Competing Conventions

04.09.09

J.A. Matteson

"…stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by letter from us." 2 Thessalonians 2:15

Spiritual syncretism remains an ever present danger to the Christian. Competing conventions—like ocean waves pounding upon the shoreline—persistently work to erode the foundation of the truth upon which the saint stands; viz., Scripture. Demonically inspired conventions woo the simple and ensnare them in large measure as a result of their base appeal to the flesh, being recognized by their promise of much and their requirement of little.

Beware of conventions that appease and placate the desires of the flesh. By contrast the way of the cross is lethal to the flesh and its desires, terminating in death; the way of the cross is specific and narrow, demanding obedience and perseverance; the way of the cross is immutable and transcends generational zeitgeist’s; the way of the cross demands that a man deny himself and become slave to a new Master, the Lord Jesus Christ; the way of the cross through the Holy Spirit infuses within the saint a hatred for what God hates and a hunger and thirst for what is pleasing to Him; the etymology pertaining to the way of the cross is plain and preserved by inspired Scripture; the way of the cross requires all that a man is and has and in return supplies an eternal inheritance which does not suffer loss or corruption, resulting in eternal life. The Apostle confronted spiritual syncretism frontally with full force, sparing none who denied the words of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Apostles who were the recipients of divine revelation, “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by letter from us.”

Postmodernism is part of the zeitgeist of our age whereby meta-narratives—secular and sacred—are closely scrutinized and often rejected, being replaced by a broader storyline that inherently allows for a loose reinterpretation of a subject under discussion. Not all rejection of inherited meta-narratives is egregious as it was through this process that the reformers challenged erroneous conventions by the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope. However, the substantive difference from then and today is that it is not the extra-biblical doctrines of men being challenged, but the Bible itself.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the quarters of the Emergent Church that is confronting the meta-narratives of the historic Christian faith as preserved in Scripture, replacing them with a new “narrative theology.” The hermeneutic of the Emergent Church shuns the confrontational absolutes found in Scripture, preferring instead a “conversation” of them which results in fanciful applications.

The Lord Jesus Christ exclaimed, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life ; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6), to which one Emergent has stated, “I affirm the truth anywhere in any religious system, in any worldview. If it's true, it belongs to God” (Rob Bell). That statement is antithetical to the Apostle, “stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or by letter from us.”

End time prophecy clearly states that prior to the Parousia a great apostasy will take place whereby “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 Timothy 4:1). The tenets of the Emergent Church with its teachings that question the clear Word of God (Scripture) are not new—for there is nothing new under the sun—and their origin is clearly recognized by those who have ears to hear, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, has God said….’” (Genesis 3:1).

Stand firm, therefore, in the Word of Truth and reject those who have crept in to deceive you. The Word of our Lord stands forever and is immutable. Reject those who would lead you to believe it is progressing and evolving to fit the culture in which you live. Reject those who maintain the Word of Truth is dated, needing an update—these lies find their origin in the Father of lies.

Copyright 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8)