I am deeply troubled about the state of the worldwide evangelical movement. On the one hand, massive growth does take place, and I am deeply grateful to God for his gracious moving in so many places around the world.

On the other hand, I hear and see things happening that just shock me:

– chinese housechurch leaders reporting each other to the police so they can rule their church all by themselves

– Pastors getting a burnout syndrom and leaving the church, even leaving God behind, confessing to have become atheists

– Divorce spreading rapidly among Christians, while those who don’t divorce often have a hypocritical marriage that is just “functioning” outwardly

– Spiritual leaders abusing those who follow them

– Christians looking for yet another spiritual hero whom they can exploit, and when they have finished him, they drop him like a hot potatoe.

– The worldwide spread herecy that we are saved by grace but have to keep God happy daily by how we perform, leading to massive hypocracy in the worldwide church

– an increasing lack of interest in spiritual things among Evangelicals (especially in the West), that makes it harder and harder to get support for mission work

– etc. etc.

The list could be much, much longer as you all know. Now my main question is: “What can be done about it?” Is there a way out of this mess?

The main answers I always get when visiting any Christian congress that is concerned about spiritual growth, is always what I have come to call the “5 pillars of evangelicalism”:

You are to:

– pray more

– read the bible more

– give more

– engage in church more

– engage in missions more

(a possible sixth: – practise your gifts more)

Now, my problem with this approach is the following: This is all exactly where the Pharisees excelled! They prayed three times a day and fasted twice a week, they gave their tithing more consistendly than most Christians would do, they engaged in the spritual life of Israel more than any other and they were the ones to teach the message to non-Jews more than any other group in Israel. And still it was them who crucified Jesus!

If the five pillars of Evangelicalism would work, the Pharisees would have never crucified Jesus Christ! But we are in effect teaching the same thing again – have we become just mere Pharisees in Christian clothes? How can we get rid of our own Phraiseism – and be honest, it is very easy to take part at Lausanne in Capetown and be nothing more than a Christian Pharisee, isnt it? NNobody will notice – we can talk so spiritually (or, to be more honest, piously) while at the same time we deny the power of the cross in our lives at home.

And still, God loves me. Me, the hypocritical, self-deceiving, hard-hearted Pharisee who thinks he has got more wisdom than anybody else, who works so hard to keep my false image of God happy with how I perform, who tries to convince everybody – myself, everyone else and God – of how good and worthy I am and by doing so, radically despicing the cross of Jesus Christ! Still God cares for me. Still He forgives me all those things I totally refuse to even recognize as sin. He adopts me as His child, accepts me in His presence at any time, embraces me with His mercies, pours out His unending love through the Holy spirit who dwells in me, he declares me “righteous” and “perfect” while at the same time changing me through His spirit in the likenness of Christ and completes the work He has started in me till the day of Christ Jesus. And then, at the end, when I’m standing before His throne, he will give me the crown of righteousness. For what? I have done nothing, He has done everything! What a wonderful, powerfull, amazing God full of grace, mercy and righteousness!

So, my plea ist: Lost son, let yourself be found by the good shepherd! Get captured again by the wonderful love God has displayed in Jesus. Live daily by trusting in our wonderful God, and repent of your consistent attempts to clothe yourself in your own righteousness!