"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord , and who meditates on his law day and night." (Psalms 1:1)
Some years ago a brother in Christ that I was meeting with regularly turned me on to the writings of the Puritans. Up to that time I always had a preconceived notion that the Puritans were these 'holier than thou' super self-righteous people who lived up to a standard that I could never live up to in this day and age and likely wrote in ways that wouldn't be relevant in modern times. What I found out was that they wrote about issues that were and are very relevant and they wrote in a very practical way. It was also clearly obvious to me very quickly that something was missing in their writings that is all too present in much of today's Christian writing.
There was no influence from the social sciences; psychology, sociology, and anthropology.
In the sermon by Paul Washer, Ten Indictments Against The Modern Church, Mr. Washer said this:
"Is the Bible sufficient or do we have to bring in every so-called social science and cultural study in order to know how to run a church? That is the major question! Social sciences, in my opinion, have taken precedent over the Word of God in such a way that most of us can’t even see it. It has so crept into our church, our evangelism, and our missiology that you barely can call what we are doing “Christian” anymore. Psychology, anthropology, and sociology have become primary influences in the churches."
In the leading verse from Psalm 1 some versions translate the phrase "walk in step", as "walk in the counsel." That is to say that the one who does NOT rely on modern worldly wisdom but whose delight is in the law of the Lord is blessed. In other words, they completely focus on what God's word says.
The Word of God is the foundation. We must not add to it or take away from it. (Deuteronomy 4:2; Revelation 22:18)
Paul Washer further states:
"What does Jerusalem have to do with Rome? And what do we have to do with all these modern day social sciences that were actually created as a protest against the Word of God? And why is it that evangelism, missions, and so-called “church growth” is more shaped by the anthropologist, the sociologist, and the Wall Street student who are up on every cultural trend? All the activity in our churches must be based upon the Word of God. All the activity in missions must be based upon the Word of God."
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that the scripture is sufficient:
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equiped for every good work."
In verse 17 it says that the man of God would be THOROUGHLY equiped for every good work, not partly equiped. There is nothing in scripture that gives any indication that we need to depend on anything else in order to be fully equiped.
Now some may argue that the social sciences have been a great benefit to us and has helped us understand human behaviors. This is true and we can learn much from the social sciences. The issue is not whether we can learn from them, it's whether we are relying on them instead of the word of God. While it may be true that there has been some benefit from the social sciences we must understand they have also been disastrous in many other ways. They have normalized behaviors that even a few decades ago would have been rightly defined as deviant. Many Christians today are themselves confused by these issues because we have been listening to the 'experts.'
Therein lies the greatest danger; What is the objective standard we can use to judge whether the social sciences are a true benefit or a disaster.
The answer is there is none. We are simply doing what feels best. Just like in the time of the judges of Israel:
"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit." Judges 17:6; 21:25
Those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ would do well to heed the words of Jeremiah:
"The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9
The word of God has never changed. Human nature hasn't changed. The word of God that was completely relevant when Moses penned the first five books of the Old Testament are just as relevant today as they were when he wrote them.
To borrow an expression; 'You can hardly swing a dead cat in any direction without hitting a church steeple.' With so many churches around claiming to lift up the name of Christ and preach the gospel, why is abortion legal in the United States? Why the sanctioning of same-sex relationships and gender confusion?
We are not having much of an impact in our culture.
I firmly believe it is because we have lost the blessing we could have had if our complete delight was in the Word of the Lord and we meditated on that instead of the ungodly counsel of the social sciences and the modern cultural trends. Relying on the worldly wisdom has produced a dualism that at best has muddied the water, causing great confusion. At worst it has made us into a completely heretical church.
Many are praying and believing that we need revival. I agree. We do need revival. But before there can be a true revival we must have a reformation. We need a complete reset to the clear apostolic teachings of the gospel. That means ridding ourselves of the worldly wisdom that has crept in and permeated the church and set God's word as the firm foundation upon which we build our doctrines and our lives.
Then and only then can we live up to our true calling as the church of Jesus Christ and truly make an impact.
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