thoughts

Tuesday, October 18th, 2022

by Ken Pullen

A CROOKED PATH

I realize the insatiable demand by folks these days for brevity is not my strength, nor my desire, but I will work to be as succinct as possible here.

A few things.

I have been having an email conversation with one of the pastors of the church my wife and I have been attending for going on five years, and where we are members. This pastor is young when compared to me. He is one of the most gifted and rock solid in the Word young pastors I have ever heard. His love of the Lord and of the Word of God is evident in his preaching. Though he is likely more than 30 plus years younger than me I listen and humbly submit to his words of advice and what he may reply to me at any time. I keep Romans 12:3 always in mind;

For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

King James Version

I write the following to myself primarily, and then to every other person professing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Each of us professing to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ can only truly be such in sincere humility. Sadly, far too many folks, be they pagan or professed Christian think of themselves as much higher than others. Whether this truth is acknowledged or admitted. This is part of our rebellion against God and how He created all things and our turning to the wiles of the devil from the beginning. It is innate within us and is something that must be addressed and suppressed by faithfully turning to the Holy Spirit for help. Since no person can wrestle and defeat this on their own.

I am acutely aware that in the latter 20th and early 21st century the idea of suppressing anything for an individual is verboten and goes against all that is taught [by Satan] but suppressing evil and sin that enters and attempts to pull us this way and that away from the Light, the Truth, the Way and the Life must be recognized, addressed, and taken care of. We must mortify sin and temptation. Mortify — a very good and useful word cast aside by modern men and women who pastors, preachers, church leaders, and professed Christians imagine must “contextualize the message for today’s audience.”

The pastor I have been in communication with is a godly example of Romans 12:3. He is a humble man of God. I love him as a brother in the faith and have always been enriched by his preaching from the Word of God. He is one of the many young pastors in the church my wife and I have been attending and are members of [more on this later].

In the course of our electronic conversation, focusing mainly on the messages delivered today, I have to take exception with one thing he replied to me;

“After all, our method of preaching is that the application of the biblical writer is the application of the sermon simply contextualized for today’s audience.”

Translated: Due to the weakness of minds, and the dumbing down of all of society the message must be dumbed down to meet the people of today rather than ever expecting them to rise up higher to meet the message.

We ought not to feel the compunction to reduce, lower standards, or lower the message, the desire to accommodate or appease the mindset of today in our delivering of the context of the Word of God.

Let us, if we are truly disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, true children of God, truly transformed in the renewing of our minds and made into new creatures by the Supernatural power of the Spirit of God not ever lower standards or think the message must be dumbed down or filled with worldly illustrations, banal stories, jokes and such, or in the delivering of the Word be so well rehearsed or thinking it is the human speaker that is the power, the focus, the source. Where is true faithful reliance on the Holy Spirit in preaching today? Where is true faithful reliance on the Holy Spirit in today’s professed Christian? Almost all vainly, foolishly imagining they are the power. It is them that brings people to Christ, or it is them by their will, actions, and power that can bring about change!

How arrogant, how ignorant, how unBiblical and unChristian!

As a constant observer and listener, a wee watchman on the wall this is what I see and hear more than those professing faith to demonstrate a reliance, even a belief in the power of the Holy Spirit to work in sermons, in their daily lives, in renewing them, transforming them from the worldly creatures they once were. Is it any wonder the condition of our churches and Christianity is as it is in our time?

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:2 — English Standard Version

Romans 12:2 multiple translations

I see and hear more desire to conform to the world than in being transformed by the renewal of the mind and testing to discern what is the will of God, that which is good, acceptable, and perfect. And contextualizing the message for today’s audience is not following the instruction of Romans 12:2, or any book, chapter, passage, or verse within the whole Word of God for that matter.

Imagine if there would be Christianity today, what the world would appear as if it still remained if the prophets, the apostles, and the Lord Jesus Christ was more concerned with “contextualizing the message for today’s audience” rather than speaking, writing the bold truth of God!

