Emerging Church Is Leading Protestants Back Home to Rome
We have been receiving an increasing number of reports about .
There is now a series of three books which herald the testimonies
of former Protestant pastors who have found the broad way to Rome
more enticing and fulfilling. What is causing this growing
apostasy? Who is behind this reversal of the Reformation? Why are
so many Protestants being seduced by the piety of this false
religion? Many evangelicals are puzzled and are searching for
answers. Although it is disheartening and discouraging, we should
not be surprised because: "the Spirit explicitly says that in later
times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to
deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Tim. 4:1).
Does Christianity Need to Be Reinvented? One of the major
influences that is paving the road back to Roman Catholicism is The
Emerging Church movement. Proponents say its time for Christianity
to be reinvented for a new generation. It must become more relevant
to a postmodern generation. They say the best way to reinvent
Christianity for the present generation is to reintroduce ideas and
experiences from the past. Emergent leaders say God's Word no
longer holds the answers to life's questions. Experience must
become the key factor to encounter spiritual reality. The
experiential attractions which are being promoted by the Emerging
Church include: statues, prayer stations, incense, liturgy,
candles, icons, the sacraments and calling communion the Eucharist.
It is easy to see how this movement complements and encourages the
Vatican's "new evangelization program" to win the "separated
brethren" back to the "true church."
A New Kind of Christian
The most influential leader in the emergent church movement is
Brian McLaren, a pastor and author from Maryland who wrote the
controversial book, A New Kind of Christian. Time Magazine recently
named McLaren one of the 25 most influential evangelical leaders in
the world (2/7/05). In another one of his books, A Generous
Orthodoxy, McLaren describes himself as the new kind of Christian,
with labels such as: catholic, evangelical, post/protestant,
liberal/conservative, mystical/poetic, biblical,
fundamentalist/calvinist, anabaptist/anglican and methodist. How
can he hold to all these labels at the same time? It is because he
rejects the Word of God as the objective authority for truth.
McLaren writes: "How do you know something is true? First you
engage in spiritual practices like prayer, Bible reading,
forgiveness and service. Then you see what happens; you remain open
to experience. Finally, you report your experience to others in the
field of spirituality for their discernment to see if they confirm
your findings or not."
Mystical Feelings Replace Doctrine
It is appalling to see what McLaren and other leaders of the
Emergent Church are really promoting. In A Generous Orthodoxy,
McLaren writes that he "is consistently over sympathetic to Roman
Catholics." Other leaders tell us we need to emulate Roman
Catholicism to become more mystical in our reverence of God. Chuck
Smith Jr., in his book, There is a Season (foreword by Brian
McLaren), provides insight into this mystical experience. He
writes: "What would happen if we allowed people to "feel" what we
cannot explain, to know with the heart and not with the brain? We
would open the door of faith to a wider audience than if we
continued to insist on a rational belief in the facts as the only
legitimate starting point of the Christian faith." Unfortunately,
the wider audience Smith will reach are people without discernment,
who uphold "truth" that is subjective and believe a gospel that is
compromised. These are people who have no biblical roots and will
constantly be blown away by every wind of doctrine. Some will be
fatally duped into believing there are no eternal consequences if
or when they convert to Roman Catholicism.
The Alluring Power of the Eucharist
Another leader of the Emergent Church is Dr. Robert Webber who is
recognized by many as the authority on worship renewal. He taught
at Wheaton College for 32 years as Professor of Theology and has
authored over 40 books. Dr. Webber had a "life changing experience"
at a Catholic conference center when he decided to receive the
Eucharist . His testimony is recorded in a book entitled Signs of
Wonder. Following is part of his experience in his own words:
"Closing my eyes, I allowed my life in the church to pass before
me. My prejudices rose up within me: What are you doing here? You
never worshiped in a Catholic setting, let alone received the bread
and the wine from a Catholic priest! Then I heard my Catholic
friends speak of their love for Christ, pray with fervency, and
express a real desire to know the Scriptures and live by its
authority. Those memories said, 'Go ahead. After all, there is
only one Lord, one church, one faith, one baptism, one Holy
Communion.' In that moment, God broke through the walls I had
allowed to separate me from my brothers and sisters of different
denominations. I am convinced the prejudices we hold and the walls
we build between ourselves and other communities of Christians
actually block our experience of God's presence in our lives. Our
biases cut us off from the spiritual communion of the fullness of
the body of Christ. God dwells in his church, and to reject a part
of God's church is to reject him. Furthermore, rejecting apart of
God's church keeps us from experiencing what the creed calls "the
communion of the Saints." When God broke down my walls, he brought
me into richer fellowship with the body of Christ throughout the
world. You might say I was surprised by joy! I had never had an
experience like that in my life. In that Catholic chapel, a new
worship experience had bumped up against that old prejudice of
mine, and a new attitude was born. I had taken into myself the
experience of another tradition, I had been in dialogue with
another worship tradition, and I was surely the richer for it."
Subjective Experiences vs. Objective Truth
Webber's words are echoed by other Protestants who have
experimented with the Eucharist and then converted to Catholicism
because of their "joyful experience." It comes as no surprise that
these apostates, who have converted to a false religion, have been
influenced by subjective experiences. Probably the best known
Protestant convert to Catholicism is Scott Hahn. His subjective
experience was participating in the ungodly pagan practice of
praying the rosary (Mat. 6:7). Hahn was convinced "Mary" performed
a miracle after he prayed the rosary. By contrast, those who have
been gloriously converted to the Lord Jesus Christ have believed
the objective truth of His Word (Eph. 1:1314; Rom. 10:17). Now
sealed with the Holy Spirit, they can never again be ensnared by
the deceitful schemes of the devil's religion: (2 Tim. 2:23-25).
A common characteristic of Protestants who have converted to
Romanism has been a dissatisfaction with their former Christian
experience. One convert cited several things that drove him away
from his evangelical church live bands playing loud music
consisting of praise choruses repeated over and over again, no
place for quiet reverence an( prayer, theological shallowness,
movie clips drama and plays. He said, "After a few yearn of the
kids raving about how much fun the} had and not learning anything,
we tried the Catholic Church across the street and immediately
enjoyed the formal liturgy, the religious rituals and a reverence
for God." What a tragedy for this family. They left a shallow
worship experience and replaced it with an idolatrous worship
experience. There is an instructive lesson here for evangelical pas
torn - churches which emphasize entertainment over the preaching of
God's Word will always have people looking for a more satisfying
experience. Whatever you win then "with" is what you win them
"to."
What Can We Do?
Let our voices be heard! Expose the evil deeds of darkness with
the glorious light of God's Word. Lovingly confront those who are
promoting the Emergent Church and embracing Roman Catholicism as a
valid expression of Christianity. Call Roman Catholicism what it is
- a false religious system that is holding over 1 billion people in
bondage to deception.
To those who have committed themselves to Satan's lies and his
evil religious system, we must have a sense of urgency. There is no
time for beating around the bush. God doesn't promise anyone
tomorrow. Jude wrote: "save others [with the Gospel], snatching
them out of the fire" (Jude 23). We need to be prepared to offend
them with the truth, knowing that the Gospel will offend those who
are offensive to God.
Finally, don't be deceived. Hold onto our supreme and objective
authority for truth - the Word of God! It, along with the Holy
Spirit, is the only security we have in these days of great
deception and compromise. |
