Swallowed Up!

"It really does shock me the more as I study God's Word and grow in my relationship with Christ; how the contemporary church in America is following a path that is completely contrary to the Word of God and His ways. The church by in-large today is no longer being swallowed up in liberalism it's being swallowed up in what theologians call the seeker-sensitive movement, I have my own name for it, the market-driven church. Modern psychology, carnal reasoning has found a strong hold in this market-driven way of doing church, and the message that the seeker movement seems to be battering home today is that you are basically a good person, you are of extreme worth and value to God, your just a diamond in the ruff that needs a little polish from God, you just need to find God's purpose for your life and everything will be OK, folks we have a major theological problem here. This man centered wisdom is not the wisdom of God; now it sounds good but it doesn't par with scripture, nowhere in scripture does God seek a lost sinner by first telling him how good he is.

The basic tenant of the gospel message is that a person must first understand that they are a sinner and in need of God's forgiveness. The Holy spirit first convinces men of sin and righteousness and judgement to come. He quickens them dead in trespasses and sin and then draws them by faith through grace to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the exact opposite and diametrically opposed to the seeker sensitive model of doing church. Man says your a diamond in the ruff, God says your dead in trespasses and sins. Man says your basically a good person, God says there's none good no not one. Man says well you have a good heart, God says the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Man says well you just need to find God's purpose for your life, Jesus said except a man be born again he'll not even see the Kingdom of God. The message of the contemporary church is a false message."

Excerpt taken from a message preached on July 25th, 2004 at Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church in Shelbyville, TN by Pastor Jonathan Sims titled "The Total Depravity of Man"