Care Bear God Has Truly Spoken

Dorothy Sayers“We have very efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him “meek and mild,” and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies…”
-—Dorothy Sayers 
 
 

“Christianity minus intelligible doctrine is simply unintelligible doctrine minus Christianity.” --philosopher/theologian Gordon Clark

Approximately one hundred years ago, professor of theology at Princeton University, B.B. Warfield observed that “An anemic Christianity that is not virile enough to strive for truth can never possess the nerve to die for it. A truth not worth defending very soon becomes a truth not worth professing.”

B.B. WarfieldIn his day, Warfield recognized a ‘gospel’ which was fast becoming merely “…a form of godliness” (see 2 Timothy 3:5), an anemic and toothless (false) gospel that had been marinating in the speculative juices of 19th century “higher criticism”. He recognized the signs of an emerging and increasingly impotent church that was abandoning the solid ground of truth (ie., the faith of her fathers) and beginning to fall into the tarpits and shifting quicksands of a watered down, pluralistic form of spiritual universalism and moral relativism….a church that would eventually proclaim that ALL religions and belief systems are speculative at best and, in that regard at least, are ultimately the same.... ie., "best guess" scenarios.

A hundred years ago, Warfield could see the writing on the wall, and his ominous and prescient admonition has come to fruition. Today, that writing on the wall has become a sprawling, scrawling hodge-podge of indecipherable theological graffiti. And while it may be hip and attractive to some in the world, it certainly is not the radical and revolutionary Word of Truth revealed through the Holy Spirit-inspired prophets and apostles… and Jesus Christ, the Word incarnate to whom they all pointed.

Sinful (idolatrous) man throughout recorded history has always called out for a veritable pantheon of substitute, comfortable and custom-made “gods”; the tragedy today, though, is that the proud and progressively apostate church seems eagerly hell-bent on answering the call and pandering to the world’s “best wishes”.

Today’s liberalized and “progressive” church seems more than willing to present herself to a jaded…and dying… western world as little more than just another entertainment option to be considered, a “worship experience” guaranteed not to offend….a friendly, hard-working institution that aims to please. The contemporary “Church of Best Wishes” stands in the audition line, desperately trying to make herself appealing and attractive to the itching ears of an emotion-driven and deconstructed world already numbed and bored by the false hope of gimmickry and gadgets and the empty promises of mindless “progress” in the Cult of Whatever’s New.

In too many quarters, the upbeat and fashionable post-modern church , liberated as it is from the tedious constraints of doctrine and tradition, has become a perverse mixture of pop-cultural psycho-therapeutic banalities and sugar-coated, toothless generalities. And in a fit of deluded irrationality, the Church of the Broad Convenient Way has decided that the only sin there really is is the unforgivable sin of mentioning “sin” at all. The Commandments…now reassessed and labeled “Outdated!”... have been scrubbed and replaced with a list of nebulous “All You Need is Love”-isms. In all too many cases, this “liberated” branch of Christendom has foolishly come to believe that it is better to amuse, mollify and mimic the world than it is to call broken, repentant sinners out of the world and into the Body of Christ, His precious bride. And in doing so, the current, candy-coated mantra of “Tolerance” has edged all mention of sin, holy judgment and need for repentance off the table and onto the floor like so much inconvenient and superfluous trash to be swept up and thrown away,….. thus making a mockery of the cross and the sacrifice of Christ.

“Just be nice!” has pre-empted “Justice reigns!”.

The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has been downgraded into The What’s-Your-Pleasure-Care Bear God of Happy Feelings,… Aslan demoted to a sweet and lovable Pooh.

“Care Bear God Has Truly Spoken”
(His “Do-Nots” are Sugar-Glazed!)

All religions, sir, are equal,
Yes, our Caring God agrees;
Let there be no condemnation…
Drop that “sin”-talk,… if you please!

In the end, sin makes no difference;
‘Cause our Care Bear God is fair!
And a fair God couldn’t bear it,
No, a fair God wouldn’t dare.

You can trust us…Just be happy!
With a Care Bear God like this,
“Sin”, my friend, is off the table…
“Guilt’s not on The Care Bear list.

So, again, I’ll just remind you,
In the end there is no “shame”;
No “conviction”, “Law” or “Dogma”…
Now that Care Bear God’s been tamed!

I reiterate…Don’t sweat it!
Come embrace The Care Bear God;
Just enjoy his Cuddly Standards,
Yes, The Soft Way’s very broad!

He bows down to all our wishes;
He approves of all our ways!
Yes, he bends to our good pleasures…
His “do- nots” are Sugar-Glazed.

Yes, his Cotton-Candied Gospel
Satisfies all itching ears!
Disregard those Ten Commandments
That have plagued you all these years!

If you’re hearing things like “shalt not”,
Or think thoughts like “ought” ‘n’ “should”;
Just dismiss those silly notions…
Things like that aren’t “Care Bear Good”!

So, don’t sweat “the outer darkness”;
Care Bear Land is sweet ‘n’ light!
Do your own thing and remember….
What you do is always right!

+ + + + + + +

“That preaching is sadly defective which dwells exclusively on the mercies of God and joys of heaven, and never sets forth the terrors of the Lord and the miseries of hell. It may be popular, but it is not scriptural; it may amuse and satisfy, but it will not save.”
-—J.C. Ryle

+ + + + + + +

Man believes the Word of Skeptics…
(It’s more comfortable that way!)
Talk of “truth” and “revelation”,
Bows to Doubt then fades to gray.

Yes, from here the Cross is foolish,
Shame and guilt and sin…. absurd;
We have faith there’s no true meaning….
In most everything we’ve heard.

Such is life here East of Eden…
Where the blindness still prevails;
Human wisdom fills the flesh here….,
And its barren wind our sail.

+ + + + +

Holy Spirit, give us vision…
May thy true Light, help us see;
Lord, come chase away this darkness…
Show us Truth at Calvary!

Father, breathe true Life into us…
Guide us home to Sabbath rest;
Wipe away these tears of mourning…
Lord, embrace us to Thy breast!

"Prodigal Son (detail), Rembrandt (see Luke 15: 11-24)"

“Jesus, answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

“We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
(1Corinthians 2: 12-13)