Paying the Cost for Brainless Christianity

Where in the world did we ever get the idea that to be a good Christian means to check our brains in at the doorstep of church? How did we ever get to the place where we glory in a brainless Christianity, and refuse to use the brains God gave us to think his thoughts after him?

Why have we become the most anti-intellectual generation in church history? Why are there so many professed believers who think like pagans, talk like pagans, and therefore act like pagans? I continue to be amazed at the complete lack of a Christian mind in so much of the church today.

We are told in Scripture that “My people perish for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). Yep, they sure do, and they sure are. We see everywhere today in the West people claiming to be Christians who haven’t a clue about their own faith and their own biblical worldview.

think 2They have simply soaked up everything the world around them offers, and are unable or unwilling to think biblically, critically and carefully. And in refusing to think for the glory of God, they are living in deliberate disobedience, and need to repent.

Repent for not thinking? Of course. This should be a no-brainer (pun more or less intended). We are told with absolute clarity what the greatest commandment is by Jesus himself. So why don’t we start believing him – and obeying him – for a change?

All the Synoptic Gospels contain this commandment: ‘love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength’ (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:25-8). Jesus says this is the “greatest commandment”. That means it is to be our number one priority, and it is not mere advice.

Yet how few Christians actually obey Jesus in this regard? We seem instead to relish in brainlessness and rank stupidity. Being a fool for Christ is one thing, but being a fool because you refuse to love God with your mind is quite another thing. God will not hold us guiltless for so blatantly and recklessly disobeying his greatest commandment.

Because of my ministry I sadly run across this occurring every day. People claim to be believers yet have clearly decided that having a lobotomy is the high-water mark of Christian spirituality. They seem to relish in their ignorance and biblical illiteracy.

And it shows big time in the key issues of the day. Let me just offer a few quick examples of this. Having just recently penned a piece on the Bible and abortion, I have had a number of clueless wonders come out to attack me, offering the same mindless pro-abortion mantras that our secular friends do.

It is quite shocking to see people who claim to be disciples of Jesus just parroting all the foolish baloney of the pro-aborts, thinking they are somehow being good Christians in the process. It is utterly incomprehensible to me to see these people pouring forth the worldview of secular humanism, while pretending to be Christians.

Whether clueless, wilfully ignorant or deceived, or simply wolves in sheep’s clothing, I continue to be amazed by the number of people who do this on a regular basis. It bothers me greatly that those claiming to be followers of Jesus can get it so very wrong on something so vitally important as the sanctity of human life.

One fellow recently threw this at me: “the truth is abortion is up to the individual and what they see is the right thing to do, Biblically speaking there is no direct quote that says ‘Do not have you [sic] unborn child killed inside you’.” Wow, mind-numbing stuff here.

Did this guy ever hear of the sixth commandment? Murder is prohibited – the killing of the unborn is just that. He might as well foolishly say that rape is up to the individual, or arson, or murder. Once again, he simply has coughed up worldly secular thinking here, while still claiming to be a Christ-follower.

This guy went on to say this foolishness: “it is not the jobs of Christians, Pro life activists or any one [sic] to tell any person they are doing wrong.” Oh really? So if a murderer was about to strike this guy down with a baseball bat, I have no right to open my mouth and say anything?

If his mother was about to be raped by a gang of thugs, I would be out of place to say that this is wrong, and in fact seek to intervene? Talk about a mindless Christian. Of course we have a biblical obligation to point out evil – and resist it as well.

But by the convoluted thinking of this guy, Wilberforce was quite wrong – and unbiblical – to stand up for blacks and challenge the slave owners. This fellow went on to suggest that non-Christians cannot be held to our morality, and we are not to lecture them about right and wrong.

Oh really? If this guy would just for one minute actually put the mind God gave him to some use, he would realise just how utterly foolish such remarks are. By that twisted reasoning, no non-Christian should ever be brought to court for running a red light, robbing a bank, or shooting an innocent bystander.

Sorry jack, but we are all moral beings made in God’s image and live in a moral universe. And we are responsible for our choices and actions. I most certainly will tell anyone – whether they are a Christian or not – that murdering innocent babies in the womb is not right, and I will do all I can to protect such babies.

That is not just my Christian responsibility, but my moral obligation as a member of the human race. Even non-believers know that it is right to speak out in defence of the innocent, so why can’t believers do the same? But the ability to think carefully and engage in moral reasoning seems to be at an all time low amongst so many Christians today.

