Human Trafficking in the Church — Part 6
Recognizing the Six Characteristics of the Religious Spirit of Babylon
The six characteristics of the religious spirit of Babylon are the same today as they were when they were first recorded in Scripture in Genesis 11.
2. Using Man-Made Materials (continued)
“And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.”—Genesis 11:3 (AMP)
The Power of Religious Traditions
Describing what powers the Matrix, Morpheus explained to Neo that there was a time when the Matrix system stopped receiving power from the sun (the Son), and switched to being powered by man.
It is the same now in many Christian churches. It is the same today as it was when Jesus gave stinging rebukes to the religious leaders of His day.
“Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus. They came from Jerusalem and asked him,** ‘**Why do your followers not obey the traditions we have from our great leaders who lived long ago? Your followers don’t wash their hands before they eat!’
“Jesus answered, ‘And why do you refuse to obey God’s command so that you can follow those traditions you have?’”—Matthew 15:1-3 (ERV)
We could look at many examples of this in modern-day churches, but for now, just consider this one:
Jesus commanded us to “Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you”—Matthew 28:19-20 (AMPC)
Is your church doing this? Are *you *doing this?
If you were told today to go out in public and share the good news of Jesus Christ with people that you encounter, would you feel confident that you could do that effectively? I had no idea how to evangelize effectively when I was in my 20’s, and I had been going to church almost my entire life!
If someone walked up to you and said, “I want abundant life,” (This actually happened to me.) would you be able to clearly show him the way?
If someone came to you, wanting to become a disciple of Christ, would you even know where to start? In all of my years of attending church meetings, no one ever taught me how to make disciples.
Do you know how to baptize a new believer? Even though we are clearly commanded by Jesus to baptize disciples, I was never taught how to do this by any church leader.
Jesus told us to teach new disciples to “observe everything that I have commanded you.” How many of Jesus’ commands can you name? Have you ever obeyed this command and taught someone to observe everything that Jesus commands us to do?
If you fall short in these areas, you are not alone! Most Christians do!
So, if churches are not teaching people to obey the commands of Christ, what are churches teaching their people to do?
Most churches are training their people to meet together once a week in large buildings. Did Jesus ever command his disciples to do this? Jesus never even commanded his disciples to build any buildings! How could He have commanded them to meet in buildings weekly?
Other than that, most churches are training their people to sing songs together and then to sit politely and listen to lectures (Religious people call them sermons.). Evidence of lifestyle evangelism and true discipleship are hard to find in most churches.
“Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites (play-actors, pretenders), as it is written [in Scripture],
‘These people honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
‘They worship Me in vain [their worship is meaningless and worthless, a pretense], Teaching the precepts of men as doctrines [giving their traditions equal weight with the Scriptures].
‘You disregard and neglect the commandment of God, and cling [faithfully] to the tradition of men.”
He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside and nullifying the commandment of God in order to keep your [man-made] tradition and regulations.”—Mark 7:6-9 (AMP)
Is it wrong to gather together and worship God and to listen to wise teachers? Of course not! But we seem to have emphasized church attendance and neglected what Jesus actually commanded us to do. In doing that, we have elevated our religious traditions above the Word of God.
That is the real danger, because in emphasizing our religious traditions and neglecting what Jesus actually commanded us to do, we render God’s Word powerless and we severely limit its impact in people’s lives.
“Thus you are nullifying and making void and of no effect [the authority of] the Word of God through your tradition, which you [in turn] hand on. And many things of this kind you are doing.”—Mark 7:13 (AMPC)
“Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel.”—Psalm 78:41 (NKJV)
Focusing on church attendance is just the tip of the iceberg! There are many, many religious traditions that we follow routinely without thinking about them because that is what we have been trained to do.
“For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the tradition of the elders; and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the washing of cups, pitchers, and copper pots.”—Mark 7:3-5 (NASB)
Some church services are so scripted—instructing people when to stand, when to sit, and what to say—that God has no opportunity to move or speak, even if He attends those services!
We have successfully made a lifestyle out of keeping religious traditions of men, but we have neglected the commands of Jesus Christ, which are the essence and substance of Christianity!
