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By William P. Wilson, M. D.
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, N. C. 

Distinguished Professor of Counseling
Carolina Evangelical Divinity School
Greensboro, NC

Director, Institute of Christian Growth
Durham, NC

THE GREAT APOSTASY
JANUARY 2012

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"At that time many will turn away
from the faith and will
betray and hate each other."
(Matthew 24:10)

Joel Richardson, in his book The Islamic Antichrist, says that in the end times there will be a great apostasy. He bases his opinion on Jesus' statement quoted above.

But what is apostasy? Webster defines it as desertion or defection. In theological terms it is defection, disaffiliation, or rejection of a faith. It is not something we hear much about these days since it is so common.
It is true that one must be an authentic Christian to become apostate, but many people who are not authentic Christians leave the church − especially when they find the world too interesting, or exciting, or are drawn away by Satan's temptations. These people are technically not apostate, for they did not have a real relationship with the Lord.

Matt Slick, writing in the website of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry, has though, listed the essential beliefs to hold if a person is to be what he considers a authentic believer. He lists primary essential and secondary essential beliefs that are sine qua non for a true believer. They are:

Primary Essentials

• A person cannot deny the person and work of Christ and be a Christian since they are explicitly stated as required in scripture.
• Jesus is both God and man (John 1:1,14;8:24; Col. 2:9; 1 John 4:1-4).
• Jesus rose from the dead physically (John 2:19-21).
• Salvation is by grace through faith (Rom. 5:1; Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 5:1-5).
• The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus (1 Cor. 15:1-4; Gal. 1:8-9).
• There is only one God (Exodus 20:1-3; Isaiah 43:10; 44:6,8).

Secondary Essentials

• A person cannot deny the nature of God and be Christian.
• God exists as a Trinity of persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Belief in the virgin birth of Jesus - relates to incarnation of Christ as God and man.

These are the same biblical concepts also listed by J. C. Ryle at the turn of the century; those who possessed them he called authentic Christians.

Our society and Western Europe is essentially declining in spirituality today. Our churches are decreasing in size as my generation is dying off. Few new believers are being brought into the church by confession of faith. In addition the hierarchy of the old-line denominations is departing from orthodoxy, and adopting stances in regard to sin that are heretical. The change in the church's attitude infiltrates the political establishment, and they have begun to legalize sin. In light of the above, there is no question, too, that Christianity is being persecuted by the forces of humanism and other religions − both political and religious − that are pervasive in the world today.

How did this come about? The answer is to be found in the history of Judaism and the church. God prophesied the Israelites would apostasize even though they had agreed to the covenant they made with him ( Deuteronomy 31:15-18). They did apostasize, over and over again before Christ came into the world. Since then they adopted humanism. These days most are cultural ethnic Jews.

After the Christian church was established there were those that abandoned the faith. We do, however, have to realize that when Constantine made the persecution of Christianity off limits and had his army baptized many people came into the church for political reasons. At that time the decay of the church began. People were taken into the church without having a genuine encounter with the Lord.

As long as there was a great danger in becoming a Christian only those who took the risk of being martyred came into the church. Eusebius describes the horrible tortures that many of them underwent, so it is apparent that knowing what might be in store for them made them willing to truly ask Jesus into their life. Sadly, after the persecutions stopped the church made it easy for a person to join, and convinced them that if they observed the sacraments they were truly Christians.

Still, the church through the ages had within in it a membership of holy men and women who carried on the tradition of the apostles, even though many of the hierarchy did not because they were not Christians. The non-Christians had control of the church and governed it autocratically. The main problem was that by their actions they abolished the priesthood of believers, and only allowed their congregations to be passive members. For example, in the days after Wycliffe translated the Bible into English the Church of England forbade the laity to read the Bible under penalty of death. Wycliffe himself was burned at the stake for translating it.

It was not the intent of Jesus and the apostles to establish a hierarchy. They did want the church to have leaders who were Spirit-filled, but these were selected from among the congregation and were called overseers (1 Timothy 3:1-7 NIV). In those days there were no denominations so churches needed regional leaders, and they began to appoint bishops. Pride led many of them to rule autocratically and to syncretize the church with political rule.

The period of autocratic rule separated clergy form laity, and modes of dress were adopted to indicate the position occupied by people in various offices. Thus one sees the mitre on Popes, the zucchetto on Cardinals and bishops, and robes, stoles, and other unique items worn by various members of the hierarchy.

Jesus did not wear fancy clothes, but decried them on the Pharisees (Luke 20:46). With the protestant reformation many of the sects decried robes, stoles, and any other clothing that set them apart from the congregation. Most Baptist, Pentecostals, and independents still do not wear conspicuous apparel even today. Some denominations allow robes and stoles, but it is the pastor's choice. Humility, though, is uncommon among the clergy, since most of them − especially in mainline denominations − are still set apart because of their education. Parishioners in practically all protestant churches are as passive as are those in the sacerdotal churches. People look up to clergy because they have advanced degrees, so to be called "Doctor" is a sought after title by many of the clergy.

