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What is apostasy? April 27, 2008 - by Ron and Karen Schwartz - Most Christians believe that the word “apostasy” is synonymous with social decadence. When we hear this word applied to the state of the church, many Christians assume that it has to do with sin or backsliding. But being backslidden does not really capture the meaning of the word. In fact, Christians don’t need to be backslidden to be apostate. There are many respected and devout Christians today filling our churches who are actually living in apostasy.
Understanding Apostasy
Our English word “apostasy” comes from the Greek word “apostasia,” which is found in only a few places in the New Testament. The most popular of these is 2 Thessalonians 2:3: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition”. The words “fall,” “fallen,” and “falling,” as translated in the New Testament, most often come from derivatives of the Greek word “pipto” (“to fall down or descend” - used both figuratively and literally). When used in a spiritual context, the word “pipto” usually describes sin or depravity. However, in this verse, the word “apostasia” is used, which (in the New Testament) points to something other than sin.
The Greek word “apostasia” means "a withdrawing, defection, revolt, a falling away, and apostasy." The English equivalent (“apostasy”) means, “a forsaking of faith and principles, to which one previously adhered, in favor of opposing beliefs: a perverted religious belief.”
There is a subtle difference between the words “pipto” and “apostasia.” Generally, “pipto” is indicative of an obvious falling because Christians who “pipto” “fall” are falling into sin. “Apostasia” “falling” may not be as obvious.
Christians who “apostasia” “fall” may act like every other Christian yet be in a state of apostasy. Apostate Christians may attend church regularly. They may be elders in a church. They may teach Bible studies. They may raise their hands and praise God, contribute to the poor, or even be pastors. This is because apostasy is a “deviation” from what was once held as truth and does NOT necessarily mean falling into sin.
The Road to Apostasy
The road to apostasy does not begin with sinners, nor does it start with Christians who are compromising or indulging in sin. It begins with Christians who are doing what they should be doing. This is an important distinction because many Christians tend to think that the great “falling away” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is either referring to the depravity of Western society or main stream religion such as the Catholic and Protestant denominations. However, that interpretation is far too simplistic to be the summation of Satan’s plan, because all Christians would need to do is join an independent church to escape apostasy. To understand today’s great apostasy, we must first consider how we got here.
Of the Ephesians, Jesus said, “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent (Revelation 2:2-5).”
At the time of John’s writing (around 90 AD), the church at Ephesus was merely a shadow of what Christianity had once been. Jesus’ commendation of their “labour” and “patience” speaks of a church that was weary of well-doing. His words concerning how they tried “them which say they are apostles, and are not, and found them liars” speaks of a church that had struggled against the influx of false teaching and self-proclaiming apostles and prophets. Though it would seem that the objective of Satan was to get this church to embrace false doctrine, it is clear in the words of Jesus that it was not. His true objective was to get these Christians so focused on doctrine and the church itself that they lose focus on their relationship with God.
Consider Jesus’ admonishment to Laodicea: “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see (Revelation 3:15-18).” The Laodicean church is the eventual outcome of every Ephesian church. What began as an inward focus from external threats eventually ended up as a church that has no external focus, but centers all its attention on its own self interests. This is the contemporary church. It no longer resembles anything that Christ taught. Its only purpose is to fulfill the self-indulgent needs of its members. Instead of being defined by Christ, this church is defined by its doctrine. Instead of lifting up Christ, it exalts men. Instead of serving the requirements of Christ, it serves the desires of its members. Instead of fostering the “first love,” it craves nicer facilities, luxurious buildings, articulate speakers, professional performers, and more and more intellectual knowledge. Instead of fanning the flames of revival (and we use that term loosely), it produces apathy and compromise. This is a straying from what the Spirit originally established, and so it is apostasy.
The letters to the churches in the Book of Revelation present a “road to apostasy.” It is a road that churches have repeatedly taken over the past two thousand years. During these millennia, the church has experienced repeated cycles of revival and apostasy. In fact, prior to the early 1900’s, Christendom was already in a deep state of apostasy. It had deviated from the Church that Jesus had originally established. It was a mere shadow of the power and grace it once knew. However, what we want to consider is the latest cycle of apostasy [the great “falling away (2 Thessalonians 2:3)”] of the contemporary church since the 1900’s.