“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you give a tenth (tithe) of your mint and dill and cumin [focusing on minor matters], and have neglected the weightier [more important moral and spiritual] provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the [primary] things you ought to have done without neglecting the others. You [spiritually] blind guides, who strain out a gnat [consuming yourselves with minuscule matters] and swallow a camel [ignoring and violating God’s precepts]!
“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of extortion and robbery and self-indulgence (unrestrained greed). You [spiritually] blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the plate [examine and change your inner self to conform to God’s precepts], so that the outside [your public life and deeds] may be clean also.
“Woe to you, [self-righteous] scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. So you, also, outwardly seem to be just and upright to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”—Matthew 23:23-28 (AMP)
If we are not following the commands of Christ, then most likely we are following in the footsteps of the Pharisees and Sadducees, and we are giving our lives to serve the religious traditions of men.
Trinity would say, “Wake up. The Matrix has you.”
Think about your church. Does your church have a vibrant outreach program in which members are actively taught how to effectively share the good news of Jesus Christ in love and power?
Does your church major on discipleship? Is discipleship an expected outcome for anyone involved in your church?
Most churches cannot say this. Instead of actively obeying the commands of Christ to evangelize and make disciples, most churches have substituted the religious traditions of men.
Instead of living examples of evangelism and discipleship, we see weekly meetings in large buildings in which people have been trained to sing songs together and listen to lectures.
Is this Christianity? Or is this religious tradition?
“So rebuke them sharply so that they will be sound in the faith and free from doctrinal error, not paying attention to Jewish myths and the commandments and rules of men who turn their backs on the truth.”—Titus 1:13-14 (AMP)
A Church with No Rules?
Phil Wyman is a Christian leader who has become well known for reaching out to people who have felt neglected or rejected by the institutional Church. He once pastored a church in Salem, Massachusetts, that had remarkable success reaching out to witches and Neo-pagans in New England.
In his book, Burning Religion, he shares a story that seems to show how deeply-rooted religious traditions have been substituted for true Christianity in the belief systems of some church-goers.
“I’m a people-watcher. I sometimes stood inside the church and looked out the windows facing the street. Often, the people stopped outside our doors.
‘A Christian Church which is short on rules and long on relationships,’ the sign read.
Some people stopped and stood blinking, thinking — perhaps wondering what it meant. Others called to their friends and family. They smiled and made remarks about it. maybe once a day in the high tourist season, someone would take pictures of the sign. Rarely, but on occasion someone would stop and look skeptically at it.
…
A young man with close-cropped hair walked by one day. I was standing outside next to the sign. He was with a friend. He stopped. He stood still. He looked at the sign. He read it aloud.
The young man with the military haircut remarked to his friend, ‘How can you have a Christian Church with no rules?
I interrupted the embryonic conversation gently, ‘It doesn’t say, ‘no rules.’ It says, ‘short on rules.’
‘How can you be a Christian without rules?’ He repeated his critique with the slight variation, and directed the statement to his friend. With seeming intentionality, he ignored me, while talking about the church.
I repeated myself in the same gentle tone of voice, ‘It doesn’t say, ‘no rules.’
He fired off questions loud and impersonally. He clearly wanted me to hear his questions, but he did not look at me, and he did not acknowledge my existence. Without waiting for a reply he asked questions like, ‘Well what kind of Christian Church is this with no rules? I wonder if they even use the Bible?’ Then he segued his monologue and began answering his own questions as he turned to walk away, ‘You can’t be a Christian Church with no rules. This must be some sort of cult.’ (Wyman, p.15-16)
Wake up, Neo. The Matrix has you.
Remember Lot’s Wife
We cannot afford to become servants of man-made traditions if we are going to follow God with all of our hearts in service to Him.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.”—Matthew 6:24 (NKJV)
Lot’s family received a clear direction from God to get up and leave all that they had become accustomed to and to move to a new place without delay. Lot’s wife may have been torn, unwilling to leave the comfortable place they had built for themselves in Sodom. Looking back, perhaps longingly, at all they were leaving behind, she became a pillar of salt. (See Genesis chapter 19.)
Is it symbolic that today, as people stream into large church buildings once a week to observe the traditions that they have become accustomed to, that they often enter these buildings by passing between massive pillars that mark the entrances?
“Remember Lot’s wife.”—Luke 17:32 (NKJV)
Thank God for Pandemics!
