The premises for this post are twofold: first, that there is
such a thing as a false or counterfeit Church and second, that the counterfeit
Church emanates particular indicators that help us distinguish it from the
authentic Church. I realize that some will dispute my first premise but that
this will reflect only a small number of people holding to radical version
Christian universalism. On the other hand, I also realize that a much larger
number will call into question the criteria I use to help the reader think
about what indicators constitute a counterfeit Church. Even though I intend to
cover a number of basic indicators, I think it is important to recognize that
these indicators are really symptoms of one final characteristic of a
counterfeit church: autonomy.
The Lordship of Christ
The very first indication that a church is in fact a
counterfeit church is its failure to acknowledge and submit to Christ as Lord.
There are a number of ways that this position within a church may come to expression
among the members and before the public. What I will attempt to do is show how
a church can show that it actually rejects the Lordship of Christ. I will begin
with the more obvious and move to the most subtle.
The most obvious indicator that a church rejects the
Lordship of Christ is it’s denial of the divinity of Christ. While it has
become somewhat fashionable and supposedly more intellectually honest to call
into question or even deny the deity of Christ in some circles, even professing
evangelical circles, such a move surely places the individual and the church engaging
in such behavior within the category of counterfeit. In fact, the situation is
so pathetic that many will take extreme offense to the fact that I would even
make such a suggestion. However, unless the Church starts calling damnable
doctrines damnable doctrines again, I fear that the only damnable doctrine that
will survive is the doctrine that there can be no such thing as damnable
doctrine.
First, I contend that the phenomena of Jesus-devotion
reflected in Paul’s letters are to be addressed collectively, and amount to a
constellation of pattern of devotional practice, a programmatic treatment
of Jesus as recipient of cultic devotion. [Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ, 137] The
issue from the beginning was not the fact of Jesus’ divinity as much as it was
the problem with understanding how such a person as Jesus could have possibly
been human. “The problematic issue, in fact was whether a genuinely human
Jesus could be accommodated.” [Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ, 650] A Christian
that denies the divinity of Jesus Christ denies their claim to be Christian,
and proves to others that they are in fact a counterfeit. As Cornelius Van Til
put it, “apostate religion lives antithetically to and in suppression of God’s
truth.” [Van Til, The Protestant Doctrine of Scripture, 116] The Christian
Church did not merely confess that Jesus was Lord over Caesar but that He was
Lord of all that ever was, all that is, and all that ever will be!
Another indicator that a church is counterfeit is its refusal
to entirely surrender to Christ as Lord in all walks of life. A false dichotomy
exists between Jesus as Savior and Jesus as Lord. What I mean specifically is
that this false teaching is carried out in how one lives their life. This is
the person that has been baptized, that has joined the church, and is in fact
an active participant in the church. But when it comes time for godly, holy,
sanctified living, they give it a wink and a nod. These churches can be
identifies by their worldliness. They have little regard for following their
confession with a godly lifestyle. In short, these churches and individuals
have no regard for the commandments of God. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. The works of the flesh mentioned in Gal. 5 are the predominant
theme in their lives. And they constantly justify their own sin by pointing to
God’s love and grace and viewing sin as a mistake or mere imperfection.
A counterfeit church is a church that refuses the Lordship
of Christ in doctrine and in praxis. They deny the deity of Jesus Christ on the
one hand and live as if Christianity makes absolutely no difference in ones
values on the other. Indeed, there are thousands of counterfeit churches and
Christians in our culture.
The Nature of God
Another indicator of a counterfeit church is how it defines
God. A counterfeit church pretends to accept, love, and proclaim the God of
Scripture when, in reality, it repudiates that God as a monster. For example, a
counterfeit church rejects God’s justice by denying that God would ever condemn
anyone to eternal damnation. In addition, a counterfeit church denies the
absolute sovereignty of God. From this we see the counterfeit church claiming
that God changes with the circumstances, that He does not know the future
perfectly, and that God is predominantly pure love as they define love of
course. A counterfeit church finds the concept of God’s wrath repugnant. One
church removed “wretch” from the song Amazing Grace. Another denomination
rejected the wonderful hymn, “In Christ Alone,” because it talks about the
wrath of God. A counterfeit church feels quite at ease with redefining God as a
loving, cheerful, easy-going daddy of sorts that could never direct boiling
wrath at any one. Hence, a counterfeit church rejects the God who is holy,
just, righteous, judge, wrathful, and one that is sovereign over all creation in
preference for a god that is congruent with the hedonistic self-interest of
godless men and women who are nothing more than deistic moralists claiming to
be Christian. They are one more example of a fraudulent Christianity parading
itself as the genuine church in contemporary times.
