The Legalism of the Emergent Church Movement

Posted by Christine Pack

Chris Rosebrough, talk show host of Fighting for the Faith (FFTF), was recently interviewed about his trip to Washington, DC for the TransFORM East Coast Gathering, an emergent church conference that was held April 30-May 2, 2010.

This is a brilliant interview, with Rosebrough explaining that the one thing that the emergents are missing is forgiveness. He explains that many emergent church adherents have had some kind of exposure to a legalistic kind of pietism, usually during their upbringing in a traditional church setting, from which they have turned away.  But what they don't understand is that, in embracing emergent, they have simply traded one system of legalistic pietism for another system of legalistic pietism.  The pietism is played out in different ways.....but it is still pietism.

Not drinking, not smoking, not going to movies, not dancing (or any combination of these rules) - these are some of the most common things people think of when it comes to legalism.  Today's emergents, however, while feeling freedom in these areas, are nonetheless burdened with a new, postmodern set of legalistic rules: advancing the cause of social justice, living sustainably, engaging in certain spiritual disciplines, etc.  While each system of legalism "looks" very different on the surface, both are identical at their core: they are both systems of bondage, nothing better than a set of hoops to jump through in the hope of gaining favor with the Lord.

We know from Christ's teaching that legalism not only brings a false understanding of God's character and nature, but also, legalism will always end in despair and hopelessness.  And more tragically than this, legalistic pietism does not have salvific power. Legalism is a broken cistern that will not hold water.  Broken cisterns are referenced in Scripture to illustrate a turning away from God - the fountain of living water - and turning toward worthless sources in seeking out life and sustenance.

Jesus spoke of himself as living water (John 4:10), He bade anyone who was spiritually thirsty to come to him (John 6:35), and He said that all who believed in him would never thirst (John 7:37-38).  Jesus, being God in flesh, knows of our feebleness, our humaness, our inability to know the difference between broken cisterns and fountains of living water.  That's why he tells us over and over to come to Him and drink.  He knows that in our human frailty and foolishness we are easily enchanted by the broken and empty cisterns of  the world, the systems of "works" designed to bring us righteousness, but which can never do anything but bring despair, and ultimately, death.  And so He bids us to come to him, the true - and only - source of life and living water:

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come' And let the one who hears say, 'Come' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost." (Rev 22:17)

 Additional Resources 

John MacArthur Says the Emergent Church Movement in "Disarray and Decline?" Not So Fast.....

Universalism: the "Gospel Message" of the Emergent Church Movement and New Age Spirituality

Emergent Church Pastor Rob Bell Praises New Age Author Huston Smith

The Legalism of The Emergent Church Movement....Yes, Really

Top 10 Signs your Church May Be About To Drink “Calf Juice”

"Moses took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it."

(Exodus 32:20)

10. The children’s playground has been replaced with a prayer labyrinth.

9. “Be still and know that I am God,” seems to be the only Bible verse anyone has memorized.

8. When the pastor says, ”Let us pray,” everyone pulls out their meditation mats.

7. A large part of the church budget is used to purchase a laser light system, dry ice, and incense.

6. Nooma videos.

5. The Sunday School classes are empty, but the “Christian” yoga classes are booming.

4. Instead of sharing the gospel with people, you go on “prayer walks.”

3. A desire to know and study God’s Word is described as dead orthodoxy.

2. The term “creative worship” is viewed very positively.

1. The soloist called in sick because her fifth chakra was blocked, and everyone actually knew what that meant.


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 Additional Resources 

Mysticism: Repent, Before You Have To Drink Ground Calf Juice

Monvee: Mysticism For The Masses

Mysticism: Repent, Before You Have To Drink Ground Calf Juice

Posted by Christine Pack and Cathy Mathews

In a recent post about Monvee, we talked about Roman Catholic mystic Thomas Merton who once compared mystical meditation to the same powerful experience generated by mind-altering drugs.  And as we noted, the problem with mystical meditation is that it is far more dangerous than drugs.  Monvee, the new product put out by Leadership Network, markets itself as a way for Christians to draw closer to God through something called "Spiritual Formation."  But, the Spiritual Formation techniques taught by Monvee, which are the same thing as the "mystical meditation" referenced by Thomas Merton, are identical to classic occultic meditation practices taught in Hinduism, Buddhism, wicca, paganism,etc.

