A Treatise Against Impotent Cultural Christianity

January 1st, 2025
by Joel Riaz

A Battle of Definitions

A weak, vulnerable, always agreeable, and non-offensive Christianity is not Christianity. Many people may have their definition of Christianity, but neither you nor I have the authority to define it. God defines and sets the terms, conditions, values, and principles of Christianity and constructs its ethics.

"If everything that is called Christianity in these days is Christianity, then there is no such thing as Christianity. A name applied indiscriminately to everything, designates nothing." - B.B. Warfield

Our culture attempts to redefine Christianity for us. They attempt to change the norms, ethics, and theology of our faith to make Christianity suitable for their depravity. They actively wage war against Biblical Christianity and would commend to you their false version of Christianity.

This war is fought on many fronts. Sometimes, they refer to God as a feminine character, like in the bestselling book The Shack, and sometimes, they change the content of the gospel to make the command to repent and believe less offensive, by preachers such as Joel Osteen. The woke community has come up with their own version of the Bible, the Queen James Bible. This translation distorts the word of God and perverts the morality upheld by the text.

Many professing Christians, and even some true Christians, will take the “judge not” (Matt. 7:1) route and say we should not openly condemn these views as heretical or denounce them as a perversion of true Biblical doctrine. However, this verse is not only used by Christians but is now the favorite verse of the unregenerate and pagans. They love to quote this verse, and even in response to this article, some people will insist that the Bible tells us “not to judge.”

Judged Not or Judge Right?

Let us for a moment observe the text they reference to when they vehemently denounce our critique of their actions:

“Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you. And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matt. 7:1-6).

These verses are not forbidding judgment altogether. The Bible, in other verses, encourages us to judge righteously (Prov. 27:5-6, John 7:24, and Eph. 5:11). If the Bible not only does not forbid judging but also commands judging, then what does Jesus mean when He instructs His disciples to judge not?

The answer to this question is in the context of this verse. In the illustration Jesus provides, the speck depicts a more minor sin. If you are caught in a more grievous sin than the person you are accusing, then you should not point your finger at your brother. Jesus tells us how to make righteous judgments without our sin clouding our discernment. He commands us to take out the log from our eye, meaning that we should take out the bigger sin from our own life and then address the smaller sin in the life of our brother.

What Jesus has done in this teaching is take the role of judge away from us and give that role to the Scriptures. The very Word of God judges us, tells us of our sins, and makes us face that sin before addressing the sins we may see in others. The Scriptures put sin into context. Is our sin greater? The Scriptures will judge.

A Christian Fights for Truth

Biblical Christianity is under attack, and Christians should not merely sit around doing nothing when this world attempts to make evil good and good evil.

“A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.” - John Calvin

The world and the devil will be delighted to see a church locked within the walls of a building that does not preach the gospel and will not call them to repentance. Just about every media outlet is solely focused on lulling the conscience of modern man into a deep slumber so that they can sell their sinful poison without facing any resistance. In our day sin is made to look more and more palatable to the totally depraved perception of fallen man.

Elon Musk called present-day Christianity toothless. I am afraid he has a valid point. When the largest worldwide event in sports blatantly and unashamedly blasphemes Jesus by depicting drag queens as Jesus and His disciples in the Last Supper, and Christians do not have enough will to stop that, then Christianity is indeed toothless. The culture desires to dictate morality to the church, and many times, the culture succeeds because many pastors respond affirmatively. My brethren, this should not be the case with us. As followers of the gospel of Jesus, we should not bow down to the pressure exerted by society.

Examples of compromise are everywhere today. The United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church USA have put compromise on display as a trophy. By accepting self-described LGBTQ people as church members and allowing so-called same-sex marriages, which are abominations according to the Scriptures, they have embraced the worldly redefinition of Christianity.

The epitome of compromise is the Roman Catholic Church. This church has not been proclaiming the true gospel for close to a millennium, leading her to greater and greater compromise.

A Plague of Biblical Proportions

Many other realities can be pointed out as we criticize the modern church in America. However, according to my analysis, the most significant problem of the church is not a lack of resources or opportunities to share the gospel. The greatest obstacle the church faces right now, I believe, is the plague of nominal Christianity.

A Nominal Christian is a term describing those who are Christian in name only, often used in a pejorative sense. The term nominal Christian describes members of the Christian community who are perceived as being Christian by name only or who barely meet the minimal requirements of Christianity. - Dictionary of Christianity in America

Christianity is a mere cultural identity for many, believing that being born into a Christian family makes them Christians or that simply repeating a prayer will convert them to authentic Christianity. The churches are losing the war in their sanctuaries, the outworking of which can be seen in their minimal impact on the culture. The true gospel makes true believers, while a false gospel only produces compromising hypocrites. Much of the hypocrisy observed in the modern self-professing Christian is due to nominal Christianity.

This is why churches need to return to the old but Biblical message of repentance and the cross proclaimed by the apostles and by Jesus Himself. We do not need more gimmicks in the churches to make Christianity more palatable to unregenerate taste buds. We need to put the gospel of Jesus Christ in front of the culture, which will lead them toward Christianity as we point out the sins in modern society. Mere proclamation of moral teachings is not enough. We need the gospel of Jesus to reshape the very fabric of our evil society. Only a change of heart and desires in the human heart will make a substantial difference in our land.

About The Author

JOEL RIAZ
1689 Federalism | Amillennialism | General Equity Theonomist
Joel Riaz lives in Abbottabad, Pakistan, with his wife, Irum. Having grown up in a Christian community, Riaz is well-acquainted with the Christian Faith and is the first person in his community to embrace Reformed Baptist Doctrine. He serves as an elder at Jesus The Holy Lamb, a Reformed Baptist Church.

Posted in Christian Living
Posted in Morality, Hypocrisy, Nominal Christianity