The Church Versus the World
June 25th, 2007
(By John MacArthur)
Why do evangelicals try so desperately to court the world’s favor? Churches plan their worship services to cater to the “unchurched.” Christian performers ape every worldly fad in music and entertainment. Preachers are terrified that the offense of the gospel might turn someone against them, so they deliberately omit the parts of the message the world might not approve of.
Evangelicalism seems to have been hijacked by legions of carnal spin-doctors, who are trying their best to convince the world that the church can be just as inclusive, pluralistic, and broad-minded as the most politically-correct worldling.
The quest for the world’s approval is nothing less than spiritual harlotry. In fact, that is precisely the imagery the apostle James used to describe it. He wrote: “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
There is and always has been a fundamental, irreconcilable incompatibility between the church and the world. Christian thought is out of harmony with all the world’s philosophies. Genuine faith in Christ entails a denial of every worldly value. Biblical truth contradicts all the world’s religions. Christianity itself is therefore antithetical to virtually everything this world admires.
Jesus told His disciples, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).
Notice that our Lord considered it a given that the world would despise the church. Far from teaching His disciples to try to win the world’s favor by reinventing the gospel to suit worldly preferences, Jesus expressly warned that the quest for worldly accolades is a characteristic of false prophets: “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26).
He further explained: “The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). In other words, the world’s contempt for Christianity stems from moral, not intellectual, motives: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20). That is why no matter how dramatically worldly opinion might vary, Christian truth will never be popular with the world.
Yet in virtually every era of church history there have been people in the church who are convinced that the best way to win the world is by catering to worldly tastes. Such an approach has always been to the detriment of the gospel message. The only times the church has made any significant impact on the world are when the people of God have stood firm, refused to compromise, and boldly proclaimed the truth despite the world’s hostility. When Christians have shrunk away from the task of confronting popular worldly delusions with unpopular biblical truths, the church has invariably lost influence and impotently blended into the world. Both Scripture and history attest to that fact.
And the Christian message simply cannot be twisted to conform to the vicissitudes of worldly opinion. Biblical truth is fixed and constant, not subject to change or adaptation. Worldly opinion, on the other hand, is in constant flux. The various fads and philosophies that dominate the world change radically and regularly from generation to generation. The only thing that remains constant is the world’s hatred of Christ and His gospel.
In all likelihood, the world will not long embrace whatever ideology is in vogue this year. If the pattern of history is any indicator, by the time our great grandchildren become adults, worldly opinion will be dominated by a completely new system of belief and a whole different set of values. Tomorrow’s generation will renounce all of today’s fads and philosophies. But one thing will remain unchanged: until the Lord Himself returns and establishes His kingdom on earth, whatever ideology gains popularity in the world will be as hostile to biblical truth as all its predecessors have been.
(Today’s post was adapted from John’s book, Why One Way?)
all I can say is AMEN! Preach it as it is!
“And the Christian message simply cannot be twisted to conform to the vicissitudes of worldly opinion. Biblical truth is fixed and constant…”
Amen! Thanks John MacArthur for being faithful to the word.
I saw Rick Warren on Nightline the other night and he said something to the effect that if changing the approach and causing some rifts in the church was what it took to “reach” those for whom Christ died than it’s worth it. The problem with him and Osteen, et al, is that their position is that theology has its place but just not in church. Huh? You can’t tell someone they’re a sinner. Huh? The emergents and these guys are cut from the same soiled cloth. You cannot rob the gospel of its offense.
This was really great; it seems that the church has never been more “fuzzy” about the true gospel of Christ. I listened to an old recording from The White Horse Inn a while ago, which was an interview between the show’s host and Robert Schuller. I found the transcript this weekend (not in its entirety, but still a rather good chunk of it) and threw it up on my site. It’s very telling, and as such, heartbreaking.
The Church is called to be light and salt. We are to glorify God, and our hearts are to be purposed to worship Him in Sprit and truth. We are to be disciples, and discipled. We are to break bread, and be in prayer to our Father in the name of Christ alone. And this will be the same in every culture, though each culture has it’s own uniquiness. Culture is not the same as the world, and this is where it gets all mixed up, I think. Unskilled leaders in the Church think the world represents the culture, and they allow ungodliness to be part of our speratedness, instead of walking in faith in all holiness and godliness within the culture we exist, and then we will be fishers of men, as our Lord called us to be.
This will always be the great struggle within the Church. And good posts like this one help to keep us from wandering outside of God’s boundaries.
I have somewhat of an off-topic question. Forgive me if I open the proverbial can of worms here. MacArthur wrote:
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He further explained: “The world . . . hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil” (John 7:7). In other words, the world’s contempt for Christianity stems from moral, not intellectual, motives: “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:19-20). That is why no matter how dramatically worldly opinion might vary, Christian truth will never be popular with the world.
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My question is, “Does postmillennialism contradict this statement?” Do postmillennialists think that through Christian influence the world will eventually become ’something’ enough for Christ to return in His kingdom? My understanding of the postmil position comes from the following paragraph that I got from here: http://www.fivesolas.com/esc_chrt.htm
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According to postmillennialists, there will be universal preaching and acceptance of the Gospel, and a complete and total victory of the kingdom of God, over the forces of Satan and unbelief. Postmillennialism is an optimistic eschatology of the victory grace of God in subduing evil in the world.
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Any help would be greatly appreciated.
[...] So what are your thoughts? Are you pragmatic and whatever works is okay? Should the church attempt to be appealing so that the “world” will like us? Pulpit Magazine posted an article earlier titled The Church Versus the World which you might like to read before commenting. [...]
First of all, a hearty “Amen” to MacArthur’s message. The modern church has succumbed to pop-psychology (and we are talking about conservative, Bible-believing churches. The liberal and emergent sects will have to answer for their own folly). A little Jonathan Edwards preaching would be good for the church today.
Mike,
As a postmillennialist, I will try to answer thjis. The true gospel will never be popular with the “world”, defined here as a system opposed to the kingdom of God. When the Bible tells us not to have friendship with “this world”, he wasn’t talking about a planet or a territory, but rather a worldview. So postmillennialists believe that the gospel will permeate planet earth, yet still not be popular with “the world” worldview. Postmillennialists believe that the gospel will transform the world, not that the world should transform the gospel.
Puritan Lad,
Thanks for the reply. I want to make sure I understand.
So in other words, those who subscribe to “the world” worldview will become smaller in number. …. Such that there still are those who belong to “the world” worldview — those that will hate us and the true Gospel — but there’s just not as many of them. Do I have that right?
MIKE
Correct. Postmillennialism is not universal. Ezekiel speak of swamps and marshes that will be unaffected by the living waters of the gospel. In the end, however, we shall inherit the earth, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (Habakkuk 2:14)
“All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.” (Psalms 22:27-28)
I hear in this a call for personal evangelism. That’s what is really suffering in current evangelicalism. Our evangelism has been reduced to “Come and see how cool my church is.” Frankly, on a personal level non-Christians won’t buy gimmicks from a Christian friend. They might get sucked up into the hype of church where they can feel good, but one-on-one, the hype is perceived for the shallowness that it is. It’s time for the church to stopping trying to reach the world and time for the saints to proclaim the Gospel to sinners.