OceanSide church of Christ
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AN ANCIENT WARNING FOR POST-MODERN
CHRISTIANS
John Waddey
From:
Christianity: then &
now, February 1, 2008
When Jehovah liberated
the Hebrews from their Egyptian bondage, He brought them into the desolate
wilderness of Sinai to prepare them to nationhood. Through Moses He delivered to them a new
law for both their civil and spiritual governance. They were to be a kingdom of priests, a
holy nation, and people for His own possession (Exodus 19:6). To sustain a proper relationship between
himself and the people, Jehovah gave them a religious system complete in very
detail. It showed them how to
worship Him acceptably and how they should conduct themselves in daily
life. He then added these solemn
warnings:
“After the doings of the
and after the doings of the
not do; neither shall ye walk in their statutes…Mine ordinances shall
ye
do, and My statutes shall ye keep to walk therein…” (Leviticus
18:3-4).
“…take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow (the
Cannanites),
after that they are destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not
after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their god? Even so
will I do likewise…What thing soever I command you, that shall ye
observe
to do: thou shalt not add
thereto, nor diminish from it” (Deuteronomy
12:30-32).
God foresaw a danger and warned them against it. The thing of which He warned is called
“syncretism.” It is the blending or
meddling of two different religions.
This warning was needed but sadly unheeded by the people. They soon began to adopt the practices
of their Canaanite neighbors and incorporated them into their worship of
Jehovah. Among the most glaring
features was their adoration of Baal and Ashtoreth, the fertility god and
goddess of their predecessors.
Along with their images, they adopted their degenerate worship which
included ritual sexual indulgence and, in some cases, human
sacrifice.
Syncretism is
still very much alive and with us to this day. The Church of Rome is a classic example
of syncretism as is Masonry. Those members of the
A still more
insidious kind of syncretism is unfolding today. A new phase of the evolving change
movement is known as “the
“I don’t believe making disciples must equal making adherents to the
Christian religion. It may
be advisable in many (not all) circumstances
to help people to become followers of Jesus and remain within their
Buddhist, Hindu or Jewish contexts” (A Generous Orthodoxy, p.
293)
Other Emergent leaders include followers of Islam in
their new circle of fellowship. You
may be thinking, “But this is a denominational leader. What has that to do with us?” McLaren is a key voice of the