Creeping Liberalism

Paul Derengowski, ThM

The Apostle Paul wrote his young disciple Timothy in the waning days of Paul’s life the following words concerning the condition of the church in the latter days.

What he described could easily be called “Creeping Liberalism” or a slow acceptance of godless belief and behavior that is then dressed up and argued as something wholesome, true, and godly.

Paul wrote,

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths (2 Tim. 4:1-4).

Whether or not we are living in the actual last days prior to God’s judgment, several things are clear that are related to Paul’s warning.

1. A vast majority of churches that claim to be Christian do not proclaim (i.e. “preach”) “sound doctrine” (Gr. ὑγιαινούσης διδασκαλίας = “healthy teaching”). Instead, they appease the itching ears of those who have substituted “diversity,” “multiculturalism,” and not being personally offended for being biblical, one-minded, and the rock of offense, who is Jesus Christ, the name above all names and only way of salvation and guide to “sound” living.
2. A vast majority of churches that claim to be Christian employ preachers and teachers that are moral, spiritual, and ethical relativists who are no more equipped to make a stand for what is absolutely true than those put in their charge to equip for service. In fact, many of those churches, preachers, and teachers do not believe in absolute truth at all. Hence, the Bible is erroneous, salvation is left up to the sinner, and everyone is a “Christian,” despite living and talking like the devil.
3. A vast majority of churches that claim to be Christian are ensnared in marketing schemes for evangelistic outreach, pathetic music scores as preparation for worship, and political activism as the panacea to society’s ills. The myths of “progressivism” have calloused the hearts and souls of those naming the name of Christ, whereby the truth is ignored because it does not pay homage to the idol created by the “Christian.”

The application of Paul’s warning is simple.

1. Unhealthy churches inevitably leads to an unhealthy society. Christian cults run amok and satanic substitutes, in the form of worldly religions, proliferate, all of which are in the business of propagating the first lie, that man may successfully live an ungodly life of independence from God, even to the degree where he can become a god one day, if he just tries hard enough.
2. A relativistic society eventuates in a total breakdown and break-up of that society. Families are destroyed and immoral perversion is considered the “new normal.” Tyrannical dictators come and go with the wind, as one substitute after another imposes his devious will upon an unrepentant, naive, and desperate populace who wants God’s blessing, but are unwilling to do things God’s way.
3. As “Christian” churches become more “modern” and “progressive” in their ways and means to “reach the lost,” sanctuaries are populated by those who have discovered religion, but have never been discovered by Jesus Christ. They are in some cases wonder-workers, who conveniently twist God’s words for self-serving purposes, and make men, women, boys, and girls the two-fold children of hell, rather than the adopted heirs with Christ in the kingdom of God.

Creeping Liberalism is an outgrowth of what the Apostle Paul warned about in his day; nothing has changed, except for the fact the conditions have become worse.

The only solution is to be ready to proclaim the untainted truth to a world of Christians and non-Christians alike.

Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with great patience and instruction.

For the time will come when they will reject the message outright.

Then will come Jesus; then will come his judgment.

May the biblical Christian be ready to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.”