God, however, is very specific about how we are to "draw closer" to Him, and that is only through the blood of Christ (Hebrews 10).  And yet most religions outside of Christianity have some version of mysticism that they practice for the specific purpose of drawing close to God.  So the question must be asked: if these faith traditions are outside of Christ, are they getting to God?  We know the answer to that, and it is obviously, no, they aren't getting to God.  We may not be getting much in the way of deep doctrinal teaching in our churches today, but we at least know that much, right?  We know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no-one comes to the Father but by him.  However, we also know from the testimonies of mystics that they are experiencing something, so what is it?  It is a "counterfeit Holy Spirit experience" which "feels" very real and very spiritual.  What they're experiencing is spiritual...only it is not from God.

As a former mystic, the biggest blind spot I see in today's Christian culture is almost an innocence about spiritual deception, a thinking that as Christians we can't be deceived. A belief that if, spiritually speaking, something were "off" about a teaching or practice, somehow we would just "know" it because it would "feel wrong." But even more than that, there also seems to be this idea that only we, as Christians, have true spiritual experiences, that somehow these mystics must not be having "real" experiences, that it's all smoke and mirrors.  This is absolutely not true.  What these mystics are experiencing is real, and it is spiritual, and mystics wouldn't have been doing these things for centuries if they weren't connecting to.....something.  God graciously and mercifully has given us many warnings so that we would know how to defend ourselves against spiritual deception.  We are warned that Satan himself can masquerade as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14).  We are told that we must test all things (1 John 4:1), because none of us are beyond being deceived.

So how do we "test all things?"  What is our measure for testing?  Is it our own hearts, our own emotions?  In today's culture, we have a tendency to "test" things through our thoughts and feelings ("I didn't have a peace about it"). No, we must not do that, for we know that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked above all things (Jer 17:9). Scripture is our standard for testing all things, Scripture is what we must use in determining whether or not something is acceptable to God.

Monvee, which is a blending of Christian terminology and occultic mysticism, is very similar to what the Israelites did in Exodus 32 in the story of the golden calf.   This story is one of the most powerful biblical warnings there is against incorporating pagan practices into our worship of God.   What most people don't realize is that this well-known incident wasn't about straight up paganism.  No, this story records how God's chosen people blended together (1) what they had been taught to do by God with (2) pagan practices that were familiar to them from their years of captivity in Egypt.  They knew about altars and making offerings to God.  And they knew about pagan animal worship from their exposure to Egyptian culture. When Moses delayed returning to the people from atop the mountain where he was speaking with God, the people  decided to create their own tangible way of worshiping God.  So they set up an altar, added a little Egyptian flavor in the form of cow worship, and called it a festival for the Lord.  And God saw this, and was very pleased?  Not exactly.  This is what the Bible records:

"Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'  "I have seen these people," the LORD said to Moses, "and they are a stiff-necked people. Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation." "  (Exodus 32:7-10, my emphasis)

God was not pleased - and only Moses' intercession on their behalf saved them from being completely destroyed by God. As if that weren't a clear enough warning against mixing pagan worship practices with worship of God, we are also warned in Deuteronomy against spiritual syncretism:

"The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." You must not worship the LORD your God in their way..." (Deut, 12:29-31a, my emphasis)

God is quite clear on how we are to worship and approach him - and it is not through blending our worship of him with pagan practices. But this is exactly what Monvee is doing with its "personalized spiritual formation" programs: they are taking Christian terminology and mixing in occultic mysticism, and calling it Christian.  I recognize that it is very popular in today's global, syncretized culture to meld different things together. We are most certainly an experience-driven culture, always seeking the fresh, exciting, "new" thing.  And we also like our smorgasbord religions, with a little of this, a little of that.  But we have clear mandates from Scripture about how we are to worship and approach God.  We are to be set apart from the world - not syncretized with it - so that's God's truth will shine like a beacon in the darkness.