Did the prophets, did the Lord Jesus Christ, did the apostles dumb down their message in order to reach people? How about we stop imagining every person in the Bible spoke and thought as a 20th or 21st-century person and we come to the awareness and truth of the matter, the truth of the times in which we find ourselves, and finally come to see and now our purpose here. And that is not to contextualize the message to meet today’s audience who wants to only feel good and be fed sugar, spice, and everything nice, not in refusing to speak the necessary words to them boldly.

Boldness and truthfulness, bluntness, and straightforward writing and speaking can be done with gentleness. This runs contrary to the 20th and 21st mind who imagines it’s all speak softly and say nothing, white nothing to rock people from their complacency and comfortable ruts, but true kindness, true love, true compassion, true gentleness is the exact opposite as it is perceived and executed in these times.

If you were in your yard, walking down a city street and you saw a young child begin to run out into traffic and perhaps be killed would you think you had to be either passive and do nothing, or call out to them softly because you feared upsetting them? Or would you attempt to rush to them yelling to get their attention and pull them from certain danger and death to THEN speak gently, calmly, and sweetly to them as to the error of their ways?

The “audience” is no different than children without guidance running into traffic.

I was also instructed by this young pastor;

“I am also not sure that I understand your concern in the previous email regarding a lack of spiritual seriousness. It is my observation that both in our classes as well as from the sermons, that we strive to seriously study the Bible in order to teach and live its message. We are always seeking to dig deep into the riches of the text of Scripture in order to emerge with both the structure of its message, the message itself, and the relevant application. At the same time, we realize that when we teach there are a variety of different hearers. There are those who are mature and have believed for some time, there are those who are new Christians who have much learning to do, and there are those who have not believed and need to come to faith. While the Sunday morning worship is, in my understanding, predominantly for the edification of the saints, there is also a place for the unbeliever who perhaps has come in by good Providence. And it is often to that person in which we appeal with simplicity and clarity. I would, however, contend that application to the seasoned believer and new believer are clearly and weekly present within the sermons. After all, our method of preaching is that the application of the biblical writer is the application of the sermon simply contextualized for today’s audience.”

Longstanding in the faith does not automatically translate to maturity. I would not have broached a discussion with this pastor, who is the pastor my wife and I were instructed to meet for our membership interview after completing our membership class, were it not for my now four-plus years of attending a Sunday morning class presented by one of the pastors in one of the books of the Bible — an adult Sunday school if you will — prior to our going into the main Sunday morning service. In which it has been clearly demonstrated on a weekly basis, among the gray-haired and balding heads that dominated those in the chairs in the class my wife and I attend, my being gray-haired and old as well, that longstanding in the faith does not translate to maturity in the Word, Bible fluent or literate.

As has been shown by the words and reactions of many in that class. Taken by surprise, aghast at something they have just learned taking place in America, in society. I ask, what have these folks been doing all these years and paying attention to? How much time has been spent in the study of God’s Word and in being separate from the world, seeing the continual decline and evil of the world?

And why does the message of the Holy Bible need to be “contextualized for today’s audience” who haven’t been paying attention, who have allowed worldly influence to a great degree into their speech, their thinking, and their lives no matter their age — and most of these I know and reference have many years, decades on me in their declared faithfulness and belief in the Lord and their walk along the Christian road in this fleshly life than me — why the compunction, the need to dumb things down for “today’s audience” rather than present a higher message and compel the hearers to rise up to meet that message?

There is a constant call for revival. For great Christian revival in America and in Western nations who have lost their way.

