Jesus Christ has today almost no authority at all among the groups that call themselves by His Name. The present position of Christ in the gospel churches may be likened to that of a king in a limited, constitutional monarchy. The king is in such a country no more that a traditional rallying point, a pleasant symbol of unity and loyalty much like a flag or a nation anthem. He is lauded, feted and supported, but his real authority is small. Nominally he is head over all, but in every crisis someone else makes the decisions.
Worship rises or falls with our concept of God; that is why I do not believe in these half-converted cowboys who call God the Man Upstairs. I do not think they worship at all because their concept of God is unworthy of God and unworthy of them. And if there is one terrible disease in the Church of Christ, it is that we do not see God as great as He is. We're too familiar with God.
The "old" cross would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. The "new" cross, if understood aright, is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. The "new" cross does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. The "old" cross is a symbol of death. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.
Evangelical Christianity is now tragically below the New Testament standard. Our religious mood is social instead of spiritual. We have lost the art of worship. We are not producing saints. Our models are successful business men, celebrated athletes and theatrical personalities. We carry on our religious activities after the methods of the modern advertiser. Our homes have been turned into theatres. Our literature is shallow and our hymns border on sacrilege. And scarcely anyone appears to care.
We need a baptism of "clear seeing." We desperately need seers who can see through the mist – Christian leaders with prophetic vision. Unless they come soon it will be too late for this generation. And if they do come we will no doubt crucify a few of them in the name of our worldly orthodoxy.