I must apologetically explain the above statements that seem critical! There is no doubt that clergy obtain a mass of knowledge when they obtain their degrees, but this is not where the power to transform lives is found. Before I became a Christian I had a mass of knowledge I had obtained in my education. I could deal with the biological mental diseases quite well, but I did not know that spiritual disease existed. Therefore, I could not help those patients who had psychospiritual disease, and they constitute the bulk of people in our society who have psychiatric problems. One does not understand spiritual problems unless they have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Paul summed it up lucidly in 1 Corinthians 2:10-14:

"The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit."

It is absolutely necessary for those who are to be transformers of lives to have the power of the Spirit to make them effective. Too many people in the church today have been reared in dysfunctional families which have left wounds on their souls that need to be healed. Many of these people are born again Spirit-filled believers who can be healed, but don't know that healing is a available. This situation is particularly apparent in the black community. A study that one of my students did for his masters thesis found that the forty pastors he interviewed did no counseling at all. This is also true when I interviewed a number of mainline ministers, and found that most of them referred their parishioners to secular counselors. Many of them have no understanding of psychospiritual problems.

Why then do messed up people who are not authentic Christians join churches? Some of them were raised in the church, and prefer the social life there. Some of those who are "messed up" come into the church seeking healing, but are for the most part disappointed. Others of them find the church a protected environment so they hang out there. Some come to church because they are told if they do good, pay their tithe, and partake of the sacraments they have a ticket to heaven.

David Du Plessis, in a tract entitled "God has no Grandchildren," says the church has "fallen in the ditch" because it takes in people whose parents are Christians, thus these children of Christians are baptized, and accepted into the church as "members" without them ever having encountered Christ. These can easily "fall away" when they are pressured by life's demands. I know this type because I was one of them. I was in the church for 22 years of my life without a relationship with God, and then I fell away for 22 years.

During the 70's and 80's my Christian brothers, sisters and I spent weekends in over 100 churches in several denominations and conducted evangelical services. During these weekends we confronted people hosting these services and challenged them to examine where they were in their faith. Surprisingly, at least 50% of the members were not authentic Christians. On Sunday mornings, when we gave an invitation for people to commit their lives to Christ, the number of people who responded was staggering. Yet this increase in the number of persons who became Christians by faith had only a transitory effect on the churches we visited. Why did this occur? The answer was that the church did not disciple them. They did not know how!

Paul said we should continue our salvation. Why? Because God wishes to continue to work in us to make us willing and able to do his will. Most parishioners today do nothing outside of the church that is evangelical. They also do nothing to grow in their faith. A few work at things that do good for people who have needs, but the recipients do not know that they do it in obedience to Christ. The work they do is not evangelical. Jesus' first instructions to his disciples were to proclaim the Gospel, heal he sick, and cast out demons (Luke 9:1,2); then they were to do good (Matthew 25:31-36). He wanted all disciples to be evangelists (Matthew 28:13-20, Acts 1:8).

If the church is to survive, we need to once again have a priesthood of believers who can enthusiastically take the Gospel into the world outside church walls. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) calls this "marketplace evangelism." Michael Green called it the same. I have preached this message in a number of churches, but there is little enthusiasm for evangelism. The reason is that there is no fire in the bones of the parishioners. It is an awesome experience to speak to a group of people and never see a flicker of emotion on their faces. I have to practically stand on my head to get my Sunday school class to show any evidence that they have been stimulated by my presentation. The reason for their lack of response is that it is what they have always done. They believe that they should not show any emotion. The majority of congregations congregate and the minister ministers.

Most people do not know that South Korea now has close to 30% of its adult population who claim to be authentic Christians. They have almost as many missionaries in the world as does the US. They are particularly attacking the 10/40 window which includes most Muslim countries. Their success is a result of an active laity who are the prime movers of evangelism in a one-on-one basis.

This has been the same approach in China, where the growth of the Church is a result of lay evangelism. The largest part of the house church leaders are theologically uneducated, but the church grows exponentially because of their efforts. They are willing to undergo persecution because they found truth and a futurology. The appeal of eternal life is very attractive. But it is not that appeal that brings them into the kingdom. It is the work of the Holy Spirit drawing them to God, for the messengers are anointed by the Holy Spirit, and the message they bring cuts through to where spirit and soul meet and they get saved.

Many people think "anointing" is something only Pentecostal preachers have. But any authentic Christian who is absolutely surrendered to God, has an anointing if she prays regularly, stays in God's word, and worships as often as possible. If she eschews sin, and does not grieve the Holy Spirit, she will maintain her anointing so that it is available when a person witnesses to the truth of the Gospel. What happens in the listener is that the Holy Spirit opens their mind to comprehend the truth, and they then act on it, seeking the same transformation the witness has experienced. When we have absolutely surrendered and have communicated our desire to God to be obedient to Jesus' teaching, we will bear fruit that endures.

I cannot plead with you more fervently to pray for revival. In the past it has only been when people pray fervently for a move of the Holy Spirit that revival starts either inside or outside of the church. Remember, no one can be an instrument of God in bringing revival unless the Holy Spirit anoints them, and they do not have to be theologically educated either!

To conclude, I do not believe the great apostasy has come upon us. Those church members who are not authentic Christians readily go a-whoring after other Gods. It has occurred repetitively in history of the church. God predicted it.