Mindlessly Following the Crowd

One thing Rick Warren has said that should be heeded is:



“People without conviction often mindlessly follow the crowd.”1



Yes they do, to their own detriment. People would be far better served to heed God’s Holy Scriptures rather than to mindlessly follow what the many approve.



“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)


“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25 & 14:12)



The masses are following leaders who are imitating the serpent’s subtilty in the Garden of Eden. The serpent enticed Eve to rethink what God had said and meant. She heeded his words and then noticed that contrary to what God had said about needing to abstain from the delicacies of the tree, it was actually “good for food,” “pleasant to the eyes,” and “to be desired to make one wise” (see Genesis 2:17 and 3:1-7).



Now, in essence, the crafty leaders are saying these same things about the delicacies of the world: “Yea, hath God said, ‘Be ye separate,’ and, ‘Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God?’ Look, rather, how unity with the world is good for food for the poor. And it is pleasant to the eyes: the ways of the world ‘work’ because they are fun and entertaining and hold people’s attention longer, thereby increasing numbers and income. This allows so much more to be accomplished for God. And humbly learning from the world and its different perspectives and religious faiths is to be desired to make us wise and better able to accomplish our goals of reaching the world for Jesus.”



It used to be that faithfulness to God turned the world upside down (e.g., see Acts 17:6). Now faithfulness to the world is turning Christianity upside down. We are to walk worthy of God, not worthy of the world!



“I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?… For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.… We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!” (Jeremiah 8:6-9, 11, 15)



The uniting masses in today’s world and Christianity are being driven into the darkness of the broad way, which rejects that the Lord Jesus Christ came to “bear witness unto the truth” (John 18:37) and to call “sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32). This so-called “attack” is how God seeks to bless the world.



“Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.” (Acts 3:26)


“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations …” (Luke 24:47)



Although leaders today are doing the opposite of bearing witness unto the truth and calling sinners to repentance, they nevertheless claim to be “leading like Jesus.”



The Lord Jesus Christ makes it very clear how futile it is to put works in His name above the truth and obedience of His Word (e.g., see Matthew 7:21-27). Naming God’s name or calling oneself a “child of God” or a “Christian” apart from the faith and obedience of the truth is nothing more than taking the name of God in vain. It is to no purpose and for naught because “the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7). The Lord Jesus Christ warned that He is going to tell many people who have done “many wonderful works” in His name to depart from Him eternally, because He “never knew” these workers of “iniquity” who took His name and called Him Lord in vain.



“Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:7-9)


“All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.… By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.” (Proverbs 16:2, 6)


“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46)



Who we live for determines how we will live.



“Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment.” (Exodus 23:2)



Anyone whose feet are more comfortable walking on the broad way needs to carefully consider the path they are choosing to walk on. We can only walk with the Lord Jesus Christ on His path of light; He does not walk with us on the world’s path of darkness.



“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” (Proverbs 4:26-27)



“Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.… He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit …” (John 13:8, 10)



“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6)



We cannot have it both ways. We need to give serious heed to the warnings of the Lord Jesus Christ, including the one regarding the many who deceived themselves into believing they were following in His footsteps:



“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)



“Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.” (Luke 11:35)


“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23)



The Israelites thought they could use the world’s ways and beliefs in serving God, but God did not accept their strange fire and had the harshest of words for them, not to mention judgment. Elijah asked them, “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). And Joshua declared unto them, “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve … but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).



Similar admonishments are necessary today, as Christians try to balance with one foot on the narrow way and one foot on the broad way. If the Lord is God and if His Word is the truth, then follow the Lord God and His Holy Scriptures on His narrow way. But if it seems evil to serve the Lord by standing uncompromisingly on the absolutes of God’s unchanging truth because the world and the churches will cry, “Outdated!”, “Unloving!”, “Too negative!”, “Intolerant!”, “Judgmental!”, “Fearful!”, “Separative!”, and “Divisive!”, then choose you this day whom you will serve. Will it be the god of this world who sacrifices truth on the altar of unity, or the Almighty Lord God Who exalts His truth above even His own name?



The line is being drawn, and everyone is making their choice as to which side they will be on. There is no middle way, only the narrow way or the broad way. Trying to balance in the middle is being lukewarm, which is so distasteful to the Lord Jesus Christ that He is going to spit the lukewarm church out of His mouth:



“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew 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. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (Revelation 3:16-19)


“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)



We can mindlessly follow the crowd and its leaders, or we can mindfully follow the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, without Whom there is no Christian living or salvation.



