Copyright © 2007 Ron Schwartz
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The Post-Modern Christian Era

November 18, 2006

From Ron Schwartz  

Our modern age is generally viewed as beginning about two hundred years ago when the Western nations abandoned their religious wars and began to embrace personal religious freedom.   Along with this, Western nations began moving from an agrarian to an industrial economy, and science began to provide answers to long-asked questions.   Personal religious freedom brought about personal fulfillment, and the industrial revolution brought the promise that utopia was finally within reach.  Combined with science, these values created a belief that “truth” was finally understood and therefore unquestioned. 

But two world wars, empowered by the industrial revolution, shattered our visions of utopia, and one man’s personal religious views brought about the genocide of six million Jews.   Instead of answering the questions that caused our insecurity, science brought about the atomic and hydrogen bombs.  The “truths” and standards that promised security and utopia were perceived to be its undoing, and the modern age failed to deliver.  Consequently, post-modernists point to unquestionable and broad-sweeping truths as modernism’s weakness.

Throughout the modern age, religious truth was rarely questioned.  The Bible was always used as the textbook in the classroom, and “separation of Church and State” was never an issue.   Truths, whether scientific, economic, or religious, were esteemed and valued.   But all of that changed when the modern age appeared to fail.  The perceived failure has lent justification for some Christian leaders to embrace post-modern thinking.

It has been suggested that “post-modern” means “to ask.”  Because the values and truths of the modern age failed, it has become our nature to be skeptical of long-held beliefs, “to ask” questions (i.e., question everything).  Therefore, the post-modern ideology rejects all forms of “universal” truth or dogma because, at one time, truths almost lead to our destruction.  Consequently, the post-modernist views biblical accounts (that are frequently surrounded with generalities but nevertheless accepted by Christians to contain absolute truth and certainties) with incredulity.   Relativism (the idea that values don't exist except in the mind of an individual or the culture that values them, and that ideas such as “truth,” “right/wrong,” or “large/small” are merely opinions from the observer’s point of view) is a byproduct of this post-modern age.  Truth, if there is such a thing, is situational and has largely been substituted for situational ethics.  Therefore, the closest one can come to truth is merely one’s own personal opinion.

Post-modernism did not begin as a result of the perceived failure of modernism.  In fact, real truth has nothing to do with modernism.  Post-modernism is just an illusion.  It is not something new.  It has always been with us.  It has just used other disguises.  The first occurrence of post-modern thinking is actually found in the third chapter of Genesis.  This chapter begins with Eve adamantly defending the “truth (a broad sweeping truth)” as she understood it.

Genesis 3:2-3 KJV

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

Satan’s reply reflected what we find in post-modern ideology.  Satan suggested that the truth was suspect.  Truth wasn’t truth at all, but a deception designed to hurt her and deprive her of her real destiny.   We find this thinking in contemporary culture.  Many people reject truth because they believe it will hurt them somehow.   Our culture has been brain washed into thinking that truth equates to pain, intolerance, and dogma.

Genesis 3:4-5 KJV

4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

We are the children of the post-“modern” era.  We have grown up in a culture that has learned to mistrust everything.   Traditional values are held suspect.  Religion, science, and economics are no longer the great truths they once were.  And nowhere is this more true than in contemporary Christianity.  The explosion of modern Bible translations and Christian books point to the fact that people no longer trust the Bible.  They search and search through reference material, ever searching for that elusive truth.   The success of the “Da Vinci Code” movie is a testament to this fact.  Many Christians are willing to accept conspiracy theory as truth rather than long-held biblical truth because even an unfounded conspiracy theory has more legitimacy in today’s society than traditional values.  Christians are suspicious of any truth and therefore continually search until they come up with their own personal truth.  Post-modern ideology tells us that truth must be what we have discovered, not that which is given or passed down to us.

It is easy to see this ideology at work in our culture.   We find it at work most obviously in our institutions of higher learning, but it is everywhere.  We find its influences in newspapers article, advertisements, and more and more we find it in the work of prominent contemporary Christian authors.