Over the course of the last few centuries, the Church began to experience a “new awakening.” Driven by the “Piety” Movement, the Pentecostal Movement was born at the beginning of the last century. Then, somewhere in the forties and fifties, a new movement began to emerge from the Pentecostal. It became known as the “Latter Rain.” It broke away from traditional thinking, propelled by the dynamic evangelist William Branham. The Latter Rain Movement taught that the Church and the five-fold ministry would be restored and come into unity and perfection, that the Church would eventually become a spiritually militant Church that would defeat evil and Satan, and that the Church would eventually usher in redemption to the earth. As a result, it became immediately popular, and many flavors of that movement quickly branched out. Some of those, known as the Manifested Sons of God, Kingdom Now, Dominion, and the Five-Fold Ministry Movements, are still quite active today.
On the heels of the Latter Rain Movement was born probably the most popular Christian movement of the second half of the 1900’s: the Charismatic Movement. The Charismatic Movement was a kluge of Pentecostalism and Latter Rain doctrines (i.e., unity, five-fold ministry, etc.) which then produced the Discipleship, Shepherd, and the ever popular Word of Faith (“name it and claim it”) Movements.
Each of these movements broke further and further away from traditional Christian doctrine as well as the original simplicity of the “Pentecostal” outpouring that Christianity once enjoyed. As a result of the lack of standards, virtually any ideology could be incorporated into a church. “Market-driven” philosophies began to produce “mega churches,” and the embracing of social culture brought about “social clones” known as “emergent churches.” Then we finally come to today.
Both the Charismatic and Latter Rain Movements have run out of gas. Today, much of the Charismatic and Latter Rain Movements has been stripped down to what is now popularly referred to as the Apostolic and Prophetic Movement. The “name it and claim it” doctrinal influence has taught them to proclaim that great things are about to be achieved and therefore it is okay to ignore their sin, failure, and pretentiousness. We wonder how these pretenders truly cannot see how pretentious and fake they really are. But given the poor choices Christians have today for churches and church leaders, it’s no wonder that these pretenders are able to gather a following.
Both the Latter Rain and Charismatic movements have been successful at something: they have taught Christians to abandon the simplicity of their “first love” and their loyalty to the teaching of Christ, and instead pursue knowledge, doctrine, men, and thus idolatry. The movements which were built around the discovery of apostasy are responsible for it. The Latter Rain and Charismatic movements, and their children – the Prophetic and Word of Faith movements – are themselves responsible for a great “falling away.” This is a “great delusion,” because those who are involved in these movements are on the lookout for that place from which apostasy will come. They are oblivious to the fact that it is coming from them.
The road to apostasy began at the church at Ephesus, but it did not end there. It does not begin with sinners and compromising Christians. It begins with Christians who have experienced a true relationship with God in their hearts. It begins with Christians who have known the presence of God and what it means to walk in it. It begins with Christians who have known God. It begins with Christians who have experienced a “first love” with Christ. It begins “right” but then other things enter in that begin to cause Christians to deviate from, stray from, or abandon their “first love.”
Christians need to go back to the simplicity, the “first love,” they enjoyed at the beginning of the last century. They should abandon the profitless doctrine of the Latter Rain, Prophetic, and Word of Faith movements that has stolen their love for Christ and taken their attention away from Him. Such profitless doctrine only serves to exalt men and their achievements. Those of you who are involved in these movements know in your hearts how fake you have become. It’s called apostasy. Stop waiting and watching for it to come. It’s already here, and you are responsible for causing it.
The Apostasy of Moses
Most Christians and Jews alike would consider it heretical to associate the idea of apostasy with Moses. What we hope to show is that apostasy doesn’t necessarily mean a denial that God exists or denial of the deity of Christ. In fact, quite often apostasy comes in a much more subtle form.
Numbers 20:6-12 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses, "Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink."
So Moses took the staff from the Lord's presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, "Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.