“A New Religion Has Been Initiated, Which Is No More

Christianity than Chalk Is Cheese”



The apostle Paul was so grieved by God’s warning of the coming deception from “grievous wolves” and from men who would arise within Christianity, that for three years he “ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears” (see Acts 20:29-31). This is a far cry from the leaders today who respond to earnest warnings with laughter, mockery, contempt, and so forth.



These “change agents” can marginalize and censure those refusing to budge from the narrow way all they want. Their transformation of the faith of Christianity into a faith of the broad way is in plain view for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Their responses and marginalization are only exposing themselves.



Today’s behavior is similar to that of Old Testament times and is even prophesied in Scripture.



“Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.” (Jeremiah 6:16-19)



“Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy.” (2 Chronicles 36:14-16)



“But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.” (Jude 1:17-18)



There is a saying indicative of the times we are living in: “Truth can stand alone and often must.”



“O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord.” (Jeremiah 22:29)



“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:1-6)



Today’s Christianity may be having a lot of fun in its new way of thinking and behaving, but this isn’t a game. Eternal souls are at stake, and the departure from the faith is real. Jesus Christ is being presented as a way of relativism rather than as the way and the truth, and the faith is being presented as an ever-changing method or experience that can be inserted into any faith.



The words Charles Spurgeon penned in 1887 might as well have been written today:



“No lover of the gospel can conceal from himself the fact that the days are evil.… our solemn conviction is that things are much worse in many churches than they seem to be, and are rapidly tending downward.… How much farther could they go? What doctrine remains to be abandoned? What other truth to be the object of contempt? A new religion has been initiated, which is no more Christianity than chalk is cheese; and this religion, being destitute of moral honesty, palms itself off as the old faith with slight improvements, and on this plea usurps pulpits which were erected for gospel preaching. The Atonement is scouted, the inspiration of Scripture is derided, the Holy Spirit is degraded into an influence, the punishment of sin is turned into fiction, and the resurrection into a myth, and yet these enemies of our faith expect us to call them brethren, and maintain a confederacy with them!…



“Is it any wonder that church members forget their vows of consecration, and run with the unholy in the ways of frivolity, when they hear that persons are tolerated in the pastorate who do the same? We doubt not that, for writing these lines we shall incur the charge of prudery and bigotry, and this will but prove how low are the tone and spirit of the churches in many places. The fact is, that many would like to unite church and stage, cards and prayer, dancing and sacraments.… When the old faith is gone, and enthusiasm for the gospel is extinct, it is no wonder that people seek something else in the way of delight. Lacking bread, they feed on ashes; rejecting the way of the Lord, they run greedily in the path of folly.…



“Too many ministers are toying with the deadly cobra of ‘another gospel,’ in the form of ‘modern thought.’…



“Where the gospel is fully and powerfully preached, with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, our churches not only hold their own, but win converts; but when that which constitutes their strength is gone—we mean when the gospel is concealed, and the life of prayer is slighted—the whole thing becomes a mere form and fiction.… Conformity, or nonconformity, per se is nothing; but a new creature is everything, and the truth upon which alone that new creature can live is worth dying a thousand deaths to conserve.…



“Certain ministers are making infidels. Avowed atheists are not a tenth as dangerous as those preachers who scatter doubt and stab at faith.… Germany was made unbelieving by her preachers, and England is following in her track.…



“A little plain-speaking would do a world of good just now. These gentlemen desire to be let alone. They want no noise raised. Of course thieves hate watch-dogs, and love darkness. It is time that somebody should spring his rattle, and call attention to the way in which God is being robbed of his glory, and man of his hope.



“It now becomes a serious question how far those who abide by the faith once delivered to the saints should fraternize with those who have turned aside to another gospel.… For the present it behoves believers to be cautious, lest they lend their support and countenance to the betrayers of the Lord.… Numbers of easy-minded people wink at error so long as it is committed by a clever man and a good-natured brother, who has so many fine points about him. Let each believer judge for himself; but, for our part, we have put on a few fresh bolts to our door, and we have given orders to keep the chain up; for, under color of begging the friendship of the servant, there are those about who aim at robbing THE MASTER.…



“If for a while the evangelicals are doomed to go down, let them die fighting, and in the full assurance that their gospel will have a resurrection when the inventions of ‘modern thought’ shall be burned up with fire unquenchable.” (Bold added)2



What on Earth Am I Here For? Keep the Faith!



There is nothing new under the sun. Even in the apostle Paul’s day, the Word of God was being corrupted and deceitfully used and speaking the truth was not well received:



“Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16)



“For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” (2 Corinthians 2:17)



“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:1-2)



No matter how popular or right anyone or anything seems to be and no matter how well something seems to “work,” it is God’s Word of absolute truth that determines right and wrong and gives us the saving faith we are to keep. God allows things to come to pass to test our faithfulness.



