Numerous denominational institutions, conventions, seminaries, and churches alike are facing a reckoning for their failure to proclaim the oracles of God and safeguard Christ’s sheep from savage wolves seeking to devour. 

A recent worldview survey was released from George Barna / Arizona’s Cultural Research Center detailing what many have been saying for years: there is a fundamental issue in the church and it stems from the pulpits. The results of this report are particularly damning, as they indicate only 41% of lead pastors, 28% of associate pastors, 13% of teaching pastors, 12% of youth pastors, and 4% of executive pastors actually hold to a comprehensive worldview. Taken on the whole, just under 2/3 of pastors embrace a form of syncretism, which is the blending of various belief systems together as one. In other words, purported ministers of the Christian faith don’t actually hold to the Christian faith, but an eclectic grab-bag of ideological, philosophical, and theological ideas that are fundamentally at odds with one another. The impact this has upon the congregants cannot be overstated.

When one considers past reports, such as The State of Theology from Ligonier Ministries, it is little wonder why so many Christians are embracing heresy condemned by the forebearers of our faith. It is little wonder why so many lead lives opposed to the faith they profess when those in leadership model a life of unbridled hedonism, a rejection of the Word of God, and an embrace of various competing worldviews and philosophies that run counter to the Christian faith. Many have no concept of how the Word of God applies to every aspect of life because they have never been taught how it applies to all of life.

Don’t misunderstand me to be saying that there is a reasonable excuse mankind can give in times of such ignorance; the onus is still upon us all to know and love God. Yet when the shepherds do not shepherd—or when they mislead the people to place their trust in false gods, false doctrines, and false practices, surely, they shall bear greater culpability. Afterall, Jesus did have much compassion upon sheep without a shepherd. Jesus did, in fact, vehemently oppose those who created many obstacles, burdens, and hurdles, for the people of God to jump through. Christ likewise despised those who twisted the truth, calling them sons of their father, Satan.

Shall we collectively scratch our heads in wonder and wring our hands in frustration at why is the church in such shambles?

Occam’s Razor would lead us to believe that these shepherds are not shepherding. And yet if these men are not shepherding, the question must be asked: precisely what is it that they do?

You see, it is the shepherds who will be held to the strictest account by God for their failure to teach sound doctrine (Ja. 3:1). It is the pastors who will be judged by God for their ineptitude to guard the flock from perverse doctrines and the carnal depravities of evil men. They are to be men, fierce men, building upon the foundation laid by Christ, and yet so many are keen on cutting corners and running roughshod through those actually seeking to edify the body. Rather than building upon the cornerstone, they have all but rejected it, crudely piling on the straw and fluff of competing, but blind, dumb, deaf, and lifeless gods. To borrow a phrase from Ezekiel, these shepherds are lifting up dung-gods before the people, smearing excrement on the pulpits and even the people of Yahweh.

Rather than lift up those sacred truths of old, they hide the Law of God behind the wall of the sanctuary. There is little cry of, “Thus saith the Lord!” Instead, many pepper their sermons with newspaper clippings, humorous anecdotes, and not-a-few out of context Bible verses so as to save face before the undiscerning ones. They preach canned sermons written by other men, lifting up the silver screen as if to find the shred of Christ “At the Movies,” as they ask the rhetorical question, “Are you not entertained?” Well do they tend to the goats, belittling, demeaning, defaming, and unhitching from the very Word of God as if to say the Christian faith is religion a la carte. You can form a quasi-Christian worldview and flourish, so they say. Many teach that you can compartmentalize your faith neatly in one part of your life, as if the Sovereign One does not demand wholesale allegiance, slavery even, to Christ.

The litmus test of the faithful minister of God is his integrity, yet we have all but abandoned the very inspired Words of our Lord when it comes to the qualifications listed for such men. Many find themselves in the crosshairs of the apostle Paul, who he condemns in Romans 2, for though they teach that others should not steal, they steal. Though they teach that none should commit adultery, they commit adultery. And though they proclaim that all men should flee from idols, they rob temples, raise up the high places once more, and neglect to teach themselves of that which they shout from the pulpits. The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of them.

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