The Greatest Threat to Christianity

On September 11, 2001, a group of Muslim extremists hijacked four airplanes and crashed them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and tried for a fourth target before crashing into a Pennsylvania field. Ever since then, the Islamic population has been represented by two groups. Those who approve of such action and those who condemn it, stating that Islam is a religion of peace to all, that their very existence is centered around a philosophy of submission.

In the days and weeks that followed, few caucasion Americans could look at any person of Arab descent without the terrible scene of violence perpetrated by others with “the same” views as them. They were grouped together in the minds and hearts of Americans as a dangerous group of people in America who should “love it or leave it,” or so the saying went.

The trouble here, is that most of these people who are still in America do love this country and the freedoms they are can enjoy. Many of them feel unjustly categorized by a group of extremists who want nothing more than the destruction of America and everything she stands for. This is unfair to the individual Muslims, who condemned the attacks on America, but still suffer backlash, socially and in other ways. This creates further barriers of separation between the Muslim and non-Muslim societies within America and around the world.

I’m certain there are extremists in every grouping or denomination. It’s also logical that in the ultra-liberal camp there couldn’t be such a thing, as everything remains subjective according to the whims of the individual. Many Christians see the threat of Post-Modernism to be the greatest threat to our faith, or rather, the largest obstacle when presenting our faith to others. Philosophies such as open-theism, the Emergent Church, diluting Christianity with portions of other belief systems and other heresies are a main concern in the blogosphere, and they should be. But before we can dispute heresies from groups who teach methods that are not even suggested in the Bible, I believe we must first take a stand against our own extremists through (gasp) church discipline, lest our message fall on deaf ears.

This is a big job to tackle, make no mistake. Before we can discuss a modern reformation of the church through correcting or purging our most vocal heretics, the church needs to see a need for such a reformation and needs to determine that this is both a necessary and immediate need. The same challenge that Islam faces right now is the one that Christianity faces. There are extremists who take the most divisive path through illogical courses in the scriptures they ascribe to, separating humanity according to works and not grace. They see those of the same faith who are not as separatist as them, and judge them to be unworthy representatives of that faith. This is one reason why they are often the ones to rise to the occasion, and using the loudest medium they can find, vomit out their hateful message as they claim to speak for the whole.

If we don’t do anything to quell the cancer within, how are we to be effective without? It seems to me that it is the extremists of various systems within Christianity that magnify the subtleties between us all and impose conflict. In a book I loaned out to a church member (I need that now!) there’s a quote that people don’t take the church seriously partially because the church doesn’t get involved in serious matters. We are too busy fighting over moot points. Let’s face it. There are those of differing views who will stand together in glory one day and praise the Lord when they find out who was right. Not because either of them was right, but because the Lord’s actions will be laid out before them. I say this in the context of differing views regarding matters that are not decisive in the realm of eternal redemption.

And that’s what so many of these extremists don’t see. They would rather be unopposed than right. They read the Bible with blinders on, filtering out any instruction that doesn’t fit their pre-disposed ideas. They claim to treat the Bible as an inerrant book of virtue that supports their view, and all while they disregard anything that doesn’t conform to their message. They sow division among Christians and make those outside the church wonder why they would want any part of such a mess. Theirs is not a message of grace, but a message of works, where one can only be as Christian as they are if the message the non-extremist follows is the one taught by the extremist.

I mentioned church discipline earlier, and this is more than just a public rebuttal against such people. Certainly, these people need to be rebuked by the church, but it must be done in a constructive manner. There is both positive and negative discipline that is necessary, and this must be started sooner, rather than later. It is comprised of proper teaching, with a true discipling of the church through solid, biblical preaching and study. Those who do not see the error of their divisiveness through these means will need to be corrected through negative discipline, up to and including excommunication from the church. The body of believers needs to recognize certain members and evaluate the message they are thrusting to the world. Those who are not conforming their message to Christ need to be told that they are not acting within the boundaries of the faith that is entrusted to them, and any public message needs to be met by a public proclamation that the opinions expressed are solely the opinions of those who are speaking and do not reflect the opinions of the church or the bridegroom of the church, who is Christ.

The line in the sand is Christ, not any human message. As soon as someone takes the message of Christ and perverts it into something that contradicts scripture, their yeast needs to be removed, lest the whole of the body be impacted. This can be done by refusing to contribute to the financial needs of certain public figures as we do not send a contribution to ministries that teach such things. This is also done by refusing to make purchases of items that do not reflect Christ. This church discipline needs to begin at the local church level, but since Christianity has become so globalized, all Christians now have a responsibility to practice global church discipline through their support and the withholding of the same.

We fight because the flames of our opinions are fanned by a yeast that must be expelled if we are to do the will of God. If you are in Christ, everything else is vanity. Yes, there is only one way to God, and that is through Jesus Christ. Yes, the Lord has chosen who is His and who is not before they chose Him. In fact, there is no one who chooses God otherwise nor is there anyone who decides not to choose God once their eyes are opened to the light of the gospel. It is God who decides, not an extremist whose only purpose is to disqualify all who disagree with them in any way.

The greatest threat to Christianity does not come from Muslims, media, or secularism. This greatest threat is not found anywhere outside the realm of Christianity. That is, the greatest threat to the spread of the Christian gospel is Christians, who ought not be called followers of Christ at all. If we would only defend the purity of the church by seeking to restore these extremists back to the body, we would be strengthened and the message of the gospel would go out to the world without the roadblocks that we ourselves have placed in our own path.

Galatians 6:1-3
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

For more information regarding church discipline on a local level, I encourage you to read about it at the seventh mark within 9Marks.org.