The Downfall of a Post-Modern Leader

To understand how devastating post-modern thinking is to our Christian leaders let’s examine a story concerning a solitary biblical figure.  It is the story of Saul.  This man, honored as the first king of Israel, became one of the greatest disappointments to God.  In just twenty-three verses, Saul goes from being a man called by the Lord to lead His people to a man rejected by God.  As you read this account, consider the impact of relativism and rationalization (the children of post-modern ideology) in your own life.

1 Samuel 15:2-4, 7-9, 13-15, 17-23 KJV

2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

The direction of the Lord was clear.  God commanded Saul to do battle and not to spare anything.   As God saw it, nothing from this nation was of any value.  And God didn’t want His people attached to it in any way.

4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt.

8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

Saul did obey God, didn’t he?   After all, he did destroy the Amalekites.  But he took the commandment of God a step further than what God wanted.   Instead of accepting the truth of God’s word, he questioned it.  Why did God want this nation destroyed?  Saul then rationalized: God wanted revenge (“I remember that which Amalek did to Israel”).  It is typical of a post-modernist to see God as a mere person.   Saul rationalized that to bring the Amalekite king back in humiliation would simply add to God’s revenge.   Therefore, his interpretation of the truth would please God.

In this story, Saul set the example for the people to follow.  He showed how it was right to question the God.   The people then followed his example.   If King Agag had value, then so did the fattest sheep, oxen, lambs, and other goodly incidentals.  What was good and bad had become subjective.

Like Saul, most Christians don’t go out intending to dismiss God’s word.  Most hold it in great reverence.  However, the infection of post-modern ideology has caused them to believe that it is right, even expected, to question and reinterpret God’s Word.   Post-modernism teaches that universal truth has given way to personal interpretation and fulfillment.  Therefore, truth is never black and white but gray and obscure.

But there is more to this story.  Since there is no universal truth, according to post-modernism, self-fulfillment must take precedence.    Saul saw more value in King Agag than his merely being the target of God’s revenge.  Agag was also a trophy.   He represented the triumph of Saul’s victory.  It was a way for him to return home and say, “See what great deeds I have done!”   Saul could rationalize his behavior because it was traditional for the conqueror to bring back the conquered king in chains and humiliation.   In absence of an absolute truth, even personal trophies had priority.

We find this same behavior today.  Lacking absolutes, many Christian leaders use the leaders and celebrities of this world as their role models.   These role models have caused many Christian leaders to go astray, misconstruing popularity for godliness.  The role models for this world are well-educated, successful, charismatic, and articulate.  They are businessmen first.  Consequently, lacking absolutes, many Christian leaders have learned to act as CEOs of corporations first rather than as God’s leaders.

13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.

14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?

15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

This is the greatest delusion facing Christian leaders today: the idea that disobedience can be construed as service and sacrifice to God.  How so?  Consider a few examples:

1)     Lacking absolutes many Christian leaders have chosen to adapt the practice of capitalism believing it to be their personal service to God. 

One pastor recently told me how that at a recent conference a prominent Christian speaker said that all small churches (those under 150 members) should shut their doors and send their people to the large churches.  What he was saying was essentially that smaller churches cannot provide the spiritual benefits of large churches.  What this exposes is the idea that church size and wealth equates to spirituality, or, as Paul wrote, “gain is godliness.”   This also demonstrates that many Christian leaders do not believe that Jesus is enough for the people of God.  Therefore, the idea that “where two or three are gathered in my name” is no longer sufficient.

The invasion of this ideology has caused Christian leaders to believe that it is all right to campaign against other churches in the community if it will lead to an increase in their own membership.  They even go so far as to describe their stolen increase as “God’s blessing.”  Because truth is subjective, Christian leaders can justify building artificial walls between their church and other churches, and demonize those people who dare to leave their congregation.   This type of Christian leader sees nothing wrong with turning evangelism into a marketing campaign.  Almost anything goes if it will increase attendance.  Be not deceived.  Employing marketing to sell your church is just that: selling your church.

2)     Many Christian leaders have come to believe that building their church is enlarging the kingdom of God. 

