On Religion, the Female Divine, and a Return to Orthodoxy

In case you haven't been keeping up with the news, there has been a flurry of activity recently with the Episcopal Church in America in regards to syncretism, the creeping in of other religions and pagan practices into the church. Most recently, Christianity Today documented that the Episcopal Church was promoting pagan idol worship on its website as a new form of Eucharist liturgy (click here for the Christianity Today link). The site has since removed this liturgy from the web and is spinning this issue for all its worth (click here for continuing coverage on the issue from Christianity Today).

I bring this up to point out some changes that are taking place in the Christian communities.

1. Homosexuality: Our denomination, as well as the Episcopals and the Presbyterians, have struggled over the past several years with the issue of homosexuality on several fronts (i.e. ordination of homosexual pastors; same-sex marriages/unions; etc.).

2. Feminine Divine: The current controversy in the Episcopal Church is related to this trend to "rediscover" the feminine divine. If you read Brown's "Da Vinci Code," you will readily recognize the claims of this crowd, which lead from worshiping the female side of God to worshiping the "mother goddess" to making exaggerated claims about Mary Magdalene.

3. Experiential Worship: There is a trend, especially in the more contemporary churches, to make worship more experiential. A news article on the New York Times today suggested that this changing worship style would probably lead to the end of the normal pastoral sermon, to be replaced by meditation, liturgical dance, or other elements. The sermon might remain, but it would not be a 20-minute expository sermon based on scripture, but shorter sound-bites interrupted with other worship experiences.

So, what is going on? What does this mean for us in the Christian Church who identify ourselves as evangelical conservatives? I think it shows that we should get back to the basics of our faith and stand firm on the Word of God, not on experiences, not on feelings, but on what God tells us in His Word and what has been expressed throughout the Body of Christ over 2000 years.

Change is fine, provided it is in keeping with orthodox biblical principles. We can change worship styles without watering down the message. We can reach out to sinners in a loving way without accepting their sinful lifestyle. Allowing pagan and unbiblical practices into our churches is a dangerous practice that needs to be stopped. This means we need to be more vocal, as individuals and local church bodies, to stand up for Christ against these trends.

One example of a group doing this is are the African Christian Community. Both in our denomination and in the Episcopcal church, the African Christians have been the voice of reason, proclaiming a call back to orthodoxy and traditional biblical principles. Let's pray that this trend continues.