What is important is for shepherds to take seriously their responsibility to protect their flocks.  Don’t ignore issues threatening the purity of the church or moral practices of the sheep.  Likewise, don’t ignore the reality of the “. . . the massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.” A spiritual battle is definitely raging, and unprepared sheep are prey to the immense assault.  

It is evident that America and Western civilization are strongly undergoing re-paganization in both perspective and practice.  This is manifest especially in the areas of sexual morality, identities, and justice.  However, what is equally alarming and disconcerting is such paganization has taken measuredly hold in the church—in individual churches, denominations, and in the three principal branches of the Holy Catholic (Universal) Church.
It has occurred to me that the first century church was instructed and prepared for living in a pagan world.  Written in the first or second century, The Didache, known as The Lord’s Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations, prepared believers how to live in a pagan society.  It begins with the Two Ways, the Way of Life and the Way of Death.  This section contains moral practices that counter accepted pagan practices.  In other words, the early Christians (the Lord’s sheep) were instructed and prepared for the spiritual battles they would have to fight personally in themselves and exteriorly in the societies in which they resided.
This brings up the issue of spiritual battle, which this is.  How are we to live today with such a pronounced and pushed agenda coming from the ancient evil one?  A recent advertisement for a podcast appeared on a Christian website.  It stated, “Retrieving classical Christianity to create authentic reform in the church today.”  Bingo!  Oh, excuse me.  I should say, Eureka!  I was immediately reminded of The Didache—a prime example of classical Christianity.  
One trait of this paganizing process, according to a ruling elder in a Reformed Faith church, is “a massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.”  Later, he states, “. . . there are sound evangelical churches attended by individuals who are openly celebrating transgender family members with virtually no response by church leadership.”  That is just one issue not addressed by some church leaderships.  The same is true for the above references to the broader areas of sexual morality, identities, and justice.
So, between this escalation of hostility and the pronounced agenda, what can Christians, churches, and church leaders do?  Two actions:  1) Retrieve classical Christianity that communicated both faith and practice akin to The Didache and 2) address false ideologies and practices in a timely manner—don’t ignore them.
It is needful perhaps to identify practices that might contribute to not feeding and protecting the flocks when assaults on God’s divine revelation enter or invade churches.  Two come to mind, which are solely expository preaching and short homilies.  These relate to both different denominations and branches of the church. The former tends to minimize “the whole counsel of God” by spending more time on narrow sections of Scripture.  Historically, the apostles and church dealt with issues as they arose and would draw responses from diverse passages of God’s divine revelation to emphasize and thoroughly treat a specific issue.  This isn’t against expository preaching; it simply indicates one weakness. Irregular topical preaching addressing a current issue can balance this lack and benefit the flock. Likewise, the former, i.e., short homilies, tend to be pithy but leave very little room for healthy catechizing or instruction, and rebuttal of false ideologies, practices or teachings.
What can church leaderships do if either are unable or unwilling to address cultural or societal ideologies invading the church in a timely manner from the pulpit?  It is understandable they may feel their habitual practice is what God has called them to do.
One sound and valid suggestion is to communicate regularly in writing to the congregation.  A written communication personally addressed to each member can alert, educate, and warn the flock against false teachings and practices by stating and verifying the biblical principles involved and the church’s position on such issues.  This shouldn’t merely be posted on the church’s website, but rather should be sent to the members’ homes.  Not everyone is online or actively goes to websites regularly.
What is important is for shepherds to take seriously their responsibility to protect their flocks.  Don’t ignore issues threatening the purity of the church or moral practices of the sheep.  Likewise, don’t ignore the reality of the “. . . the massive escalation in hostility toward Christianity and a biblical worldview.” A spiritual battle is definitely raging, and unprepared sheep are prey to the immense assault.  Shepherds, rise to the occasion:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to standfirm against the schemes of the devil.  For our struggle is notagainst flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against thepowers, against the world forces of this darkness, against thespiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6: 10-12?
Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.
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I only know Jesus because God wrote it in the book. But, Jesus is not a book, daddy. The book describes Jesus as 100% man like any man and 100% God like the only God. And that 200% is a funny number. You said 100% truthful is like a cup all the way up. All man; all the way up. All God; all the way up. That cup sure is full. That sounds like one cup being fuller than two cups. You can know him 200% by living with His people, when we pray and sing and talk about him at the table– you listen, and you’ll start hearing how he is both but only one person.

Daddy, where is Jesus? I can’t see him. 

He returned to his father, and sent the Spirit to us.

I don’t like that, daddy. If Jesus loves me, I should see him. 

Jesus said it was better if he left and we couldn’t see him till later.

But how will I know about him, the things he did? 

The way I do, sweetie. God taught men; they teach me; I teach you.

