From social justice to other mainline heresies, false teachers proselytize people with enticing words and compelling arguments which necessitates discernment in the journey of faith. Apart from discernment and a commitment to God’s revealed will in the pages of Scripture, we will wander off down a flatterer’s path only to find ourselves entangled in a net of confusion.

My favorite book outside of the Bible is the classic work by John Bunyan titled The Pilgrim’s Progress. I have learned much of the Christian life by Bunyan’s words and it has served me well through the years. It was Charles Spurgeon, “The Prince of Preachers” who described Bunyan as one who would bleed “bibline” if pricked in his flesh. In Spurgeon’s estimation, Bunyan was so filled with Scripture, that if his flesh was pricked the Bible would flow from him. It was Spurgeon who encouraged me to read and reread The Pilgrim’s Progress through the years.
In his classic allegory of the Christian life, on one occasion Bunyan describes Christian and Hopeful as coming upon a character who led them into a net of confusion that entangled them and kept them from continuing onward to the Celestial City. Upon finding themselves entangled in the net, they recalled the warnings of Scripture about flattery. It was in the net that they were able to see their mistake and their errors. We should learn a key lesson from the mistake of Christian and Hopeful and avoid being influenced by a flatterer who seeks to influence us to depart from God’s will and take a wrong turn that leads us into danger.
The Enticing Words of the Flatterer
One of the great weapons employed against the children of God is a deceiving tongue. We find this in the first rebellion of mankind in the Garden of Eden as Satan embodied a serpent and enticed Eve to rebel against God and the headship of her own husband. In so doing, Adam failed to lead and protect his wife and the rest is history. Sin entered the world and with it came death and destruction.
All throughout the Bible we find deceivers who plague God’s people. We see this in various ways from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

A young man is seduced by the flattering lips of a harlot (Prov. 7).
False prophets speak loud boasts of folly and entice people (2 Pet. 2).
Paul warns the church at Colossae about people who would entice or delude them with plausible arguments (Col. 2).
The Psalmist prays, “May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts” (Psalm 12:3).
James warns about the dangerous power of the tongue (James 3).
The Psalmist prays, “Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue” (Psalm 120:2).
Paul warns the church at Rome about divisive people who seek to harm the church. He writes, “For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive” (Rom. 16:18).

Such enticing flatterers remain with us today. Newly graduated high school students who make their way to the university campuses will encounter flatterers who will seek to lead them down a pathway of doom. Unsuspecting Christians who lack discernment will wander off down the pathway of the Internet to “Christian” websites and ministries who will promote compromising positions and doctrines in the name of Jesus. We see this almost daily as “Christian” articles promote “third way” options for Christians to avoid making abortion such a driving force in the way we approach politics. They encourage Christians to think differently and to embrace a “womb to tomb” approach which encourages people to lower their passion on the abortion issue and vote differently.
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As Pride Month and its demands increasingly invade all of life, Christians must understand the semireligious nature of the culture war we’re fighting. Homosexual behavior and cross-dressing are nothing new, but as Scrivener, Holland, and (I suspect) Chesterton would argue, the way these things are sold today—as a matter of oppressed and outcast minorities in need of compassion and deserving of equality—is new. And that’s because of Christianity.