It is hard to explain how that a $150,000 sound and multi-media system is enlarging God’s kingdom.  Or that spending $10 million on a church or $200,000 on a parking lot is done in the service of His kingdom.  I spent time in Haiti, where I saw five thousand Christians meet and worship God in a simply constructed but fully functional building that costs only a thousandth of its US counterparts.  But post-modern ideology allows Western churches to believe it is God’s will to channel finances from our “fat” economies into elaborate and plush buildings that appeal to all our senses and satisfies our comforts.  Like Saul and King Agag, these leaders believe that the creation of their edifices is somehow their “sacrifice unto the LORD.”   Their unbiblical rationalized conclusion is that if it gets them more members, then it must be the will of God.

The sad commentary for each of these monuments to their ministries is that surrounding each church and its property, as well as the Christians who come and go from that property, are the poor, needy, and homeless of their communities.

3)     Pretense has replaced practice.

A few weeks ago I heard from a brother who claims that in 3^rd and 4^th world nations as many as six million people are coming to the overseas crusades of prominent Christian apostles and prophets.  I believe such claims to be greatly exaggerated.  Why? 

I have no doubt that God is moving in these nations in a way that we have not seen in the West for close to a century.   But for ministries to go to these nations pretending to part of this movement and exploit these people is unconscionable.   Why do I say “exploit?”  Because they are passing off this move of God’s Spirit as if it is happening because of them.   If these ministries are really used of the Lord, then why are they ineffectual in their own communities, cities, and nations where their headquarters are located?   Why is it that they are only effective when traveling to a nation that is already experiencing a move of the Holy Spirit?

If great crusades are really taking place by these prominent prophets, why spend the millions financing missionaries when a few prophets can evangelize that whole nation in a single night?  What is especially disgusting is that their pretense only serves to cause people to believe that their money will go further by financing these fat ministries, so they redirect their finances away from true missionaries.

17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?

Many Christian leaders identify with their work.   They find their significance in it.  Is this wrong?  Yes. Just look at Saul’s example.  We must not allow the values of this world to influence us.  We must find our value in our relationship with God, not in our work for Him.   Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished or by the size of your ministry.  Your church is not a trophy, and humility is the only cure for this cultural infestation of the church.

18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.

19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?

But Saul did destroy the “Amalekites.”  Is it possible that in destroying this nation Saul did not obey God?  Yes!

Here we find another cleverly disguised delusion.  I continue to hear from Christian leaders who say that they “know that there is a lot wrong with Christian leaders, but they are doing a lot of good,” and that I “should focus on the good they are doing instead of the bad.”   This is similar to Saul’s opinion of what he had done.  He did destroy the Amalekites, and therefore he had technically obeyed God.  The good that he did should outweigh the bad, right?  Why couldn’t God accept his sacrifice?  Simply because God will not overlook sin.  Not in the king of Israel and not in His Christian leaders.

Here we find Samuel focusing on the bad Saul had done.  He didn’t say that he understood that Saul had done a lot of good.  Saul sinned, and God would not overlook it.

Christian writers must stop being “enablers.”  By this I mean that they should stop acting like an abused wife who makes excuses for the actions of her abusive husband, thereby “enabling” him to continue abusing her.  There is far too much abuse of power and privilege among the Christian leadership elite for people to remain silent.  And no amount of perceived victories for the service of God will excuse it.  There must be more people like Samuel who are willing to risk being ostracized by their colleges to expose it.

The idea that Christian leaders are doing mostly good is rationalization once again and points to the fact that they have been infected by post-modernism.  It also allows them to continue in their pernicious ways and consequently nothing will change.

20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.

Many Christian leaders are deceived by a form of circular logic.  They recognize that people are contributing less and less to ministries, so they rationalize that they need larger and larger pools of people to offset the lack of contributions.  To get more people, they create buildings and programs that will draw people, but these buildings and programs continue to cost more and more, creating the need for even greater numbers.   So it goes on and on with Christian leaders ever building and needing more and more.