Do some research. Discover the well-known pastors and preachers of the periods of Great Revival and how they preached and delivered the Word of God to their audiences. I implore you to come back and open and read the full every word contained in the link below, or stop right now and open and read it:

Revival Preaching – Banner of Truth USA

There is complacency today, a comfortableness, a message being delivered that has its roots and structure more in modern seminaries and theology schools than in placing complete trust in the Holy Spirit and in the Word of God. A fear of upsetting folks. Of “turning them off” which tells me those delivering the message think they are the source and the power and they do not believe or trust in the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts and minds of people to melt their cold dead hearts and bring them to Christ — not to bring them to a certain church or to follow a certain pastor or preacher.

Lastly, my wife and I were drawn to the church we have been attending due to the preaching of its well-known, internationally-known senior pastor. I had abandoned my search for a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching, Bible-centered church. I had spent much time in going around to various churches, at one point even attending a Messianic church in the hope of finding sincerity in preaching and following God’s Word. To find a body of true believers wherein it was evidence the Holy Spirit was alive and well within the assembly. The state, tragic state of what passes for a Christian church, a Christian today is most disheartening and pathetic. A travesty. Really.

After much searching and coming to believe there was no such a place within a great radius of miles from where we live I stopped searching. And I listened primarily to audio sermons of pastors who have left this earth in their flesh. Then one day my wife asked me if I had ever heard of the pastor who is the senior pastor of the church we began attending. I had not. I listened to a number of his sermons and after which I told my wife we would go to that church, since it is about a 40-minute drive from our home, and see if it was a place for us to make as our home church since we knew we needed to find and have a home church.

This particular church would be classified as a mega-church. I had never attended a church of such a capacity of people in my life. There were three morning services given back to back by the senior pastor most Sunday mornings and each service was attended by anywhere from 1,500 to 1,800 individuals.

We went for the sound doctrine and the sound Bible teaching and preaching.

We began attending one of the myriad Bible study classes given while one of the three morning services was delivered.

We sought to volunteer and be of service.

But over time things have subtly changed. There are now only two morning services due to a dropoff in attendance. This has been attributed by the church leaders and some folks there as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which perhaps has a slight role, but it is not the whole story or culprit. The pastors and elders are too close to themselves and do not realize or see the changes present. They cannot step back from the mirror and be ruthlessly objective. Part of all of this is the fact that the senior pastor is so well known and he now is only present and preaching at this church about half the year. Spending his time at various conferences, speaking at other churches, speaking at various schools and colleges, and taking Mediterranean luxury cruises which are now de rigor and appearing required by all the well-known pastors of our time as they call these cruises — following in the missions of the apostle Paul, or going to the Holy Land, or deepening of the faith while the top cabins are going for over $36,000. The smallest and least costly cabins go for over $6,000 per person. Yes, exactly how the apostle Paul traversed the Mediterranean is it not!? Not exactly being called the humility cruises are they?

The church we attend and became members of is just too large. There is such a thing. Too large for genuine Christian fellowship or ever developing a real relationship with a pastor since this church is so large it needs more pastors and elders than it has to meet the needs of those attending. I have only met and shook the hand of the senior pastor on the night my wife and I was introduced to the assembly as new members. Otherwise, unless in his inner circle, one of those that may have been attending this church for the 30 years he has been senior pastor there, or someone visiting from a faraway place access to him is almost impossible.

I mentioned once, in the early morning adult Bible study class prior to the morning service that I was going to write a letter to the senior pastor. I was told in front of the class not to write to him. That many of the letters received just automatically end up in the trash bin, and he receives more than enough letters. I was told this by the pastor teaching the class. A man who has been a pastor for over twenty-five years.

This ought not to be.

Too much popularity and being well-known is not a good thing in Christianity. We don’t need any more celebrity or star pastors. Being well known worldwide ought not be the desired goal — save if your name is Jesus the Christ, or one of those known to us in the Word of God. An apostle, a prophet, a king, or a person of faith as our example.

A church can become too big. As many have become. Losing their way as they’ve increased in size. Or at least too big to fulfill the needs of many attending it. It can become a place on auto-pilot where people show up on Sunday, and go out from Monday on without their revealing to the world they are in Christ. A place of complacency, lukewarmness, and arrogance. Bloated and not facing themselves in the mirror, or if they do the image coming back at them is not an accurate or objective one.