But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."
In this scripture, God met with Moses and gave him instructions for bringing life-sustaining water to His people. Moses was to speak to the rock. Instead, Moses took his staff and struck the rock. It was an act of disobedience, but what was so significant about this disobedience that it prohibited forgiveness? To understand this, we must consider this event in the context of what had previously taken place. Just before this event, God brought the people into the barren desert of Zin, which was completely devoid of water.
Numbers 20:2-5 Now there was no water for the community, and the people gathered in opposition to Moses and Aaron. They quarreled with Moses and said, "If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the Lord! Why did you bring the Lord's community into this desert, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!"
It is not apparent at first that this event was not designed to test the people of God. It was designed to test His leaders. That is why water flowed out of the rock even after Moses disobeyed God. God fully intended to meet the needs of His people just like he said He would. So it didn’t really matter if Moses obeyed Him or not; the needs of the people would be met.
What happened here was actually designed to test how much Moses trusted in God. Up until this point, God allowed Moses to use his staff for support. When Moses was afraid of going before Pharaoh, God allowed Moses to use his staff (it turned into a snake and then back into a staff). It was with Moses’ upraised staff that God brought the plagues upon Egypt. It was with Moses’ staff that God parted the Red Sea. His staff was always with him, providing him with the assurance and security he needed to face the challenge. But this day was different. Moses faced a completely different challenge. This day there was to be no staff.
God knew that, over the course of time, things began to change with Moses. When God first called him, Moses felt inadequate. He was not confident to meet the challenge. When God told him to return to Egypt to bring out His people, Moses made one excuse after another. First he told God, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The Lord did not appear to you' (Exodus 4:1)?" Then he told God, "O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue (Exodus 4:10)." He then finally pleaded, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it (Ex 4:13)."
But that was a long time ago. The man who once lacked confidence had become a man who commanded respect. He no longer feared what the people thought. He no longer feared God. Instead, he defied God in a show of self-exaltation and proclaimed, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?" It no longer was about being obedient to God. It had become a show of arrogance and power designed to “slap down” those who doubted his power and questioned his authority. Now he felt comfortable putting himself at the same level with God, saying “must we” rather than “must God.”
Moses had strayed from the God he once feared. He had forsaken the original values that God once saw and valued in him (humility and meekness), and in doing so, he perverted his position with God and His people. Moses had become apostate. The subtle way that apostasy entered his life should concern God’s people. It came about with Moses just doing what he always did. He was not out building a golden calf or teaching the people to forsake the law. He was, in fact, still the leader of Israel, and he was still their judge. He still embraced the law and taught the people. He appeared every bit the godly man that he always did, but even so, he had changed.
Like Moses, most Christian leaders do not start out as arrogant and self-promoting. At one time, there was genuine humility and a fear of God. At one time, they did not feel confident. At one time, they didn’t believe that they were up to the challenge. At one time, they were able to see themselves as God did: an undeserving lump of useless clay. However, also like Moses, most church leaders eventually reach a point where they must choose whether to do things their own way or God’s way.
Moses’ staff was always a focus for God’s manifested power. Sure, the people could see that it was God doing these mighty deeds, but the staff had always been used. In a way, the staff appeared to have some sort of magic to it. It seemed to be a channel for God’s power. It tended to take some of the credit for God’s work. God tolerated it because Moses felt he needed it. But Moses eventually reached a point where he no needed the support of the staff. He became self-confident; perhaps too much so. He no longer suffered from insecurity, so his staff was no longer a crutch. It became his icon. He trusted in it more than he trusted in God.
Most church leaders have entered leadership more-or-less without much confidence. Their title as pastor was simply a crutch they needed to validate their role, but that always changes. Eventually their title is no longer a support for a role they play. Eventually it defines them. It becomes their icon. When that happens, apostasy begins to set in.