It is this need for more that has lead many Christian leaders to look to post-modern thinking for help.  Many of these leaders use fleshly tactics to exploit the greed and fear of their audience.  “If you give (to me),” they insist, “God will bless you.”  Here we find the win the lottery syndrome.  If that doesn’t work, then they resort to fear.  “If you don’t give (to me),” they warn, “God will be angry with you.”  Greed and fear are used hand in hand to bribe/force God’s people to give to them.

Why don’t these leaders consider the reasons why people aren’t giving?  People are far more perceptive than these leaders think.  Christians today are highly educated and worldly wise.  They see where their hard-earned money is going, and they don’t like it.  They know that their money is being spent on superficial amenities and on staff members who are often living better than they.  Why should they contribute?  Before you go accusing others of “stealing from the Lord” if they don’t “bring their tithes” to your church, perhaps you had better reconsider how you spend “His” money.  Who is the real thief?

What if Christian leaders would tear down the edifices of their ministries and focus on the true work of the Lord?  What if their buildings simply met the needs and everything else was used to help those in need?   Cannot Christian leaders take a lesson from Katrina and the Twin Towers?  When people saw that their contributions could actually account for something, support poured in by the hundreds of millions of dollars.  People want to give.  They just don’t want their money to be wasted.  The fact that contributions are way down should be a wake-up call.

Like Saul, many Christian leaders blame the people.  “If I don’t give them what they want, then no one would come.” This demonstrates what is really important – their ministries (as opposed to God).   This also represents the lack of absolutes and shows how deeply given over to post-modernism they really are.

22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

I find it interesting that Samuel referred to Saul’s expression of service to God as rebellion, and he compared Saul’s rationalization to witchcraft.  Samuel also called it idolatry when Saul was unwilling to accept the truth or be corrected.  Christian leader, be not deceived: the ideology of this age that has led you into rationalizing your behavior is witchcraft.  It is NOT harmless.   Each time you rationalize your behavior, you are essentially spinning another spell and calling it the work of the Lord.  And each time you ignore a warning like this (by your stubbornness), you are essentially practicing idolatry – putting yourself above God.

Working for the Lord or the Work of the Lord

Revelation 2:1-5 KJV

1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Once again, we do NOT find the Lord saying that they are doing a lot of good things or that they are mostly good.  Nor do we find Him going easy on them because of all the good they were doing.  Quite the contrary.  Here we find the Lord exposing sin.  The Lord warns them that unless they repent they would be gone.

Here we find an interesting paradox.  Consider these things: “and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.” Are they not important?  How many of you know churches that can even make this type of claim? Yet for all the good they were doing, they had still missed the important part, the part that Mary found.

Luke 10:41-42 KJV

41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:

42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.

Christian leaders are taught to labor for the Lord rather than doing the labor of the Lord.   In other words, they decide what they want to do for the Lord and expect Him to go along with it rather than seeing what the Lord is doing and working with Him.  They arrive with the notion that in order to be used of the Lord, they must start or take over a church, build attendance, advance their theological education, perhaps write a book, go on the radio, hold crusades, and then build bigger and bigger churches.  And they believe that equates to success.  That was essentially what the church at Ephesus was doing, but it is merely working for the Lord.  It is not doing His work.

But once again, we find cultural infestation.  Our culture measures worth and effectiveness by what someone produces.  Too many Christians, including those who are leaders, have bought into it and are focused on the work they are doing for the Lord rather than doing the work they see the Lord doing.

Conclusion

Post-modernism gets it credibility by claiming to be the result of the failure of modernism, but that is just an illusion.  In actuality, it is just Satan’s distortion of truth by another name.

To escape the ideology of post-modernism, we must stop rationalizing our behavior.   We must stop looking to the example of men as the standard of the truth.  We must stop excusing sin, thus enabling it to continue.  We must stop exaggerating our effectiveness and trying to justify our actions just because they are in line with what others are doing.  We must stop working for the Lord and begin to do the work of the Lord.  I know this will be difficult, but wouldn’t you like to see our Western nations embrace the Lord once again?  If so, then it must start with us.

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