But how will I know that he became a man, a real man, a man man?

The way I do, sweetie. Almost everything Jesus did is the same as me.

Watch me. Watch mom. Even watch the sour grouch who lives next door.

He did NOT just do what everybody does. A lot looked the same, but the OTHER stuff . . . And, the other things– remember that word from Thursday dinner, “trans-fig-u-ra-tion?” Well the best I could do was read what Scripture says and be pretty amazed-curious-wondering– just like any other child. Mark used that word, and it helps with the shining and the clothes and face-too-bright and the cloud. And Jesus talking to Moses and Elijah– just like people do.

Peter was scary scared. And the cloud told him to listen. I bet he had a headache after that.

Daddy, is all your knowing Jesus from the Bible?

I only know Jesus because God wrote it in the book.

But, Jesus is not a book, daddy.

The book describes Jesus as 100% man like any man and 100% God like the only God. And that 200% is a funny number.

You said 100% truthful is like a cup all the way up. All man; all the way up. All God; all the way up. That cup sure is full. That sounds like one cup being fuller than two cups.

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Embracing the truth of God found in Jesus Christ sets us free from ourselves. We are the worst wardens of our soul. We choose paths that are bad for us and hurt us. When we buy the lie of the serpent, and think that God is not good, and that maybe he is not even God at all, we confine ourselves to live out a pathetically lonely and futile existence—always trying to assert our way over everyone else’s and yet somehow never arriving at the happiness we thought a “my truth” kind of life would offer. The truth of Christ sets us free from the rat race, from works righteousness, from depression, from loneliness. 

It’s official: Truth is dead. Facts are passe.” So declared The Washington Post back in 2016 when they reported on Oxford Dictionary’s decision to select for their international word of the year: “post-truth.” The official definition reads: relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.
Well, that definitely sounds like today, but it also pre-dates 2016 and our modern era of post-truth and post-everything else. In fact, that definition is a fairly good summary of the beginning of Genesis 3 and the Fall. The objective fact (“you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil”) becomes less influential in shaping the public opinion—namely of Adam and Eve—than an appeal by the serpent to Eve’s emotions and belief. And he makes this appeal with a question: “Did God really say….?”
The Ancient Question
It’s the first question mark in the Bible. Fitting that the curving and slithering serpent is the first to form that sly punctuation mark. It’s an insidious question. Derek Kidner says the question is “disturbing and flattering: it smuggles in the assumption that God’s word is subject to our judgment.” This is patently false, of course, but it’s a new concept to Eve. The thought had never even occurred to her or her husband before to question God. Maybe “his truth” wasn’t the only truth out there.
The serpent thereby introduced two disastrous lies to Eve in this one seemingly innocent question. The first is that maybe God isn’t that good after all. The implication is that what God has instructed Adam and Eve regarding trees in the garden is cruelly restrictive. He asks, “Did God really say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden? This God that made you, Eve, did he really prohibit your enjoyment of any tree in this beautiful and luscious garden?” God did not say that, of course. In fact, he said the opposite. He said to Adam and Eve, “You may surely eat of every tree in the garden” with only one exception (2:16). He was completely generous in his provision to them. But Satan introduces the idea of “divine stinginess.”
The serpent’s first lie is that God is not good. The second is that God is not God. That is to say, he gets Eve to buy into this idea that whether God’s prohibition is cruel or not, he doesn’t have the ultimate say in the situation. Eve is able to make her own law. She is the master of her fate, the captain of her soul. God’s position of authority is not exclusive to him, but something that she herself could be promoted to: “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God” (4–5). Apparently, Eve didn’t need to wait to eat the fruit to think she had become like God. Verse 6: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food…” Sound familiar? The author is intentionally drawing us back to chapter 1 where we heard the constant refrain: “And God saw that it was good.” Now the woman becomes the surveyor and the determiner of what is good or not. The creature is trying to overthrow and rebel against the Creator. She is living out her truth: “I can do whatever I want.”
The Ancient Question Alive and Well Today
These twin lies are the bedrock of the devil’s initial temptation: God is not good, and actually he is not God at all. This is what the devil has done from the beginning, and he has been doing it ever since (John 8:44). When we sin against God’s commands it is because we have accepted that lie that 1) God is not good, and 2) God is not God—or at least, not the only god. In other words, we tell ourselves that God’s commands are restrictive and cruel. Not only do we believe we have a better plan for our life, we convince ourselves that we have the authority to act on it. We elevate ourselves to the position of God. And that’s how you get a world in which phrases like “your truth” and “my truth” make total sense; a world in which “live your truth” is a slogan for self-empowerment.
While I was typing out that previous sentence an ad came up on my Spotify playlist that wanted me to pay for premium membership so that I could “stay true to you.”
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