If you know anyone who is being drawn into the deceptive practices of Monvee, Spiritual Formation and Contemplative Prayer, please warn them.  These things look spiritual and sound spiritual, but they are occultic and will lead into a dangerous spiritual realm.  We must be diligent to guard our hearts and minds: after all, it is the Lord's honor and glory which are at stake.  When we become just as pagan as the world, how is God revealed, exalted and glorified?  And not only must He be rightly exalted, but it is mockery to blend worldly pagan practices into our worship of Him. The Lord will not be mocked, and He will discipline those He loves: 

"When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf they had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it." (Exodus 32:19-20)

If you yourself have done these things at the leading of your pastor or church group, I urge you to repent so that you do not find yourself drinking "calf juice." Innocence concerning the "pagan-ness" of a practice will not protect a believer, especially when it comes to the area of the occult.  This is Satan's domain, and we must flee from it.  My heart is broken for those who have been led into these unbiblical practices through church leadership, but it is never too late to fall at the foot of the Cross.  Humble yourself before the Lord, for He is mighty to forgive and restore.

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 Additional Resources 

Monvee: Mysticism For The Masses

Mysticism: A Counterfeit Holy Spirit

Mysticism: Spiritual Crack

Monvee: Elevating Experience Over Scripture

Testimony of a Former Mystic

Think The Emergent Church Is Just Another Denomination? Think Again.

Posted by Christine Pack

This year's emergent church conference (called TransFORM, and being held this weekend in Washington, DC) opens each day with a Zen Buddhist meditation led by a "Christian" pastor.  Yes, you read that right. This should be absolutely appalling to any Christian with even a modicum of discernment.  We are Christians, and we worship the one true God.  All paths do not lead to God.  Only one path leads to God - and it is through Christ.

"Borrowing" from false religions may make us more liked in the eyes of the world, but it is an abomination in the eyes of the Lord.  Over and over and over in the Old Testament, God's people are cautioned against chasing after the false gods of the pagan cultures around them.  As a matter of fact, God disciplined his people so many times over this issue that it's almost as if He actually meant to be taken seriously on this:

"The LORD your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same." You must not worship the LORD your God in their way...." (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)

Before I was saved (but attending church, taking notes, asking questions, etc.) I was so steeped in eastern thought that while I was being drawn to Christianity, I privately thought of myself as a "Buddhist Christian" for a long time.  Finally, God opened my eyes to see that it wasn't a both/and proposition, it was an either/or deal.  Both Buddhism and Christianity couldn't simultaneously be true.  Orthodox Christianity left no wiggle room for me: either I could craft an image of God in my own mind with which I could be comfortable (another form of idolatry), or I could bend the knee in humble submission to the one true God.

This is perhaps why I feel so strongly about the Emergent church movement.  I'm thinking of people with my kind of background, those who have been raised in an era of postmodern thought and religious syncretism, and who are ripe for this deception.  Today's churchgoer could attend one of these churches and live out the rest of their lives with this easygoing, syncretized view of God, never be presented with the truth, and yet think all along that they are Christians headed to heaven.  This would be the greatest tragedy, to be among those who, upon their death, come before the Lord and cry out "Lord, Lord!" only to hear the chilling words: "Depart from me, I never knew you."  I simply cannot think of a more heartbreaking deception.

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 Additional Resources 

The Emerging Church TransFORMing Christianity

TransFORM: East Coast Gathering

The Lord Is My Shepherd

(written by honorary Sola Sister Ansley, my 8 year old niece)

Have you ever wondered why sheep need a shepherd? In Psalms 23, God tells us that sheep need a shepherd for many reasons. Sheep have poor eyesight. Since they can’t see well, they need a shepherd to carefully guide them and watch over them. Sheep have no natural defenses. They can’t run fast and they have no sharp claws or teeth. The shepherd uses his rod and staff to protect them from becoming dinner or lunch for wild animals. Sheep also have heavy wool, and that is why the shepherds lead the sheep beside “the still waters.”  Rough waters could make them drown, because the wool soaks in the water and weighs down the sheep. Sheep are not very smart, and they sometimes just wander off. Sheep also need to “chew the cud” so they can digest their food. This is why the shepherd makes them lie down in green pastures.

The shepherd protects his sheep from many harmful things, the same way the Lord protects His people from Satan and sin. Because I am just like a sheep, I need Jesus as my shepherd. And I will follow him.

