Jon Del Arroz’s new book, Churchianity: How Modern American Churches Corrupted Generations of Christians, is now the #1 bestseller in Religious Philosophy. The Foreword was written by a certain dark lord of your acquaintance and this is the second half of it.
Churchianity: The Bitter Fruits
Jesus Christ told us we would know them by their fruits, and the fruits of Churchianity are bitter indeed. Churches that embrace this heresy invariably experience the same progression: first comes the theological compromise, then the demographic decline, and finally the institutional death. The pattern is as predictable as it is pathetic.
Initially, the leadership declares that Christianity must evolve in order to remain relevant. Traditional doctrines are either quietly abandoned or radically reinterpreted. Sexual morality is usually the first casualty—after all, nothing says “love” like affirming sexual deviants in their sin. The authority of Scripture is undermined through appeals to sympathy, cultural contexts and societal progress. The exclusivity of the salvation offered by Jesus Christ is downplayed in favor of a lukewarm universalism intended to avoid any risk of offending sinners and nonbelievers.
Next comes the exodus of believers who recognize apostasy when they see it, even if they are unwilling to openly call it out. Families that have attended the same church for generations quietly slip away. The youth, offered nothing but the same social justice they get at school, see no reason to wake up early on Sunday morning for a sixth dose of the weekly propaganda. The pews empty, the offering plates remain unfilled, and the Churchian leadership inevitably responds by doubling down on their failed strategy.
Finally comes the death rattle. The beautiful historic building is sold to developers who convert it into restaurants, mosques, and even night clubs. The congregation, now consisting of a few dozen elderly regulars, merges with another dying church to forestall the inevitable for a few more years. And the denomination’s bureaucracy soldiers on, issuing increasingly irrelevant statements about racism and refugees to an audience that consists primarily of other bureaucrats.
This is not speculation or hyperbole. This is the documented history of virtually every church body that has embraced Churchianity. The Episcopal Church in America has lost more than half its membership since embracing social justice theology. The United Church of Christ has declined by two-thirds. The Presbyterian Church continues its death spiral, closing churches at a rate that would constitute a crisis if anyone still cared enough to notice. Even the once-staunch Southern Baptist Convention is in decline, having lost 21 percent of its membership since 2001.
Churchianity is not just a weakened or compromised form of Christianity. It is actively anti-Christian. It does not merely fail to proclaim the Gospel; it proclaims an anti-Gospel of inverted Christianity. Where Christianity offers salvation from sin, Churchianity offers affirmation of sin. Where Christianity demands transformation, Churchianity demands tolerance. Where Christianity proclaims objective truth, Churchianity preaches subjective experience.
This anti-Christian essence reveals itself most clearly in Churchianity’s relationship with actual Bible-believing Christians. Orthodox believers who maintain traditional positions on marriage, sexuality, and the exclusivity of Christ are not met with disagreement and debate, they are demonized. They are called bigots, haters, and racists. They are excluded from fellowship, driven from denominations, and subjected to ecclesiastical trials that would make the Spanish Inquisition blush. The one unforgivable sin in Churchianity is believing what Christians have always believed.
At the same time, those who actively oppose Christianity are welcomed with open arms. Islamic prayers are offered in ostensibly Christian churches. Atheist activists are invited to lecture congregations about their moral failings. Pagan practices are incorporated into worship services in the name of “inclusivity.” The Church that once conquered the Roman Empire through martyrdom now conquers itself through suicide.
Churchianity represents the greatest threat to Christianity since the rise of Islam. It is far more dangerous to the Church than external persecution because it corrupts from within. It is more deadly than direct intellectual assault because it operates through insidious rhetoric and emotional manipulation. And it is more effective than most previous heresies because it speaks the language of the Church while inverting and subverting the actual teachings of Christ.
But truth remains truth regardless of how many deny it. The Gospel remains the Gospel regardless of how many pervert it. Jesus Christ remains the Lord and Savior of Mankind no matter how many betray Him. And the gates of Hell, whether they take the form of Roman persecution, Islamic invasion, or Churchian subversion, shall never prevail.
The question for every reader of this book is straighforward: Where do you stand? Do you stand with the apostles and the martyrs, the reformers and the revivalists, and with the faithful remnant throughout history who have refused to bow the knee to false gods? Or will you worship a fake social justice Jesus in a false church with those who have sold their souls for fame, fortune, and worldly approval?
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first…
— 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-3