How so? A ministry title, whether “priest,” “pastor,” “reverend,” “apostle,” or “prophet,” eventually becomes what defines the man (or woman). So instead of being examples of a true relationship with God, they begin to “act the part.” The example they set causes others to follow, becoming actors, too. Eventually, they are leaders of a group of pretenders, acting the part of God’s people, pretending to be what they think God’s people should be, but they are actually a veneer – an empty facade – of the true Church. Both leaders and followers forget about their original relationships with God, their lack of assurance in their role, and whether their objectives are centered on God, as the “staff” of ministry becomes central to their lives.
We know many Christian leaders. They were not always driven by a need for preeminence, self-importance, and status. Many were men and women who simply loved the Lord. However, once they began to embrace Christian leadership (as defined by institutional Christianity), they began to change. And that change is apostasy.
The apostasy of Moses is the eventual outcome of every traditional institutional church ministry. They will end up (like Israel in the desert) with people who cannot be satisfied, and (as Moses became) pastors who view their “staff” of ministry as something that commands power and authority over the people of God. The only clear winner here is Satan, who has drawn tens of thousands of churches into this apostasy pit. They have become churches with leaders who wield their “staffs” of ministry in ostentatious showmanship, filled with people who cannot be satisfied but jump from church to church in search of the best show.
Final Thoughts
Most end-time groups point to the apostasy of the Catholic and denominational churches as the great “falling away,” but these churches were already in apostasy long before these last days. What is so clever is that Satan has used the end-time groups themselves to usher in the great apostasy. So don’t look to so-called end-time Movements such as the Latter Rain or the Prophetic Movements for assurance that you are safe from apostasy. In many ways, they are responsible for it. The only safe place is in your “first love” with Christ. The more you embrace “End-Time” teaching and the more you emulate the leaders of the Latter Rain and Prophetic Movements, the more apostate you will become. Go back to the beginning. There is safety there because only Christ existed there. You can never go wrong in His embrace.
We are continually asked, “Why not dwell more on the solution?”
The solution is so simple that it requires little explanation. Jesus told us what to do when he told both the church of Ephesus and of Laodicea to do the “first works” - that is, “repent.” And God also told us, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways (repent); then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).”
When people ask about the solution for abortion on demand or the gay agenda in our society, we tell them that God’s people need to humble themselves and repent. When people ask what can be done to stop liberals from taking over our government, we tell them that God’s people need to humble themselves and repent. When we are asked about what we should do to prevent the government from outlawing home school education, we tell them that there is but one solution: God’s people must humble themselves and repent. Do you see a trend developing? The answer is always the same. The solutions are not found in politics or lobbyists. Whether our culture survives or falls depends not on our government but on the people of God: are they willing to humble themselves and repent?
Jesus said of the church at Laodicea, “Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” This is the end of all denominational splits and all movements such as the Charismatic and Latter Rain Movements that define themselves by their doctrinal differences.
It’s interesting that contemporary churches are not designed to draw in the “hot” – that is, those Christians who truly love God and actively desire to do His will – nor are they designed to draw the “cold” – that is, the lost. Contemporary churches are designed to attract the apostate. Why? Because there are so many of them.
Christians who love God passionately cannot survive in a church that caters to the apostate. Nor can apostate Christians survive in a church that is full of passionate Christians. The two are mutually exclusive.
Churches that cater to the apostate are full-service churches. They excel at social fulfillment and entertainment. In such churches, very little is expected of its members, and the leadership focuses on making the members feel good about themselves. The apostate church focuses on the church itself, and everything revolves around it. The pastor is a benevolent leader who is the icon of the church and used as a marketing tool to draw more members. In such churches, success is defined by the number of members rather than their spiritual quality.
Likewise, contemporary churches are not designed for the sinner (cold), either. Not only do the members not want to consort with “their kind,” but sinners cannot stand the hypocrisy. The pretentiousness and theatrics of the drama-laden contemporary church is transparent to the lost. They simply cannot believe that apostate Christians think they are fooling anyone. They laugh at the duality of their apostate Christian lives. They mock the way apostate Christians claim to be great ministers yet lack fruit in their own personal lives. Everyone who attends a contemporary church knows in his heart of hearts that he is as fake as the next, but no one dares to speak it, because none dare call it apostasy. Amen. http://members.triton.net/kmsrjs/thoughts.htm |
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