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"I'm A Modernist At 33,000 Feet"

"We're living in strange times," so began Dr. Al Mohler at the 2007 Contending For the Truth conference held by Ligonier Ministries.  Dr. Mohler, president of the The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, gave a truly masterful talk on the topic of "Postmodernism and Society." He lays out in layman's terms exactly what the postmodernist movement is and how it is impacting our culture today, and more importantly, our children.  Dr. Mohler closed with a strong exhortation to Christians, and especially Christian parents, that they should take steps to educate themselves about what is at the heart of this dangerous movement so that they might earnestly contend for the faith:

"I believe that time is short, because the reality is that (postmodernism) is affecting our children.  They're watching the movies, they're seeing the advertising, so many of them are in schools where this postmodern worldview is being basically mainlined into them, almost as if it were an I.V. going right into their bodies.  They're getting it from the culture, they're getting it from the music, they're getting it from their peers.  James Davison Hunter, now 15 years ago, wrote an amazing book in which he indicated that evangelical young people, who would now be in their early 30s, who in terms of their belief system, were radically different from their parents without their parents recognizing it.  If that was true 15 years ago, then I would suggest to you that it is far more true, and far more urgently and emphatically important than even then.  It's important that we understand postmodernism and frankly, it's important that we understand postmodernism in its uncut form, because if you don't understand the source, you can't possibly understand the fountain.  But we need to be people who with keen eyes and with an apologetics sense of mission can look at the world and say, "I know where that comes from."  And we need to be the kind of people who, in an evangelistic conversation with our neighbors, understand when they talk about morality-as-oppressive, and they start using this language....we know where this comes from.  One of the most important things we can do is show an honest postmodernist where postmodernism lands with a thud.  You can have a postmodern architect....but not a postmodern engineer.  You can have a postmodern artist...but you don't want to have a postmodern banker.  And as Richard Rorty, himself a postmodern theorist, said: "I'm a modernist at 33,000 feet."  You want a pilot who believes in absolute truth and rationality and order and predictability.  It's a great apologetics challenge to live in the time that the Lord has given us.  It's a great opportunity.  It's a great opportunity to "subvert subversion" to the glory of God. To help people see where postmodernism shapes the culture....and where postmodernism collapses upon itself.  Sometimes one of the most important ministries of the Christian is to stand amidst the debris and point to the cause of the fall and to the only hope for recovery."

This is a fantastic talk by Dr. Mohler - I was really "at attention" by the end of it.  And I'm speaking as someone who was taught postmodernism and initially embraced it.  My sister and I were both of the generation that was right on the cusp between modernism/postmodernism, but postmodern thought, by the time we were teenagers, was very prevalent.  I initially embraced it because it sounded so much more tolerant and loving for there to be a worldview that "allowed" everyone to hold whatever conflicting views they might have, with no-one holding out one particular set of beliefs as "truer" or "better" than any other.

Thankfully, God eventually opened my eyes to the fact that this idea of all-truths-as-valid necessitated the fatalistic - and futile - view that no truths were valid.  And if no truths were valid, then there could never be an ultimate and objective standard for truth on which one could firmly stand, and say with conviction, "That. That is truth."  As Christians, we know that truth is not a "what," but a "Who."  It is a person, Jesus of Nazareth, God in flesh, who entered into time and space and spoke these words: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No-one comes to the Father but by me." These words uttered by Jesus cut like a sword through today's world of easygoing, tolerant, "anything goes" postmodernism.  These words are narrow and exclusive, and they demand a response: what is your response?  Do you humbly bow the knee before the Sovereign Lord of the universe, or do you turn away gnashing your teeth at the narrow-minded intolerance of it all?

Postmodernism is perhaps the most dangerous of all philosophical movements to date.  At first blush, it "sounds" good, but ultimately it is damning.  It tickles the ears, but the Bible tells us we must guard against this (2 Tim 4:3-4).  For the sake of the next generation, we must educate ourselves about this movement so that we not only warn our children about postmodernism, but also actively train them in what the thinking is, how it takes shape and how to respond to it from a Biblical worldview. And, as Al Mohler said, " 'Subvert subversion' to the glory of God."

 Additional Resources 

Chris Rosebrough's Fighting For the Faith - Audio Version of This Talk

Pastor Bob DeWaay's Excellent Book on How Postmodernism is Undefining Christianity

American Idol "Gives Back" - To Pro-Abortion Groups

Posted by Christine Pack

For those not already put off by American Idol's in-your-face homosexual agenda, this article might be the clincher. As noted in the article cited above, American Idol's two "Give Back" campaigns this year are Save The Children and the United Nations Foundation, both of which channel funds to pro-abortion groups (makes the "Save The Children" moniker seem a bit ironic, doesn't it?).  American Idol also recently lent its support to a campaign to raise funds for Planning Parenthood in Los Angeles, CA. 