This is also, in the words of the senior pastor in one of his visits to another church to speak, “a well-heeled church.” A lot of affluence is present. From where it is located and many who attend. A lot of money is present in this church. Not that in itself is terrible but affluence has a knack for creating certain tendencies and behaviors in those who are affluent.

My wife and I would not ever be classified as “well-heeled”. We are greatly blessed by God our Father, but we are not materialistically rich. The massive parking lot of this church holds Bentleys, Mercedes-Benzs, Lexus’, Audis, Range Rovers, Cadillacs, and many high-end vehicles and many attending live in wealthy housing developments or locations. Not that this is wrong or that they have not worked for such things, or been blessed greatly by God in material wealth while here on earth — but affluence, many years of it, can tend to build a shield around folks and keep them from the reality of this world and other people’s circumstances. They come to love their comforts and affluence. A bit too much.

Fortunately, and due to this church being of sound doctrine for the greater part, being a Bible-believing and preaching church, and having the number of attendees, they also are active in creating church plantings. Much smaller churches in radii further out from the main church.

My wife and I have been and will be attending and having our membership transferred to one of these church plants.

A place where perhaps 200 people at most attend a Sunday morning service, rather than about 1,800 attending two services — along with this smaller church having in-church Bible studies prior to the service for men and women, and having Bible studies for women, and men, along with having people gather in small groups during the week to study God’s Word, while also having smaller groups gather during the week to read God’s Word together.

Folks more of our place and station on this earth. Plus, not that this ought to be the main consideration, but this smaller church is also a ten-minute drive from our home rather than the usual 40 minutes.

A place where we can come to know folks by name while also growing in the faith and hearing the Word of God preached wholly, accurately, and fully.

Hopefully, not having the …the application of the sermon simply contextualized for today’s audience.”

And placing complete faith in the Holy Spirit to assist greatly in the delivery of the message from the Word of God and trusting faithfully in the power of the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts and minds of those in attendance. Not the man speaking being the power, but the power of the Spirit of God present and trusted. Not fearing upsetting someone with the truths and realities of these last of the last days, not accommodating or appealing to people to be pleasing people, but being pleasing and acceptable to God our Father in the delivery of the message.

I hope and pray you know, attend, and have such a church, such a body of true believers where you are, and that you are thankful daily for such and are an active part within such a body. For the times demand such.

Perhaps not as brief as many would like, certainly not the message or words some want to read or hear, but I do not write anything but the facts and the truth. Not merely as I see it, but as it is delivered and present in this fallen and eroding ni sin evermore by the hour world.

And the great decline within what is called Christianity today.

Far too much of the world and the acceptance of the world in today’s churches.

Only sound faithful, humble, Bible-following individual true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ can stand against such erosion and worldliness. Speaking out. Standing boldly and firmly in the full armour of God in these times [see Ephesians 6].

Rise up to the message of the Holy Bible. Do not ever attempt to lower God, lower Christ, lower the Holy Spirit to our sinful and limited levels. Rise up to meet the greater, higher message. Do not reduce or diminish the truth of Scripture. Hasn’t there been more than enough dumbing down? Appeasement? Accommodating sinful men and women and their desires and demands?

Where and when does the instruction of the Lord and his Word, all of it become the uppermost priority? Not having to “feel good” in the message and having it dumbed down and accommodating the 21st-century words, worldliness, psychology, and philosophies — the lukewarmness, the complacency, the status quo being the food received? Thinking that life, Christian life can be sustained and have any growth in watered-down milk rather than meat. That lukewarmness rather than fire hones builds up, and matures one in their walk in Christ, in their depending faith and knowledge within God’s Word, which is the revealing of God’s will in our lives.

Also see: Revival Preaching – Banner of Truth USA