OceanSide church of Christ
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ENCOUNTERING THE WRATH OF
LIBERALISM
Victor M. Eskew
Those who are caught up in the whirlwind of liberalism often boast of
being loving, positive, and tolerant.
It is a combination of these characteristics that make them “sweet” to
both those in the church and those outside the body of Christ. They believe that the positive
atmosphere they create helps to draw the masses to the
Christ.
It is amazing, however, to watch their kind disposition and pleasant
demeanor turn when they are faced with conservative thought. When questioned about their beliefs and
practices, their wrath spews forth with venom more deadly than that of the King
Brown snake. They have no tolerance
for conservatism. They will not
fellowship those who see a “thus saith the Lord.” Name-calling and ridicule flow from
their lips when they discuss the poor legalists and Bible thumpers within the
church. When they deal with such
individuals, they believe that they have a “right” to be
negative.
We wonder why so many people have difficulty seeing this hypocrisy of the
liberal left. They speak kindly of
the one who teaches salvation by faith only. On the other hand, they mock their
brethren who stress that one must be baptized in order to be saved (Mark
16:16). They call a Roman priest
their brother, but disown the one who asks about Jesus’ teaching found in
Matthew 23:9, which states: “And
call no man your father upon the earth:
for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” They will sing in joy with the
instrument of music, and will curse those who teach about the silence of the
Scriptures because he is said to be binding his opinion on others (Heb.
7;14). They will honor the elites
of the denominational world, and will express pity upon the great heroes of the
Restoration Movement. They hold up
the Bible before their audiences, but chasten the man who fills his sermon with
Scripture as being irrelevant for our post-modern
society.
The love of the liberal is filled with dissimulation (
The liberal’s attitude toward conservative theology involves him in the ultimate hypocrisy. Love is replaced with hate. Kindness is replaced with ridicule and scorn. Acceptance and tolerance are replaced with disassociation. Some of the most stern words of rebuke spoken by our Lord were against this kind of hypocrisy. “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matt. 23:27-28). The liberal is a stage-player. He is kind and loving as long as you agree with him and walk the path of apostasy with him. Any opposition will encounter the wrath of liberalism. At that point, one can see that liberalism is counter to the things that is often boasts.