Another guy claiming to be a Christian tried to tell me that Jesus would counsel abortion for a woman who was raped – Jesus certainly would not force her to carry the baby. He really thought this was the Christian thing to do, and what believers today should do as well.

I replied by stating that pregnancy due to rape is really quite rare, and even if it does occur, how is it Christian to kill the baby? I suggested that he listen to what those who were conceived in rape have to say about this, instead of simply rehashing the usual pro-abort red herrings: http://www.rebeccakiessling.com/Othersconceivedinrape.html

I also asked how offering the biblical data on abortion means that anyone is being forced to do anything? In a democracy prolifers have the same rights as anyone else to argue their case. What does this have to do with coercion? I am always so appalled when I hear people claiming to be Christians trotting out all the usual mantras dished up by the secular humanists and pro-aborts.

But such is the day we live in. Critical Christian thinking and reflection seem to be in short supply nowadays. Trying to find a believer who actually has a biblical worldview is becoming more and more rare. Instead we have masses of zombie-like believers who have never once challenged the world and its thinking, and are instead slavishly conformed to its image.

No wonder the church is having almost zero impact on the surrounding culture. When it thinks and talks and acts just like the world, why should anyone pay it any attention? The early church thrived and grew by leaps and bounds by being radically counter-cultural.

And that began with radical biblical thinking and reflection. The early disciples thought, and thought carefully, about what their faith meant in a hostile culture. They refused to be conformed to the image of the world around them, but stood out like a sore thumb, because they thought and acted biblically.

We desperately need that today. Where are the believers who have a biblical worldview and are acting on it in every aspect of life? Please God raise up a generation of believers who will fully obey you, and love you with their minds as well as their emotions.

Let me close with the words of Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “The great trouble in the Christian life is ever that we must re-learn how to think. The old way of thinking is of no value here; we are in an entirely new realm. So that is why the Apostle says, at the end of 1 Corinthians 2, ‘We have the mind of Christ’ (v 16). We need this mind, and we must learn to cultivate and to develop it and to let it govern our thinking on all these various problems and difficulties.”

[1482 words]

19 Replies to “Paying the Cost for Brainless Christianity”

  1. Bill,
    Exactly…I consider the Amish to, in many ways, be these ‘better-thinkers’ over the last 500 years…in these regards. Thanks for another beautifully accurate/poignant articulation of a much-needed yet rarely-discussed topic.

  2. Yes, some Christians have been seduced by the blandishments of secular immorality but all is not lost. Some time back I witnessed two atheists on an internet discussion board determining that a human foetus was not really a human being and by implication could be disposed of at will. I asked them if it wasn’t human then what was it? Canine, bovine, feline? No answer. No more than a few weeks back I encountered the same nonsense again at an atheist website devoted to ridiculing conservative Christianity. The author made it plain that he need not have abortion on his conscience because an unborn baby is not really a human being. The good news is that I have not encountered a single Christian moved by such deadly sophistry. There are still plenty of Christians in possession of their moral common sense. Indeed Christianity is still a moral force to be reckoned with.

    The ethics of Christianity is not above questioning in a democracy where we are allowed in principle to question just about anything, but it’s the sloppy moral ignorance of the secular West that really needs a hammering. Abortions by the million annually, euthanasia vans, promotion of the bizarre practices of homosexuals etc. all demand aggressive questioning. Christians should never shut up.

  3. Thanks so much for your views on this extremely important topic. Like you, I’m truly amazed at how so many people that are so called Christians are caught up in secular thinking and yet they can’t seem to see it! I know of many that think Abortion is up to the individual, Homosexuality is fine, because God loves everyone, as is sex outside of marriage, watching pornography, hating others and having other Gods such as money, alcohol, self etc. Most of us ( including me) find it uncomfortable to think, that as Christians it is our duty to honor God, by telling people when they are wrong in their views. It is up to us as Christians to show them the biblical way of thinking just as the Disciples did in their day! Of course the world will attack us as we do this because we are showing them their sin and no one wants to know that! Thank you for bringing such topics in the light, this is such an important time, as I feel the chaff is being sifted from the wheat in these last days!

  4. Good one Bill. I would almost go on to say that most of these people are false converts of worldly Churchianity that the true obedient disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps we should heed to the Biblical call to seperate and not be unequally yoked to such people.

  5. Wow, thank you for this! I run into similar nonsense while debating in person and on forums. I cannot believe how much compromise has been smuggled into our churches and into our minds. It breaks my heart.

    We need to pray like crazy for the sheet that up and let astray, The sheep willingly wander off, and the eaves that set out to take them.

    And we have to speak up. Each of us, when giving our life to Christ, have taken a vow to obey God’s word, to share Christ with the world, and to allow God to use us as he sees fit regardless of how uncomfortable it may make us feel.

  6. I Thankyou for speaking the Truth and boldly. How refreshing. John Stott wrote the book “Your mind matters” if I recall rightly. A great book, and you have echoed what he said also. Wonderful to encounter a brother in Christ faithful to our Lord and His words.

  7. When Chriatians would rather discuss caring for the environment than the billion plus murdered by abortion, or how we can work with secular charity organisations rather than how the church can pray for the persecuted church, or how Christians can find common ground with Islam rather than expose this murderous doctrine of demons for all its past and present brutality, it’s clear that too much worldly thinking has been fostered.

  8. Many people seem to treat Jesus as if what he says in like a smorgasbord that they pick and choose what they want to believe. But it is amazing how any other ideology we don’t treat like we do with Christ. You would never accept a someone as a Marxist when they accept the capitalistic system, yet we allow people to claim they are Christian are reject core teachings by Christ.

  9. Thank you Simon Fox – and all in one sentence too.Your post might well have a useful place in an English grammar lesson revealing truths far more disturbing than the humble gerund. Yes we must pray for the victims of abortion, of homosexuality and of Islam but our first duty is to give thanks and praise in worship to our loving God. Those who refuse to know and love our Savior Lord deny themselves so much. What Christians would rather discuss is of no concern to us!

  10. Isaiah 5:20 has never been more applicable – ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.’

  11. A lot of our worldly thinking comes about because we fail to immerse ourselves in the Word of God and do what it says. I think a lot of us have satisfied ourselves (in this culture) with Christianity Lite which is more about feelings than thinking. C.S. Lewis said something about our faith being balanced between feeling AND thought, which sounds more like ‘loving the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength’ to me. We are more about ‘worship’ rather than Bible Study in church, but knowing the Bible is knowing Christ. Then we can truly worship in Spirit and in Truth. That said, I find it encouraging that apologetics mnistry like Ravi Zacharias’ is growing.

  12. Thanks Bill for yet another brilliant article.

    Perhaps these idiots are just trying to be NICE. Ann Barnhardt in her YouTube says it quite right https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ugh_DuYMM

    Thank you once again for being a voice in our now – ground zero of morality society.

    God bless & keep you – Karen

  13. I strongly believe that the biggest reason for the Biblical illiteracy of today is the rejection of the first chapters of Genesis as a real history of the world.

    If the beginning of the Bible can’t be trusted to be a truthful account, why should the rest of it be trusted? This is why so many people start to question the authority of scripture, when they should be looking to defend the truth of God’s word. That is why I am greatly thankful for such ministries as creation ministries international who stand for the truth and seek to remedy this ignorance of the scriptures and the real history of God’s creation.

  14. I know how you feel Bill, how many times have I felt like hitting my head against a brick wall when trying to talk to those Christians who are deceived into believing the pro abortion or pro homosexual rhetoric. Not only can’t (or wont) they see the truth of the Biblical perspective but they say that we’re not very Christian cause we’re being judgmental and not supporting these issues. I also very much agree with Mario Del Giudice that the real issue here is the rejection of Biblical inerrancy due to the rejection of Genesis as real history. Science not only has proven evolution as nothing more than an unsubstantiated hypothesis but that the Genesis account is scientifically sound. But this isn’t kosher to the lamestream media (thanks Bill for that description) or our hostile universities.

  15. But Bill, we need to rethink everything the bible says to see how it fits in this Postmodern world…and how will those who have had abortions feel if we say these things to them? Surely this is not the love of God to tell them they are murderers and going to hell….is it?

    Im only kidding about the stupid rant above, but you like me know it aint going to get better. The facts are, the majority of that which claims to be of our faith is of another spirit, another gospel and another jesus…a false one. That’s why we don’t and wont ever get along, for Christ tells us to ‘contend’ for the faith once delivered.

    Keep on raining the arrows of truth into the enemies camp, it will continue to expose those who are with him and those who…’oh what big ears you have grandma’. Good article, keep fighting we are with you to the end!

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