Eu·gen·ics (yū-jĕn'ĭks) - n. (used with a sing. verb) The study of hereditary improvement of the human race by controlled selective breeding.

For anyone unaware of Planned Parenthood's core philosophies, Margaret Sanger, who was the founder of Planned Parenthood, was a promoter of forced eugenics, sterilization, segregation, and sexual immorality.  She has been widely quoted for years by Planned Parenthood leaders, plainly revealing her - and their - core beliefs: 

"The most merciful thing that a family does to one of its infant members is to kill it."(Margaret Sanger (editor). The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.)

"Birth control must lead ultimately to a cleaner race." (Margaret Sanger. Woman, Morality, and Birth Control. New York: New York Publishing Company, 1922. Page 12.)

"We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members."(Margaret Sanger's December 19, 1939 letter to Dr. Clarence Gamble, 255 Adams Street, Milton, Massachusetts. Original source: Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, North Hampton, Massachusetts. Also described in Linda Gordon's Woman's Body, Woman's Right: A Social History of Birth Control in America. New York: Grossman Publishers, 1976.)

"Eugenic sterilization is an urgent need ... We must prevent multiplication of this bad stock."(Margaret Sanger, April 1933 Birth Control Review.)

"Eugenics is … the most adequate and thorough avenue to the solution of racial, political and social problems."(Margaret Sanger. "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.)

"As an advocate of birth control I wish ... to point out that the unbalance between the birth rate of the 'unfit' and the 'fit,' admittedly the greatest present menace to civilization, can never be rectified by the inauguration of a cradle competition between these two classes. In this matter, the example of the inferior classes, the fertility of the feeble-minded, the mentally defective, the poverty-stricken classes, should not be held up for emulation....On the contrary, the most urgent problem today is how to limit and discourage the over-fertility of the mentally and physically defective."(Margaret Sanger. "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.)

"The campaign for birth control is not merely of eugenic value, but is practically identical with the final aims of eugenics."(Margaret Sanger. "The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda." Birth Control Review, October 1921, page 5.)

"Our failure to segregate morons who are increasing and multiplying ... demonstrates our foolhardy and extravagant sentimentalism ... [Philanthropists] encourage the healthier and more normal sections of the world to shoulder the burden of unthinking and indiscriminate fecundity of others; which brings with it, as I think the reader must agree, a dead weight of human waste. Instead of decreasing and aiming to eliminate the stocks that are most detrimental to the future of the race and the world, it tends to render them to a menacing degree dominant ... We are paying for, and even submitting to, the dictates of an ever-increasing, unceasingly spawning class of human beings who never should have been born at all."(Margaret Sanger. The Pivot of Civilization, 1922. Chapter on "The Cruelty of Charity," pages 116, 122, and 189. Swarthmore College Library edition.)

"The undeniably feeble-minded should, indeed, not only be discouraged but prevented from propagating their kind."(Margaret Sanger, quoted in Charles Valenza. "Was Margaret Sanger a Racist?" Family Planning Perspectives, January-February 1985, page 44.)

"The third group [of society] are those irresponsible and reckless ones having little regard for the consequences of their acts, or whose religious scruples prevent their exercising control over their numbers. Many of this group are diseased, feeble-minded, and are of the pauper element dependent upon the normal and fit members of society for their support. There is no doubt in the minds of all thinking people that the procreation of this group should be stopped."(Margaret Sanger. Speech quoted in Birth Control: What It Is, How It Works, What It Will Do. The Proceedings of the First American Birth Control Conference. Held at the Hotel Plaza, New York City, November 11-12, 1921. Published by the Birth Control Review, Gothic Press, pages 172 and 174.)

"The marriage bed is the most degenerative influence in the social order..."(Margaret Sanger (editor). The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.)

"[Our objective is] unlimited sexual gratification without the burden of unwanted children..."(Margaret Sanger (editor). The Woman Rebel, Volume I, Number 1. Reprinted in Woman and the New Race. New York: Brentanos Publishers, 1922.)

"Give dysgenic groups [people with 'bad genes'] in our population their choice of segregation or [compulsory] sterilization."(Margaret Sanger, April 1932 Birth Control Review.)

(Online source, Diane S. Dew) 

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 Additional Resources 

Abortion Shame? Karma Doesn't Cut it

The Racist Ties To Abortion