Micah was unable to worship in Jerusalem
so he built a shrine in the hill country of Ephraim. His mother assisted him in purchasing a
graven image made of silver by the local silver smith. Micah installed one of his sons as priest of
his shrine and in those days Israel had no ruler and the people did what was
right in their own eyes. (1)
A young man from Bethlehem, from the
tribe of Levi, was traveling through the area and he came upon Micah's house
and Micah asked him, "Where are you from?" The Levite said, "I am from Bethlehem
and I'm looking for a place to stay." (2) Micah then made him an offer he couldn't
refuse: "Live with me and be my priest
and I'll give you ten shekels of silver a year and I'll clothe you and feed
you."
Some time later the Danites would
invade the land of Laish, home of Micah.
They stole the silver images and ravaged his temple and asked the Levite
priest to leave Micah and come with them.
"Isn't it better that you serve a tribe rather than one man's
household." (3) These words brought
gladness to the heart of the priest and he followed them with enthusiasm.
Paris Reidhead addresses the issue of
utilitarian religion and expedient Christianity in his sermon, Ten Shekels and
a Shirt. (4) Utilitarianism is defined
as an ethical theory that holds to the idea that the proper course of action is
always the one that maximizes one's overall 'happiness' . The morality of any action is determined by
the consequences of that action, the resulting outcome. (5) In
expedient Christianity the end becomes more important than the means to
achieving that end.
Were we to apply this pragmatic
standard to the ministries of some of the Bible's greatest men they would be judged
to be men who had failed miserably. John the Baptist was able to conjure up a few
disciples but it seems he was lacking in the skills of diplomacy. Rather than stay on the side of political
correctness, he spoke truth to the king and he lost his head as a result. By today's standards he was a failure.
Noah was a great builder of
boats. He built a vessel that endured
the greatest flood in world history but as an evangelist, as a soul winner, he
might be considered an utter failure.
When the rains came and the earth filled with water he had only convinced
seven people, his own family, to follow God.
A hundred years of labor, a magnificent boat and seven converts…he would
be categorized as a colossal failure in the mega-church mentality of the modern
world.
The definition of success has changed
down through the ages. The modern church
has been infected by the philosophies of the culture. God-centered doctrines like salvation and
eternal destiny have been replaced by man-centered beliefs in political
correctness, self-esteem and acquired prosperity. Modern ministers have been distracted from
the truth by the philosophies of humanism.
These cancerous beliefs have been inching their way through the church
for over 150 years until we now no longer question them, but willfully embrace
them.
Humanists believe that the chief end
of all being is the happiness of man.
Achieving that goal is justified no matter what means are required to
get there. If power is what makes you
happy then by all means, strive for power, even if it means stepping on some
and wounding others to achieve your goal.
Hitler believed that happiness would only come to men through a pure
race. He justified his racism and his
murder as an ugly necessity to reach a worthy means: the happiness of man.
Humanism has so saturated our culture
that we have become sex-crazed. The idea
that the primary reason for living is to satisfy ourselves has led to an over-indulgence
in sexual experiences. Salvation no
longer has anything to do with the soul but everything to do with the
fulfillment of our sensual desires.
Humanism has education has become a
shell game. It is no longer
subject-centered. It is now child-centered. The Three R's have been cast aside in favor
of ensuring the happiness of the child.
Failing grades are no longer distributed to those who are slack in their
preparation for fear of wounding their self-esteem. Subject matter is being scrapped in favor of
allowing the pupils to find themselves.
The question is no longer "Is the child learning?" The question now is "Is the child
happy?"
If the goal of the environmentalist is
to create an environment that will contribute to the happiness of man they will
go to any means to achieve that goal.
They will suppress the poor, they will destroy national economies and
they will become violent if necessary.
Even murder is condoned if it will
lead to the happiness of man. The life
of an unborn infant is expendable if it causes inconvenience or threatens the
happiness of the mother. It is a sad
state of affairs when our minds are so warped as to believe that our own
happiness has more value than the life of another.
So many modern day ministers
propagate the humanist philosophy by declaring that God is primarily concerned with
the happiness of man. This teaching
borders on blasphemy. How dare we
elevate ourselves to a level of such importance! This violates the spirit of John
who said, "He (Jesus) must become greater and greater and I must become
less and less." (6) Our earthly
happiness is a by-product of a saving relationship with God. The primary goal of a Christian is not his
own self-serving goal of happiness. Rather,
it is to bring glory to God.
The Levite was more interested in
utilitarian Christianity. How much will
I get paid and what benefits are available to me? When the Danites came along with a better
deal, the Levite was only too eager to graze on greener grass. His concern was, "What is in it for
me?" How rare is the man who will
ask, "In what way might I best bring glory to God?"
Paul wrote to the Romans, "They
exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things
rather than the Creator…" (7) The truth is that the chief end of man is to
bring glory to the God who created him.
The lie that has replaced this truth is that the chief end of man is his
own happiness. Truth happiness can never
be found when in pursuit of a lie.
1. Judges 17:5
2. Judges 17:9
3. Judges 18:19
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76BUB9IchNU
6. John 3:30
7. Romans 1:25
Kevin Probst - Teaches History, Government and Apologetics at the high school level in Columbus Georgia.
No comments:
Post a Comment