June 1, 2005

Grand Delusions

2 Min Read

A couple of years ago I met the pastor of an “evangelical“ church in our area. As he told me about the church where he served, he became overwhelmingly excited when he explained that, as a matter of principle, his church did not discriminate against anyone. He went on to explain what steps he was taking to ensure that the members of the church were following the church’s nondiscriminatory principle. At that point in our conversation, I was in complete agreement with him, but absolutely nothing could have prepared me for what he said next. With great enthusiasm, he let me in on a little secret. Without informing the congregation or the other staff members of the church, he invited a practicing lesbian to greet Sunday morning worshipers and hand out service bulletins.

As far as he was concerned, inviting a homosexual to greet his congregation was the supreme example of nondiscrimination. And while it was his desire to help the church become more tolerant of the culture, the church, indeed, was seduced by the culture. For instead of teaching his congregation not to discriminate, he taught them not to discern.

In our culture, we are bombarded on every side. The cultural war is raging against the church, and at times it seems that we are losing. The homosexual army is marching down main street U. S. A., and instead of standing our ground and defending the church with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, many have allowed that army to break down the walls of the church and set up camp. Churches that once preached boldly the sacred Word of God now preach boldly the quaint meditations of their homosexual ministers. On another front, that same army is trying to convince us that we should be more open-minded about the definition of marriage between man and woman.

The sexual revolution of the twentieth century has not only affected what we are able to observe in the open, it has infected the hearts and minds of men throughout the world who have been seduced in the darkness of their dens by the voiceless images on their personal computers. It is a cultural wave of seduction that has swept the world and will continue to destroy everyone in its path unless the people of God take their stand and live coram Deo, before the face of God. For we can be sure that by God’s grace we will overcome the world, and for His glory we will transform the world as the Gospel of Christ is lived out in us.

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Burk Parsons

Dr. Burk Parsons is senior pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., chief editorial officer for Ligonier Ministries, editor of Tabletalk magazine, and a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow.