Understanding the Culture: The Liturgists

Christian musicians are promoting a new kind of Christianity, one that incorporates meditation and silence, supernatural mysticism, and Eastern philosophy. It's a water-downed version of the Truth mixed with universalism and pantheism, and it's destructive. Its ideals and values are corroding the theology and beliefs of the evangelical Christian church, yet modern Christians embrace and welcome its teachings, unknowingly swallowing poison and waging war against truth and God itself.

But the idea's been catching like wildfire, and friends have emailed me directly about such links. So here's my attempt to shine the light of biblical truth on the Liturgist group. Here's an attempt to poke holes in its foundation. Here's my contribution to uphold the banner of Truth above this chaotic worldview and reveal the cobwebs and loopholes in this new movement. If this post can increase discernment in my readers, if this post can promote God's truth, then my goal's been accomplished.

So before I go any farther, I recommend checking out and reading the Liturgist's website {http://www.theliturgists.com} You may be surprised to see the list of Christian bands and artists who are part of spreading Christian heresy. 

Let's start by dissecting their values, found at: http://www.theliturgists.com/manifesto/

1. Beauty- "We believe that beauty is the heart and perhaps primary truth of the Gospel. If it's not beautiful, it's not worth speaking of or working on."

Where is this concept found in Scripture? How has the Gospel become so decentralized that it fails to focus on God's glory and goodness and love? God is the center of the Gospel. The Gospel glorifies God. It reveals His power over sin and death, His love towards such undeserving sinners, His righteousness and justice in fulfilling the payment of sin (death). The cross glorified God in bringing sinners to salvation, emphasizing man's utter depravity and God's grace. God is beautiful, of course, because He is perfectly good. But beauty was not Jesus' goal. He wasn't beaten and stripped and tortured and killed for beauty. He died for God's glory, that the Lord of all might be glorified in the victory over sin and death and the salvation of sinners.

Skipping over #2 to #3 in their manifesto...

3. Unity -  "The Liturgists is made up of people with varying thoughts, philosophies and theologies, and we seek to integrate our diversity into a healthy unity. While we have no desire to cater or pander to worldviews that are destructive, we do seek the good in every perspective and believe that all human beings are connected to each other and the Cosmos at large, and that a deep sense of unity ought to trump any differences that we create with one another."

I'd like to first point out the concept of Pantheism that pervades this mentality. That all human beings are connected to each other and the Cosmos (note the capital C) is quite equivalent to saying God is in all of us and all of nature, or that we are all one with nature. In Romans 1, the Bible specifically warns against the danger of worshipping creation, rather than the Creator. Creation is not equivalent with the Creator, in the same way as a painting is vastly different from its painter. Scripture emphasizes this by describing God as the holy Creator of a fallen creation. Also, mankind is not equivalent with God. Simply listing God's attributes (omniscience, omnipotence, holiness, etc.) and comparing them to the limited, finite nature of man should suffice to disregard this argument. Lastly, man is not equal with nature. We were created in the image of God as stewards of creation to take care of nature. 

I'd also like to emphasize the universalist and postmodernist mentality diluted and hidden within this third point. "Seeking the good in every perspective" essentially embraces the good in all religions, rejecting the absolutes of Christianity and believing truth can be found in every worldview. When in reality, there is an absolute Truth and all other religions and worldviews are distortions and lies of that perfect Truth. When all other beliefs are roads leading to a hell away from God and everything true and beautiful. The Liturgist movement digresses from the Truth found only in the Word of God and accepts all other beliefs in the name of tolerance.

4. Christian Theology - "Atlhough we value people of all beliefs, the Liturgists is decidedly Christian in practice. We see exceptional value in the life and teachings of Jesus, and while we may experiment with influences and ideas from multiple traditions, we find it useful to utilize specifically Christian language and sacrament for the purpose of creating good liturgical experiences."

