The Call of the Church and Missions is to make Disciples Part 1

“If I had my way, I would declare a moratorium on public preaching of 'the plan of salvation' in America for one to two years. Then I would call on everyone who has use of the airwaves and the pulpits to preach the holiness of God, the righteousness of God, and the Law of God until sinners would cry out, 'What must we do to be saved?" Then I would take them off in a corner and whisper the gospel to them. Don't use John 3:16. Such drastic action is needed because we have a gospel hardened generation of sinners by telling them how to be saved before they have any understanding why they need to be saved.” 

― Paris Reidhead

The sad truth is that in many churches and ministries in America today, we do have this reality that was recognized decades ago by Paris Reidhead and many ministers of the Gospel. In those days gone by, the seeds were planted, and today I fear they have come to the full fruition of apostasy. 

Immediately I must say that I am speaking from personal observations. I am a ordained minister of the Gospel. I have planted two churches. I have been involved with three evangelistic ministries, one for the last eight years. I am a student in seminary pursuing my doctorate. Most of all, I am a sinner saved by grace. My doctrine is not perfect- I am learning every day at the feet of God through His Word the Bible.  I only hope that my ears are tuned to the Spirit's teaching through His Word.

Missionary Speaker

This last Sunday, I witnessed such a strong spirit of deception that I had to reprove the Missionary speaker with the Word of God. There were several points in his message that I found disturbing to the point that I had to press him through the masses of people that were adoring this minister. Below are the quotes from this Missionary:

1. God played 'telephone' with His Word: In explaining Ephesians 3 and the mystery that Jews and Gentiles were fellow heirs through Christ, the missionary stated that God had played telephone with His word, and that nobody got the message until Paul revealed this mystery. 
2. Jesus was converted by a Caananite woman: In Matthew 15, according to the speaker, Jesus' ministry was converted (against his will) from to Jews only to the Gentiles as well. 
3. Jesus' plan was altered by this same Caananite woman: In a wild swing back to Ephesians 3, The missionary claimed that the timeline of Jesus' ministry was altered (almost against his will) to advance it according to this woman's faith.
4. The world can get better through our efforts, the kingdom can come NOW. In the same way as the Caananite woman, we can bring the future kingdom to bear on this world in missions by demanding of God the cure for AIDS, hunger, water, and human trafficking. The Gospel becomes a message for social change.  
5. The Gospel is not Jesus Christ and His saving power, it is bringing the kingdom to bear now. The missionary told a story of visitors from this same church asking a resident of a certain village what their needs were, the resident identified the need for water in the village. The Gospel, the missionary stated, was the fact that these people went outside and prayed over a dry well, and water came forth. 
6. The fact that a woman came out of a brothel and still hates God is the Gospel: The idea was presented that the gospel is evidenced simply by a change of profession, or no longer being a part of human trafficking is somehow linked to Jesus' salvation- even when the woman still hates God
7. That salvation is somehow initiated by human action: At the end of the message there was a video of a woman who now serves in the ministry. In her testimony, there was no mention of God, there was no sorrow over her sin, only sorrow for the consequences of sin.
8. That there are the highest percentage of Christians in a country where AIDS is also affecting a similar percentage of people. 

Biblical Response to False Teaching

I will now attempt to respond to the above statements with scripture.

1. God 'breathed' scripture out and those who are His understand it: 

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

1Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Mark 13:31Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 

John 10: 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 

      God did not play telephone with His Word. He delivered it via inspiration to faithful men who transcribed it  into their languages. Over time it has been preserved with astonishing accuracy compared to other ancient and even religious literature. Yes, there were mysteries contained within, however these mysteries were revealed to people like Paul who delivered them to us through the Word of God. God's Word is so closely aligned with His character that Jesus Christ is called the Word (John 1:1-14) and when Jesus (fully God) speaks, He speaks with the full authority of God.

     Why is this so dangerous? Satan from the very beginning has questioned the Word of God (Genesis 3:1-5). When we state that God plays telephone with his Word, and we get mixed messages as a result, it calls the authority of scripture into question. At this point, all sacred doctrines are called into question, including the Gospel and what it is. It is no wonder that the Gospel can become things like water coming out of the ground in a seeming dry well.

  2. Jesus was converted by a Caananite woman: 
  3. Jesus' plan was altered by this same Caananite woman: 

Isaiah 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth. 

Genesis 12:2And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

 Galatians 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

 27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 

Ephesians 3: 4Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

     Jesus Christ - fully God and fully man walked this planet to fulfill the sovereign will of God (John 6:38-40). Everything that Jesus (the Word made Flesh) did and said was according to the perfect will of God so that everything would be fulfilled. To suggest that Jesus did not know or that his plan was altered or his timetable advanced by this Caananite woman says a lot about Jesus, and none of it is good and none of it is Biblical. Just because this mystery was 'revealed' or made clear to Paul in his writings (Galatians 3:28, Ephesians 3:6) does not mean it was not set in motion before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and revealed to the prophets of old (Genesis 12:3, Isaiah 49:6). The timing or initiation of this plan was not changed by any action of the woman.
   
    This idea that our actions or free will changes God's will and plan is called open theism. This heresy argues that a person who loves and follows God is able to alter God's plan. It goes so far as to say that God does not know the future fully (He is neither sovereign nor omniscient) and that the future and the present can be altered by human action or will. The scripture is full of evidence that part of God's nature and attributes are his Sovereignty and Omniscience. When you remove these attributes you have a god that is not God at all.

  4. The world can get better through our efforts, the kingdom can come NOW

Isaiah 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

     The urgent need for mankind and the command in missions is to make disciples. As Christians, we are not here on this earth to make this world a better place. That may be a side product to our conversion, for we are new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17) and God's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) by the grace of God, and we are to do good works.  The world's definition of good works and God's definition of good works are two very different things. Good (in God's economy) is moral excellence. This means that the good that we ought to be doing is a product of the repentance and conversion that God has wrought in us. It is following the will of God which is to fulfill his Great Commission (Mark 16:15, Matthew 28:18-20),  to make disciples. Nowhere in the Great Commission does this include obliterating AIDS, digging wells, stopping human trafficking, and bringing social change. Now these things may be the natural result of the power of the Holy Spirit working through individuals- for this is truly where the Kingdom of God is brought to bear in our current world- but it is a side product, a side benefit of lives changed by the power of God. It is not our primary calling to bring social change and social justice to the world. Yes, these things are good in the eyes of man, but it is not the mission of the church to bring relief to the world. 

Article continued in part 2