A Low View of Scripture
Another indicator of a counterfeit church is a low view of
Scripture. Such a church denies that Scripture is fully inspired by God and/or
that it is inerrant. I realize that this subject is likely to raise a lot of
eyebrows, but once again, it seems only right to point out that things that
make for a counterfeit church. The Scriptures themselves provide no allowance such
low opinions of God’s word. Paul told Timothy, In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good
servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith
and of the sound doctrine which you have been following (1 Tim. 4:6) Jesus said
of the OT Scripture, “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is
accomplished (Matt. 5:18).” My point here is not to argue for inspiration or
inerrancy, but to state frankly what are the indicators of a counterfeit
church.
Every church that
has every lost its power did not by first loosening its grip on the doctrine of
inspiration and inerrancy. Without an authoritative revelation from God that
was reliable, trustworthy, it was inevitable that the opinions of man would
take its place.
“It is the
understanding that whatever is given to us by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, whatever constitutes Holy Writ, is binding and authoritative. As such,
it is the touchstone by which we measure ourselves and test every claim. It is
the guide by which we learn to live before God in a way that is pleasing to
him. Scripture alone is our authority.” [Wells, The Courage To Be Protestant, 226]
Without an authoritative revelation that is reliable, we are left to our own
devices. We have no way to knowing what information in Scripture about God is
true and what is the product of ancient cultural projections. A radical
subjectivism paves the way for agnosticism and skepticism. We simply cannot
know anything with any degree of confidence. It is all or nothing; take it or
leave it.
A High View of Man
In 1983 James Hunter discovered that of evangelical books
published in that year, almost nine out of ten dealt with matters of the self.
[Wells, The Courage To Be Protestant, 136] I think about the country song, “I
want to talk about ME,” as I write. We live in a highly hedonistic culture.
Everything revolves around the individual and that individual’s desires, urges,
wants, and demands. The happiness of the individual has become a birthright.
What is worse is what it takes to make us happy.
A counterfeit church revolves around the individual, not
around God, Christ, or His word. The entire mission of the church is geared to
pleasing and entertaining the individual. The music must be entertaining and
appealing. The youth program must be hip, cool, and exciting. There must be
lots and lots of programs for husbands, wives, couples, singles, young, old,
men, women, etc. Sermons must be culturally relevant, speaking to felt needs,
self-help psychologically driven pep talks designed to get me going for the
upcoming week.
A counterfeit church deplores the doctrine of original sin.
Men are not totally depraved, enemies of God by nature. Men are born naturally
good and quite capable of understanding reality apart from God. Men learn bad
habits along the way and when things get bad enough, well, there is always God,
right there to help us out of any jam we mistakenly (not sinfully) get
ourselves into. Men are not dead in their trespasses and sins. They are simply
uninformed. What they need is better or more information about how to go about
fixing themselves.
A counterfeit church holds that doctrine of libertarian
freedom out to be one of the most sacred of all Christian doctrines. Man is
indeed free to do as he pleases. Christian conversion is nothing more than an
act of man’s free will. Man examines the Christian claims, weighs them by his
use of autonomous reason, and makes his final decision.
A counterfeit church rejects the absolute Lordship of
Christ, preferring to walk in their own wisdom, only submitting to those
teachings they deem reasonable. A counterfeit church serves a god of their own
construction. He must be loving, non-judgmental, and accepting of everyone they
think he should accept. A counterfeit church does as it pleases with Scripture.
The Bible is full of errors, contradictions, myths, and outrageous
superstitions. The church must identify those elements and teach its community
and the public accordingly. And finally, a counterfeit church has very high
view of man. Man is autonomous, free, and capable of rationally choosing those
components of the Christian message that are worthy to be believed and those aspects
that should be dismissed. A counterfeit church either rejects Jesus as divine,
calls His divinity into question, and/or pays only lip service to His sacred
teachings. They can be seen endorsing sex outside of marriage, homosexuality,
gay marriage, abortion on demand, denying the exclusive claims of Christianity,
mocking an eternal hell, embracing evolutionary theory, elevating science, and
reason over Scripture, and worshipping the idol of the self.
Sadly, most of American culture has only ever witnessed
counterfeit Christians, from counterfeit churches, preaching a counterfeit
gospel. The mission field on American soil is indeed very rich. We need genuine
Christians, from the genuine Church, preaching the genuine gospel and living
genuine Christian values, shining the genuine light of the gospel into a very
dark and insidious culture steeped in hedonism and idolatry.
A counterfeit church is a most unloving church. She rejects
Christ’s commands and therefore cannot love Christ. She repudiates God’s
justice and in so doing she lies to condemned men, convincing them they are
quite alright when the flames of hell are cast about them. She convinces the
homosexual and the fornicator that God approves of their lifestyle, and would
never cast them away when the truth is they stand as enemies of a God who is
ready to yank them into the depths of hell at any moment. Essentially, the
counterfeit truth is devoid of love because she is devoid of truth. Where love
is present, God’s truth flourishes. Hence, where God’s truth is suppressed,
where it is not, love is a little more than a fleeting construct.