“In every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”—1 Thessalonians 5:18 (AMP)
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a horrible tragedy that has brought sorrow and financial disaster to countless families around the world. The Thief seemed to be enjoying a season of overwhelming victory as he wreaked havoc on people around the globe, stealing, killing, and destroying lives (See John 10:10.).
This pandemic also revealed the strength of some religious traditions that Christians lean on. When churches were forced to stop their regular, weekly meetings in large buildings, Christians rose up to protest. Many complained that the government was preventing them from exercising their faith, as if “church” could only happen in a certain building, on a certain day, and at a certain time each week.
There may have been a lot of unjust government overreach during the pandemic, but many Christians, in looking back at their beloved traditions and focusing on getting back to the ways things were, missed the new opportunities to “do church” that opened up *because *of the pandemic’s restrictions.
Many Christians, including myself, learned to become comfortable using video conferencing software to connect to people in new ways. Some Christians who seized on these new opportunities connected with people in ways that they had not experienced before. Friendships were strengthened. Discipleship was deepened. Communication was enhanced. People discovered new ways of “doing church” that were not limited to one building, once a week, at a set time.
Could God be using this terrible pandemic to prepare His Church for what is coming?
Soon, and perhaps sooner than we think, Christians will be forced to flee for their lives, leaving behind all that they have known and held dear, just as Lot’s family did. This has already happened in Ukraine and in other countries. The Bible clearly speaks of this in Revelation 12:6 and 12:14. As Lot’s wife shows us, if we are unwilling to let go of traditions and to move when God gives clear direction, it could be disastrous for us.
Here in America, Christian churches and ministries seem to be losing favor with our government. Charitable contributions to churches and ministries no longer offer the same tax deductible benefits as they did just a year ago. There is also talk of removing tax-exempt status from Christian churches.
Then what? As people lose this monetary incentive to give to churches, what will happen to these Christian institutions if they can no longer pay their bills due to loss of income?
Christian churches and ministries that are not entrenched in the traditions of men will be able to follow God’s direction to adapt and thrive. Others who cannot imagine life without the traditions that are so much a part of their organizations may struggle to survive.
Walking in Freedom from Traditions
Jesus had to overcome three temptations before His ministry could begin. In one of these temptations, Satan set Jesus on a pinnacle of the temple in Jerusalem, challenging him to prove Himself.
“If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here.** **For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”—Luke 4:9-11 (NIV)
It may have seemed reasonable. In this one act, Jesus could prove to everyone that He truly was the Son of God. What a great idea!
But it wasn’t God’s idea, so Jesus rejected it.
“Jesus answered, ‘Scripture says, ‘Do not test the Lord your God.’ (Deuteronomy 6:16)”—Luke 4:12 (NIRV)
When Christian ministers step out in presumption and choose to follow man’s ideas, man’s plans, man’s methods, or man’s traditions, we test and provoke God just like rebellious children defying their parents’ instructions.
“But they kept testing and rebelling against God Most High. They did not obey his laws.”—Psalm 78:56 (NLT)
As ministers of Christ’s gospel, we will all be faced with this test. We will all be faced with the choice of following man’s ways or God’s ways.
If Christian leaders choose to lead by following man’s ways, rather than God’s, then they should expect to receive the same rebukes that Jesus delivered to the religious leaders of His day.
Rejecting man’s ideas and traditions, Jesus based everything He did on what His Father God instructed Him to do.
“Jesus told them, ‘Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, the Son can do nothing on his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing, What the Father does, the Son does likewise.’”—John 5:19 (ISV)
And it was not a one-time thing. Jesus had to *abide *in a place of constant connection with His Father in order to receive timely instructions in the moment. And several times, especially before significant events in His ministry, like choosing the twelve apostles and facing death on the cross, Jesus was prompted to retreat from other activities and spend time in intense communion with His Father.
Jesus instructed us also to live this way.
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.** If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. **By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.** **If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”—John 15:4-10 (NKJV)
If we commit to this same approach that Jesus took, we may one day hear the same words that God the Father spoke to His dear son:
“This is my beloved son (or daughter) in whom I am well-pleased.”
**Reference: **
Wyman, Phil (2015). Burning Religion: Navigating the Impossible Space Between Religion and Secular Society.
