The Feminization of Christianity

Transcription

1 Scripture and the Church The Feminization of Christianity By Dr. Paul M. Elliott From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase Why are many men abandoning "feminine" Christianity for "masculine" Islam? It is because the organized church is offering a feminized counterfeit in place of the masculine Christianity of Scripture. March According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, males in many parts of the world are rejecting Christianity but embracing Islam, because they consider Islam to be the more masculine religion.[1] And no wonder. Evidence abounds of the feminization of what is falsely called Christianity. The Tragic Facts I was reminded of the feminization of the institutional church when I viewed video of the recent funeral of U. S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Hundreds of lace-garbed priests, including one of Scalia's sons, un-biblically forbidden to marry, supposedly representing Christ on earth, paraded into the church ahead of the casket. Worse yet, contemporary Romanism increasingly raises its worship of Mary to a level at which she is effectively a fourth person of a godhead. On a Sunday morning last year while driving to a church where I was to preach, I happened upon the last minutes of a Roman Catholic radio broadcast in which a priest gave the benediction "in the name of the Father, the Mother, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." I am grieved by the feminization of the institutional church every time I see "guys" (they hardly deserve to be called men, no matter how many children they have sired), going into a so-called evangelical church service wearing the common "guy" uniform of a sloppy T- shirt, shorts that look and flow like a woman's skirt, flip-flops or sneakers, and a baseball cap often worn backward. Their wives (or, increasingly, their live-in partners in fornication and adultery) are often the ones dressed more like men. 1

2 I am disgusted by the feminization of churches every time I hear, as our ministry often does, from concerned church members whose male leaders have failed to confront heresy or immorality in their midst, shrinking from their duty because they fear the wrath of people in the congregation (often as not, women) rather than fearing the Lord. I am sickened every time I see a church sign advertising a woman as "pastor," or a husband and wife as so-called "co-pastors", both contrary to Scripture. I am revolted every time I contemplate the sad phenomenon of wiggling women "worship leaders" and their gyrating male counterparts on the pulpit-less stages of thousands of socalled churches across America, leading congregations in what they falsely call "worship" but is actually an appeal to embrace not the Christ of Scripture, but "all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life" (1 John 2:16). I am saddened every time I contemplate the fact that millions know little more of "Jesus" than the limp-wristed portrayals in contemporary entertainment productions, which resonate with the blasphemies of countless apostates like Dr. Tony Campolo who encourage their hearers to "get in touch with the feminine side of God." Feminization is a keynote of the counterfeit Christianity that America's institutional church culture exports to the rest of the world, in place of the one true faith in the authentic Christ of the Bible - the only faith that saves a soul from Hell. None of this in any way justifies the tragic, deluded male embrace of Allah. Muslims are in terrible bondage. The demon-god of Islam is not truly masculine in any Biblical sense but is a sadistic, blood-lusting, woman-hating, child-abusing, dehumanizing perversion of the Holy God of Scripture. The more ardent followers of Islam, in the name of jihad (literally meaning "struggle" but more practically signifying "holy war") sacrifice their sons and daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, in the misplaced hope of gaining eternal life (Psalm 106:37-38). But if men are indeed embracing Islam for its so-called "masculinity" and rejecting Christianity as effeminate, it shouts this fact: The church has failed to present Christ as He truly is, and authentic Christianity 2

3 as it truly is. Both Christ and Christianity are uncompromisingly masculine. The Christian Balance We must view the issues of masculinity and femininity in Biblical balance. We read in Acts 1:14 that "the women" were among the one hundred and twenty in the upper room, waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit which occurred at Pentecost. Doubtless these were the women that Luke, the human writer of Acts under Divine inspiration, also spoke of in his Gospel record. Who were some of these women? There was Mary Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons. There was Jesus' own mother Mary, not as the exalted figure of Romanism but as the object of her Savior's grace. There were other women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, and had ministered to Him along the way as He moved steadfastly toward Jerusalem and the Cross. These same women, the Gospels tell us, looked on from a distance as Jesus suffered and died. They also came and sat opposite the tomb and observed where Jesus had been buried. And early on the first day of the week, some of these same women were the first to discover the empty tomb, and to learn from the angel that Christ had risen from the dead. Throughout His ministry, and even in the providential acts of His death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus gave special - and in those days unaccustomed - status to women. He dealt with women as God commands every man to deal with every woman, in a continual pattern of kindness, respect, and sympathy that was simply not the way either Jewish or Gentile men treated women in that day. Jesus also made it clear that although there is to be male authority in the church and the home, women are not to be second class citizens in any sense. Through the Holy Spirit, after His ascension Jesus taught that men are to love their wives as He loved the Church, and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:22-33). A woman can receive no greater love than this, and God says that is it every wife's due. Christ Was No Weakling But the Christ of the Bible who treated women (and children) with such kindness is no limpwristed weakling. The Man who cleansed the Temple - not once but twice (John 2:13-16 and 3

4 Luke 19:45-48) - is a man's man. He was physically capable of single-handedly driving out the merchants, the moneychangers, and their merchandise from an area that covered more than ten acres. The Lord Jesus Christ was a mighty man, like David of old, who said in Psalm 18, "By You I can run against a troop. By my God I can leap over a wall." Jesus Christ is truly the Son of David according the flesh. He is a man of valor. God manifest in the flesh is the mighty God, not a weakling. He "was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead" (Romans 1:3-4). He is the One who is coming again, in power and glory, leading the armies of Heaven, to bring final judgment upon this present sin-cursed earth: Now I saw Heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. (Revelation 19:11-16) Christians Are Not Called To Be Weaklings Those who are truly Christ's are commanded to think and act in view of His true nature. A literal rendering of 1 Corinthians 16:13 reads: Be watchful and vigilant [lest spiritual calamity overtake you], stand firm and persist in the faith, show yourselves to be men, be made strong [by God] and increase in strength. It is important to note that this is an exhortation to all members of the church, both male and female. The man-like strength in which both Christian men and women are commanded to live is not our own, but our Lord's. He has promised it to all who will seek it: 4

5 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith... (Ephesians 3:14-17) Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Ephesians 6:10-11) For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. (Colossians 1:9-12) This is the Christ, and this is the Christianity, that His true Church must proclaim to the world - a Christianity that can run against a troop of Satanic adversaries, and leap over walls of ungodliness, and not a spiritually or physically effeminate counterfeit. References: 1. Bradford Richardson, "Men Are Fleeing Christianity, But Embracing Islam", The Washington Times, Thursday, March 24, 2016, as viewed at news/2016/mar/24/menfleeing-christianity-not-islam-report sac0174 Copyright TeachingtheWord Ministriesmmmmmwww.teachingtheword.org All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced in its entirety only, for non-commercial purposes, provided that this copyright notice is included. We also suggest that you include a direct hyperlink to this article for the convenience of your readers. 5