“Faithless religion”

“Faithless religion”

By Pastor Rasheed Z. Baaith

“For what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?” (Romans 3:3)

Presently there is a growing mentality in the Body of Christ that the church needs to bend its theological knee to popular social thought. The thought postulates that in order for the Christian church to remain relevant, the church must compromise God’s Voice (the Holy Bible) on the is-sues of homosexuality, same sex marriage, hip hop music, couples living together and on what is acceptable dress when coming into the House of God.

This thought advances the belief that if church seats are going to be full; the church must do whatever is necessary to fill them. This kind of thinking is the very antitheses of the teachings of Christ and the Bible. The foundation for this kind of thinking in the church is faithlessness not faith.

Many of our Pastors believe that if their church membership does not number into the hundreds or the thousands, the church is not a successful church. I don’t find that biblical. In addition, many pastors have built cathedrals and houses of worship that are expansive, ornate and very, very costly. Each month when the mortgage is due it brings either stress or a sigh of relief.

No doubt there are churches that meet those kinds of financial obligations with ease but for those who do not and even for those who do, keeping bodies in the seats has become just as important if not more important than keeping souls saved. As a result compromising the Word of God is becoming the norm.

Pastors are forgetting our primary responsibility is helping the people to live lives that are welcomed in the eyes of God. While God is a loving God, He is also a demanding God. This belief we have that God loves us unconditionally needs deeper understanding. Loving someone does not mean accepting someone’s behavior. We tell people to come as you are but coming as you are does not mean staying as you are. People want God to be the God they’ve idealized not the God of Righteousness He is.

What kind of God would allow His creations to dictate to Him? What kind of God would not have standards of what is sin and what is not? If we have principles we tell our children they must adhere to, how can we expect the LORD to expect less of us?

This craving many pastors have to be popular has become more important than their desire to be what God has called them to be, shepherds which keep the sheep divided from the goats. Recently Pastor Quinn Rodgers of Huntersville, NC opened a church he is calling, “Generation One.” He said it’s a hip hop church, and he’s not the first pastor to do so. And like the others before him believes it will draw those aged 18 – 40. I imagine it will. After all it will be like coming to a club. He will find the beat will be in their minds longer than his words will.

Quinn says, “We’ve taken the hip hop culture and we’ve extracted all the negative connotations out of it and we’ve deposited solid Christian doctrine there.” I’ve never heard such theological foolishness in my life and I’ve heard a lot of foolishness.

We read nowhere in the Bible where Jesus took the popular music and culture of His day to attract people to hear Him. Nor is there any evidence that while He walked and talked among sinners, He participated in their lifestyle. In addition, the originators of hip hop will tell you that hip hop is already a religion, whose “pope” is KRS 1. Hip hop even has its own bible written by KRS 1.

The Church is in a place today where it either believes the Word of God is infallible or they do not. It either has the faith that Christ taught we must have to believe in and on Him or they do not.

The Church is not called to be popular nor are its pastors, it and they are called to be evocative of the Holiness of God here on earth.

Finally there is this: all over this country there are churches that have successful ministries with the target age group Quinn has in mind, many here in Broward County. And it has been done without compromising the commands of God or with musical desecration of His sanctuary.