From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 6 of a series. Read part 5.

In our current series we are addressing these questions: "My church is no longer true to the Word of God on essential Christian truths. What should I do? Should I leave? Should I stay and try to fight error and compromise? Will I be guilty of schism if I do either one?"

In previous articles we have presented the only response that Scripture commends, and commands - Biblical separation. I must put these words before you again, because they are so vital:

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people."

Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1)

Forsaking the Church?

When anyone sets forth this clear imperative, the friends of compromise and those who are doctrinally indifferent react in horror. As more than one person has put it to us, "Compromise is the reality in the church today. It is everywhere. You cannot escape it. If you 'separate from compromise' you will be forsaking the church of Jesus Christ."

Do these assertions pass the test of Scripture?

To understand the Biblical answer, we must remind ourselves of the nature of the true Church of Jesus Christ: It is a supernatural body. It is made up of those who have been regenerated by the Spirit of God, washed clean of their sins by the blood of Christ, the temples of the living God in this present evil world. They alone constitute the general assembly of the firstborn, of Christ, whose names are written in Heaven.

The supernatural Church of Jesus Christ is not a building. It is not a local organized group with a membership roll. It is not a denomination, association, council, or convention. Every one of these is, at best, a mixed gathering of those who are truly born from above, and those who make an outward profession of Christ without inward reality.

Because the Church is in the world, the world is often within the physically gathered church. Believers are not perfected in this life. Therefore the local assembly can never exist in the absence of many problems until Jesus returns. But one of the marks of the true Church of Jesus Christ is that it deals with such matters by exercising godly discipline according to Scripture. And when local assemblies fail to do so, Scripture commands us to separate ourselves from compromise and apostasy.

No Crisis?

Many who read this may say, "Oh, things are not really as bad as that. There is no crisis. In every community there is still some church that is basically sound." At one time, not that many years ago, I would probably have concurred. But not today. We live, especially in America, in the midst of an epidemic of compromise in the church on vital, non-negotiable issues of the faith.

Some of these compromises take obvious forms: the entertainment mentality in place of Biblical worship; the dearth of expository preaching; the dearth of the Word of God itself; the over-humanization of Christ at the expense of His deity and Lordship; the de-emphasis of sound doctrine generally, because so many pastors have believed the lie that "doctrine divides"; the preaching of watered-down pseudo-gospels ranging from feel-good psychology to social-justice humanism; the widespread absence of any exhortation to truly sanctified thinking and living; and in many places, legalism in its various manifestations.

Other, more insidious forms spring from these basic evils: the toleration of immorality among church leadership and membership - today, including not only fornication, adultery, and un-Biblical divorce and remarriage, but also a growing tolerance of homosexuality and greater openness to so-called homosexual "marriage"; the continually expanding, un-Biblical influence of women who assume roles of spiritual authority that Scripture unmistakably reserves for men; the growing atmosphere, in so many places, of a "church" that is in reality nothing more than a man-centered social club rather than the assembly of Christ's blood-bought remnant reverently worshipping their Lord, fellowshipping around His person, and receiving instruction in His righteousness.

To say that things are "not so bad" in the churches, that there is no crisis, is to deny reality, and to deny Scripture.

A Spiritually Dry Time

We live, especially in America, in a dry time in spiritual history. Sadly, American churches have for several decades exported the products of this spiritual poverty, often deceptively clothed in worldly riches, to other nations far and wide. In the age of the Internet and other forms of instantaneous communication, the seeds of compromise and spiritual deadness travel across the globe literally at the speed of light.

We live in a time when the majority of churches follow the pattern of Laodicea in the book of Revelation. These are the words that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke against that church:

And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

"These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

"Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing' - and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked - I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:14-22)

Revelation 3:20 ("Behold, I stand at the door and knock...") is often quoted as a salvation verse - and indeed it is. But notice to whom it is addressed: to a church that is rich in the things that will burn in the fires of final judgment, but destitute of the things which endure for eternity, because it values compromise and apostasy over God's "gold refined in the fire."

What Is Truly Important to God?

What I am about to say, in view of these things, is bound to bring a great deal of criticism my way, but I believe that on the authority of Scripture it must be said.

Fleeing from spiritual compromise does not mean that you have left Christ's Church. On the contrary, taking such a stand involves loyalty to Christ and His true Church. Christians, especially in America, tend to think in terms of the "local church" as the one just around the corner, or within a few minutes' drive. That is a function of our time and technology. But it was not always so. In the pre-automobile age, American Christians were accustomed to often traveling an hour or more to attend a faithful church.

Christians in other parts of the world are still accustomed to this. A few years ago I had lunch with a preacher who had just returned from preaching a series of meetings in Zimbabwe. Believers traveled on foot from miles around to gather for worship under the shade of a solitary tree. They hoped someday to construct a building, but in the meantime that tree was all they had. They were poor in this world's goods, but rich in the faith. This preacher told me of people coming up to him and the leaders of the church after a service had ended, and saying, "I want to repent of my sins. I want to live for Christ." That is the need of our time - and of all times, in all places.

If it takes traveling an hour or more each way to get to a sound church, but there is one even at that distance and you are able to go, then by all means go there.

But if there is no faithful church where you are, then you are better off to stay at home and worship privately, as a family, or with even one or two others of like mind. Christ has promised to be present in the midst of even two or three gathered in His name - and Christ is not limited if perhaps the rest of those "two or three" are in a church service you are watching that is taking place hundreds of miles away.

If necessary, watch a doctrinally-sound service online, listen to a good recorded sermon by a faithful man, or read one together. Sing "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" together; if no one among you can carry a tune in a basket, then just read the words! You are on far more Biblical ground doing these things than you would be to attend a church that is in the grip of compromise.

Dear Christian, it is a question of what you are seeking. Are you looking for the truth? Do you understand the Biblical definition of the Church? Are you looking for the true fellowship of true believers in Christ - "the apostles' doctrine and fellowship" (Acts 2:42) - whether that takes place in a formal church building, in someone's home, or if necessary, via the Internet?

Or, are you looking for a postmodern "full-service church" - one with a well-staffed nursery so that your main goal on Sunday morning can be a mini-vacation from your infant or toddler; one with empty, soul-numbing programs for your older children rather than instruction in the foundations of the faith that will make them think about the issues of this life and of eternity; one that entertains the teenage and adult senses rather than feeding and challenging the soul?

What is truly important to you? More vitally, what is truly important to your Lord? Here is the answer:

...that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

He has delivered us [the members of His true Church] from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)

Next: The Trap of "I'll Wait And See What Happens"

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