The life and teachings of Jesus are not just valuable. He was not simply a "good person" who taught "good things." He was either the Son of God who deserves to be worshipped as Lord, or else a liar or a lunatic. And this just saddens me to no avail. That Christians, Christians in the church and music industry, glaze over the main root of Jesus' teachings. Christ emphasized our depravity and need of salvation, which only comes through belief, repentance, and surrender. And Jesus' words were fighting words, not simply "good words" or words with moral value, but words that still demand and invoke a response.  

The last part of the statement irritates me. "Good liturgical experiences?" Like emotional heartpulls or Pentecostal babblings? These Liturgists are employing the Truth found in Christianity and manipulating it for their own "experiences". And that makes me mad. Indignant that they should be so presumptuous to play with the Truth and extort it into something they find "more beautiful" than knowing God Himself through the Holy Scriptures. When Christ is enough to satisfy us completely. 

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If you've read this far, visit this link: http://www.theliturgists.com/god-our-mother/ and listen to tracks 3-5. 

In response to track 3, "God Our Mother," God teaches us to address Him as "our Father" in Scripture. Believers are taught to pray to Him as our Father in heaven. Referring to Jesus as our Father brings to mind the protection, care, provision, control, leadership, discipline, authority, and love of God. Though the Bible does use feminine forms to address wisdom or Jesus, when He longed to gather Jerusalem and His people together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, God wants us to address Him as our Father. And we do so, out of respect and obedience to God Himself. 

Meditation, as found in Eastern religions, filled with emptied minds and inner peace, is not a viable activity for Christians. God commands us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. We are not to worship in any way we feel like, but to worship correctly according to what we know of God through Scripture. In this way, we do not misinterpret Scripture or create our own "truths," but we worship God in accordance with who He really is and what He wants from us. 

Additionally, meditation results in emptied minds, while the Bible generates minds filled with Scriptural truth, thoughts that are excellent, noble, and pure. Christianity is a religion of discernment, preaching vigilance in our hearts and minds. We must take every thought captive, testing and measuring worldviews and ideas according to Scripture. Christianity demands us to think and to think well. And so Christians must be on guard against the corrupt teachings of this world and our own sinful minds. Emptying our minds only lowers our defenses to the blasphemies and lies of the world. 

So, to conclude a rather long and hurriedly written post, the Liturgists have no place in Christianity. Their claims and manipulations of biblical truth should be a warning to us to increase our awareness and knowledge of Scripture, that we might obtain discernment and wisdom in dealing with the philosophies of the world. For we fight a battle not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil and wolves in sheep's clothing.

"For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience."

{2 Corinthians 10:3-6}

To Sharpen Iron: 3 Lessons Learned from Worldview

It wouldn't be stretching the truth to say that Worldview changed my life. Again.

As I think back upon this past week, I see the faces of my small group. Girls who changed the way I see God's heart. Who stood by each other through bleary-eyed mornings and tough lectures and intense discussions and six-pack-developing laughter. I see my small group leader Michelle, who imparted words of wisdom I will never forget and who sacrificed her time and energy and heart to six girls last week. I see the faces of our next generation, guys and gals who stand side-by-side, cupping the truth within our fragile hands. 

And we are not afraid. Not afraid to ask the tough questions and wrestle with issues of government and law and biblical authority. Not afraid to step onto the streets of greater Seattle to witness to the Light. Not afraid because we have been trained to testify to the Truth.

I have the greatest admiration for these young men and women, who have a desire to know God and know Truth. For when we know God, we know Truth. And Worldview enables us to know both God and Truth. And to not only know Truth, but to share it with the world and empower others with what we've seen and learned. 

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1. Richard

On Wednesday, all 160+ students headed out to Fremont and Queen Anne for evangelism, armed with tracts and God's truth. And that's where I met Richard and my eyes were opened to God's heart. 

Here was a man, stubborn in his belief that the Bible was contradictory and illogical. That the maximum IQ was when two people converge and how the Bible undermines women and promotes slavery. How the Bible was full of errors, while he himself was the supreme authority on what was right and wrong. How he believed he would simply disintegrate in death and how he believed he was a good person. 

Oh Lord, forgive him, for he did not know what he was doing. Open his eyes. Break through to his heart. Show him Yourself in all Your glory and grace and love.