Watching the music video for the new song “Boys Will Be Girls” by former Caedmon’s Call lead singer Derek Webb, I experienced a strange mixture of disgust, pity, and clarity about the appeal of his message. That message, part of Webb’s new album, The Jesus Hypothesis, is anything but subtle: it’s a celebration of gender transition and drag, written in response to the coming out of a close friend. In the chorus, Webb sings,
Where sometimes boys will be girlsSometimes armor will be pearlsWhat you put on, oh, it shows the worldHow hard you’re fightingBrother, sometimes boys will be girls
Appealing to Jesus
The video is, if possible, even more in-your-face. Webb goes under the brush for his own drag makeover by (self-described) “shame-slaying, hip-swaying heathen” singer-songwriter Flamy Grant (real name: Matthew Blake). It opens with a quotation by progressive pastor Stan Mitchell that reveals something of Webb’s evolved thinking on the church and LGBT+ issues: “If you claim to be someone’s ally, but aren’t getting hit by the stones thrown at them, you’re not standing close enough.”
So Webb shows us how close he’s standing. After Blake plasters him with a wig and layers of flamboyant makeup, both appear on the stage of what looks like an empty church and sing the on-the-nose final verse:
I heard Jesus loved and spent his life with those whoWere abandoned by proud and fearful menSo if a church won’t celebrate and love youThey’re believing lies that can’t save you or them‘Cause you’re so beautiful by any name
For a guy who grew up hearing Caedmon’s Call hits like “We Delight” on the radio and loved the band’s collaborations with and tributes to the late Rich Mullins, gut punches like this can tarnish what felt like purer years. Webb’s moral deconstruction is neither the highest profile nor the most unexpected in recent memory. But in many ways, it’s one of the most revealing for those who want to understand why LGBT+ ideology has made inroads within evangelicalism.
Musically and instinctively, there’s an appeal to Webb’s message. As he looks you in the eye and sings of love and compassion, as the instrumentals suggest the struggle of a tender soul against cruel and repressive social demands, you feel what he’s saying. The lyrics—in spite of a conspicuous f-bomb—pointedly invoke the listener’s nurturing impulses. It’s not “sometimes men will be women” but “sometimes boys will be girls.” To laugh this off, to ridicule or inwardly gag at this spectacle, feels like attacking something childlike and even pure. Webb may be the one caked in makeup, but his song and music video are a calculated dare to critics: Go ahead. Paint yourself as the churchy villain I’m talking about. Be the “proud and fearful” Pharisee who abandons people like me. Jesus won’t. 
And yet, stop and remember what we’re talking about. This song is a celebration of an impossible delusion that has turned society upside down and led to the physical and mental devastation of countless souls, young and old.
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Remember that repentance is not merely a legal necessity but a gift accompanying the true Gospel to all who believe. Rejoicing and gladness will come naturally to such a penitent at worship. Every Sabbath will become a delight instead of a burden and a cumbersome yoke of law. Then, you will know that the Lord alone restores the captivity and fortunes of his people (Ps. 68:18,19). A restored fortune gives one great cause to glory in God through the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, for then salvation has indeed come forth from Zion!

“Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restoresthe fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.” Psalm 14:7 ESV
As we delve into the rich history of God’s people, Israel, in the Old Testament, we uncover the profound significance of this psalm in the worship of the congregation. In verse seven, Jehovah’s faithful express a deep-seated hope for the restoration of their homeland and fortunes, a hope that resonates powerfully in this musical promise.
Israel’s years of faithfulness to their covenant God were few in number, sparse, and checkered with the Lord’s heavy discipline for idolatry. Israel’s recurring punishments began only fifty days after their exodus from Egypt. At the base of Mt. Sinai, after initiating the national covenant with Jehovah God under Moses, the newly formed theocracy first worshipped an idol, a golden calf. At this grievous sin and breach of covenant, Jehovah, acting through Moses, directed the Levites to execute 3,000 of their brethren in retribution for this crime. This punishment, severe as it may seem, serves as a cautionary tale of the destruction sin can initiate if left unchecked.
Jehovah is a patient and forgiving God, eager to pardon the iniquity and sin of his covenant people. His holiness, however, means that he will not overlook sin. This threat particularly applies to those who disregard the Second Commandment by making and worshipping graven images (Ex. 20:4,5).
In meeting out punishment, Jehovah would disperse his people out of their inheritance and scatter them among the heathen, most commonly for worshipping idols and for profaning his Sabbaths. The cold-hearted neglect of their own poor, widows, orphans, and foreigners was likewise a cause for discipline and wrath in Israel. Those who grew sensitive to their shame and owned their guilt pined for relief and a sign of Jehovah’s renewed favor to them. The best sign of God’s favor had always been his near presence and dwelling in the temple in Jerusalem, with a blessed restoration of the inheritance of the various tribes of Israel to their land, according to their ancient lots.
As mentioned above, the hope of restoring their fortunes was kept alive among a dispersed Israel in the worship ordinance of psalm-singing. But note that, though the reason for the dispersion of the people was sin, the instrumental cause was Jehovah himself – he hardens the hearts of the rebellious in just punishment for their sin, sin begetting more grievous sin (Rom 1:24-30). It is he who scatters the defiant to the wilderness places (Ps. 68:6). Accordingly, it is Jehovah God alone that can restore the fortunes of his people when their iniquity is pardoned, and he is pleased to renew his close communion with them in the great congregation (Ps. 35:18). Having every emblem of God’s covenant love restored, Israel could justly and freely rejoice and be glad! The time of returning to their lost fortunes was a year of jubilee and a cause of tremendous and year-long celebration! (see Lev. 27).
Covenant Presbyterian Church is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The precise date is next month, in October. It is humbling to consider that, although we celebrate this anniversary, Israel as a people of God never celebrated a designated 50-year jubilee year in their entire recorded history! The devotion of this impious nation quickly rose and just as quickly fell. There was little steadfastness and loyalty to their King, Jehovah. But the faithful remnant of Israel always longed for this sign of Jehovah’s approbation and love. God had promised and will undoubtedly restore their fortunes.
In our fifty years as a church, this congregation has seen many souls come, remain, and go. Many continue their pilgrimage with Jehovah and serve him faithfully in Christ in other gospel churches. Others have drifted to who knows where (Heb. 2:1). The critical question is whether one is dispersed from one’s fortunes due to sin. Are we a gathered and settled people as the inheritance of Christ our Shepherd?
Sin is both blinding and benumbing. It dulls our spiritual senses and leads us into bondage. Consider the Prodigal Son, who, after a time of discipline, returned home to his fortunes – to his father’s house – and the resulting jubilee celebrated at his return from the “dead” (Lk. 15:16ff). Yet it is a cause for lamentation today to note how many people who had been faithful churchgoers suddenly stopped attending public gatherings of worship during and after COVID-19. This is undoubtedly a modern-day diaspora!
Indeed, the Lord humbles his people for their idolatrous, Sabbath-breaking impiety and scandalous indifference to their needy and afflicted brothers in the faith (Matt 25:29,30)! With so many church closings since 2021, and so many churches being significantly reduced in number, we need to ask ourselves, “Is it me, Lord? Am I complicit in this act of rebellion through my long-established pattern and habit of sin and impiety in the church? Am I an idolator? Who or what do I chiefly serve, God or mammon (Matt. 6:24)? Am I a Sabbath-profaning hypocrite, one that is insensitive and indifferent to the presence of the Lord among his people at worship, and yet own the name “Christian” (Rev. 1:10)? Has the Lord’s Day become my day to do as I please?”
The good news is that if you discern his chastening hand upon you in your estrangement from church, take it as a sign that you are under his care. The Lord disciplines his sons that he loves (Heb. 12:6-9) and sends them such trials as they are dispersed, that they might seek him out of the abundance of misery and be delivered. Yet do not delay your repentance, for you only have this day to do so and no certainty of tomorrow.
Is God your great fortune? Indeed, have you any good in this life and the next beside him (Ps. 73:25)? You consider yourself a believer but are you reconciled to God through Jesus (2 Cor. 5:20)? Are you reconciled to your fellow believers in Christ? Do you enjoy your fortune, which is God, in holy communion with your fellow heirs of salvation in Christ (Heb. 10:25)? If not, you may return to your Father’s house by God’s grace and renew a close and humble walk with your Lord, who dwells with his people (Mic. 6:8).
Those dispersed even as far and low as a heathen pig sty may awaken from their sleep of death to long for their Father’s house and return. Remember that repentance is not merely a legal necessity but a gift accompanying the true Gospel to all who believe. Rejoicing and gladness will come naturally to such a penitent at worship. Every Sabbath will become a delight instead of a burden and a cumbersome yoke of law. Then, you will know that the Lord alone restores the captivity and fortunes of his people (Ps. 68:18,19). A restored fortune gives one great cause to glory in God through the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, for then salvation has indeed come forth from Zion!
Lou Veiga is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is Pastor of Covenant PCA in Houston, Texas.

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