“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.” (Deuteronomy 13:1-4)



Throughout the true Scriptures, the Lord God Himself is the Means and End of life, including why we are here. For all who know and love Him, whether we live or die, the precious Lord God Himself is the Road of life, the Goal of life, the Blessing of life, and the Prize of life. When He is the be-All and end-All of our lives, then scriptural worship, scriptural fellowship, scriptural discipleship, scriptural ministry, scriptural mission, and all the other purposes He gives us in His Holy Scriptures automatically fall into place.



“Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.” (Acts 11:23)



“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)


“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)



The Lord Jesus Christ is neither “a better way” nor “another way;” He is the only way. Keeping the faith is essential.



“For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.” (Colossians 1:19-23)


“Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.” (1 John 2:23-26; brackets in the original)


“Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 1:8-9)


“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end.” (Hebrews 3:12-14)


“… I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” (Revelation 3:1-3)


“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)



To depart from the faith is to remove oneself from God. God will deny us and remain faithful to Himself and His truth if we deny Him in order to become ONE with the many, or for any other reason.



“Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” (Hebrews 10:38)


“If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” (2 Timothy 2:12-13)


“But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:33-34)



In “Divisions Are Not Always Bad,” A.W. Tozer warned that “unity is no treasure to be purchased at the price of compromise”:



“To divide what should be divided and unite what should be united is the part of wisdom.…



“The first divider was God who at the creation divided the light from the darkness. This division set the direction for all God’s dealings in nature and in grace. Light and darkness are incompatible …



“What shall we unite with and from what shall we separate? The question of coexistence does not enter here, but the question of union and fellowship does.…



“Unity is so devoutly to be desired that no price is too high to pay for it and nothing is important enough to keep us apart. Truth is slain to provide a feast to celebrate the marriage of heaven and hell, and all to support a concept of unity which has no basis in the Word of God.



“The Spirit-illuminated church will have none of this. In a fallen world like ours unity is no treasure to be purchased at the price of compromise. Loyalty to God, faithfulness to truth and the preservation of a good conscience are jewels more precious than gold of Ophir or diamonds from the mine. For these jewels … followers of Christ have paid the last full measure of devotion and quietly died, unknown to and unsung by the great world, but known to God and dear to His Father heart.…



“‘Divide and conquer’ is the cynical slogan of Machiavellian political leaders, but Satan knows also how to unite and conquer.… Then follows almost perfect unity indeed, but it is the unity of the stockyards and the concentration camp. We have seen this happen several times in this century, and the world will see it at least once more when the nations of the earth are united under Antichrist.



“When confused sheep start over a cliff the individual sheep can save himself only by separating from the flock. Perfect unity at such a time can only mean total destruction for all. The wise sheep to save his own hide disaffiliates.



“Power lies in the union of things similar and the division of things dissimilar. Maybe what we need in religious circles today is not more union but some wise and courageous division. Everyone desires peace but it could be that revival will follow the sword.” (Bold added)3



May the leaders whose eyes have been opened to any deception they promoted come out and publicly acknowledge the error of their ways, for the sake of all those who heeded them in their deception. We must take a stand for the Lord God and His Word over man. When the religious leaders tried to silence the apostles from speaking the truth, their response was an acknowledgment of the Lordship of God:



“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)



The costs are very high, but the costs are even higher in not doing so. Our loving Lord God is worth it all, and He gave His all for us.



“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.” (Jude 1:20-23)


“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)


“But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:5)



We are to contend for and keep the faith and be separated (holy) unto God in our flesh and spirit, not united with the world and its darkness, no matter how noble the transcendent purpose seems.



“Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Having therefore these promises, dearly 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)



May we all have the faith and perseverance of Moses and the rest of the great cloud of faithful witnesses who have gone before us:



“Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:25-27)



“Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.… Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.” (Isaiah 51:7, 11)



“Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.” (Hebrews 13:13-14)


“At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me … Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4:16-18)


“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)



After all is said and done, for those who in the name of purpose are seeking broad, inclusive unity with the world over narrow, exclusive separation unto God, and for those who have been led to believe they can live a purpose-driven life in other faiths (religions), may this actual CNN transcription error serve as an additional warning before it is too late:



“… finding your religion in the bookstore, meet the Christian authors of the best-selling series ‘Left Behind in the Purpose Driven Life,’ part of our special weeklong series ‘Keeping the Faith.’” (Emphasis added)4