It was in that moment that I saw God's heart break. I saw a glimpse of God's immense pain for this man. He was God's beloved creation that He had sacrificed His only Son for, and yet he remained hostile with his sick heart in direct defiance of everything good and right and pure. Psalm 81:13 reads, "Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!" That day, I felt God's heart cry out in pain. I felt God's agony when He looked upon His creation and saw a disobedient people.

Yet, at the same time, I felt utter frustration, like I was beating against a wall of stone. 

For how do you describe light to a blind man? How can you simply make someone see the box of lies he's been living in all his life?

That day, my eyes were opened and I saw the thousands upon thousands of people so blind and lost and dead in Seattle. Not just in Manila, but here in hip, coffee-drinking, tattooed Seattle. We are surrounded by the living dead. 

Yet, so often, I am so selfish. I have the antidote to the poison permeating the world's population, yet I do nothing. I sit home on couches and watch TV and go about my daily business, when people are living and dying in their sin in direct rejection of the Truth.

Oh Lord, how can I be so selfish that I would withhold Your life-saving grace to the blind?

Richard showed me God's heart. And for that, I am eternally grateful. Please pray with me for Richard. Pray that God would turn His heart around that he might see God's eternal, unchanging, unconditional love and accept Christ as Lord over his life.

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2. Devos

Christianity is a relationship, not a religion. And it is my privilege to study God's Word. 

Growing up in a Christian home, we take a lot of things for granted. Often times, I read my Bible because as a Christian, it's the "right" thing to do, but I forget that Christ bought and paid for my relationship with Him. Jesus died for me, so I can know Him and love Him. 

Similarly to romantic dates, we have the opportunity to "make a date" with Jesus. I don't mean that to be cheesy, but it's true. People who are in love with each other treasure each moment spent together and cherish each opportunity to spend time with one another. It's never a chore or a burden, but a gift. 

It's the same with Christ. He loved us so much He died for us, and how do we repay Him? By treating His Word and our relationship with Christ as a duty or another task on our to-do list? Something to skim through each morning, so we can move on with our day?

Father, forgive me for abusing this beautiful gift of having a relationship with You. Draw me ever closer to Your heart.

Do we have to pray? Do we have to read the Bible? Do we have to do devotions each morning?

No. But we get to. We get to approach the throne of the Almighty God whenever we want and open His Word to learn more out our Creator and Heavenly Father. We get to make a date with Jesus whenever, wherever. 

And so often we forget the immense privilege it is to approach our Lord Jesus through prayer and through His Word. 

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3. Government and God's Truth

Recently, I've been struggling with imposing my own Christian standards on unbelievers through law and government, regarding issues like gay marriage. 

One day at Worldview, I got to eat a meal with one of the speakers at Worldview, along with some other debaters and speechers. Mike Schutt explained it, not as imposing morals found in Scripture, but as upholding the Truth, found not only in Scripture, but in the natural order of things. Regarding the issue of legalizing gay marriage, he explained it as looking at how men and women were created physically and the natural process of childbirth and sex. Instead of only looking at Scripture to find what legislation to approve or oppose, he taught that upholding Truth was the more correct principle to apply to situations regarding religious beliefs and government.

And that really helped me reconcile the issue, because as a believer, it's important to always look first to God's Word. But realizing also that God's Word is truth and the natural order of the world supports truth helped me see that there are more reasons to endorse legislation than simply religious beliefs. And that'll help me in turn explain my political opinions to an unbelieving world.

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Worldview Academy was incredible. It revived my personal devotions and strengthened my desire for evangelism. It united me with my brothers and sisters-in-Christ, who sharpened me as iron sharpens iron. It taught me incredible truths of leadership, apologetics, and worldview and satisfied my hunger for intellectually challenging, biblical teaching. For what God has done through Worldview, I am eternally grateful. 

Worldview changed my life. And I would highly suggest you to let it change yours.

{To watch the Seattle video, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm5Y2J624_Q&list=UUvhBE_nSIkeioS6_OX5yr4Q  }