CHRIS FIELD, Syndicated from TheBlaze
Issues dire warning against ‘Marxist’ Critical Race Theory
Atlanta pastor Michael Youssef shared a powerful warning this week to evangelical churches to watch out for “woke” pastors who hide from telling the hard truths, as well as far-left ideology that is making its way to the pulpit.
The insidious theology that is creeping into the church is “deadly as far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned,” he told the Christian Post in an interview reported Wednesday.
He has seen this before
Youssef, 72, who serves as pastor of the Church of The Apostles in Atlanta with about 3,000 members, told the outlet that he remembers watching the Episcopal Church collapse from the inside in the ’80s as an Episcopal priest. He said the denomination followed the culture away from Christian principles and moved toward secularism — a move made evident with its vote to approve same-sex marriage.
“Those same battles that I fought in the mainline denominations are now invading the evangelical churches,” Youssef said. “It’s the same arguments, the same lingo, and the same words repeating themselves with such precision I am deeply, deeply concerned.”
Youssef, the Christian Post said, is concerned that pastors are “falling into the trap” of woke culture and are doing so for a couple reasons: first, it’s “popular,” and second, it “appeals to the flesh.”
“Bowing to woke culture allows you to avoid rejection by culture and society,” Youssef said. “It’s a very, very popular message that is now being preached from many evangelical pulpits; traditionally Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching churches. We have gone so far that it just grieves me to the point that I literally sometimes just weep tears.”
Pulpit to culture
And what gets pushed from the pulpit will infect the congregation, and what infects the congregation will impact the culture.
“I’ve always believed, as goes the pulpit, so goes the pew. As goes the pew, so goes the culture,” he added. “As a pastor, I put the full blame on us, right in our laps, because we want to be liked, loved, and followed on social media by millions of people. Pastors are the culprits. We need to be about Jesus, not about being liked, because that is deadly as far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned.”
Now he’s doing what he can to influence younger pastors and ministry leaders to stick to Christian principles and not yield to the spirit of the age, notably the infamous “Marxist” Critical Race Theory that categorizes everything by racial victim groupings.
“Young pastors must realize that this is a deception. It’s very subtle and very clever, but it’s a deception nonetheless,” Youssef told the Christian Post. “And that is the burden that God laid on my heart to such a point I just couldn’t sleep. I had to address it. I believe people are in a state of confusion and need a clear word from Scripture.”
Critical Race Theory is “a very Marxist ideology that people are taking very seriously,” he added. “The idea of the oppressed and the oppressors is not that simple. Now we have private Christian schools here in Atlanta where white children are apologizing to black kids. Apologizing for what? They are innocent; they haven’t done anything. It’s crazy; it’s just going insane.”
As long as a pastor bows to moral relativism in an attempt not to “offend” anyone, Youssef warned, his church will fail to effectively minister to future generations. Instead of cowing to culture, he said, the Church needs to “invade” areas of society that Christians fled years ago.
“We must take charge,” Youssef encouraged. “Christians have abandoned so many areas of society, from media and the classroom. Instead of withdrawing, we need to go and invade these areas and take them for Christ and not be afraid.”
I am new to NACM and have been spending as much time as possible reading all the post. This one really needed to be posted and I thank you for doing so. It is amazing to me to see where so many Christian churches are heading. We need to be more into the word and to hold our ground. How can we be the light in the darkness if we are afraid of offending the woke community.
I choose Jesus and strive to project his light!
Jim
Thank you for sharing,
Today, the first scripture that automatically came to mind was, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (Romans 5:20)
Amen! He is hitting the nail on the head. Let us pray for Christian revival in our land. Let us pray for God’s mercy. And, to all of us ministers of God’s Word, He has called us to declare His Gospel and the entire counsel of His word. Let us not retreat from that.
Thanks for the post brother!
Thanks Elder Mooney!
MY TAKE AWAY . . . from this article is a quote from Dr. Michael Youssef:
“I’ve always believed, as goes the pulpit, so goes the pew. As goes the pew, so goes the culture,” he added. “As a pastor, I put the full blame on us, right in our laps, because we want to be liked, loved, and followed on social media by millions of people. Pastors are the culprits. We need to be about Jesus, not about being liked, because that is deadly as far as the Gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned.”
MY TAKE AWAY . . . from Elder Mooney:
"As long as a pastor bows to moral relativism in an attempt not to “offend” anyone, Youssef warned, his church will fail to effectively minister to future generations. Instead of cowing to culture, he said, the Church needs to “invade” areas of society that Christians fled years ago."
Peace and Grace and Blessings from David Ramkumar. ❤️?
You called it exactly pastor Youssef, I too have witnessed (as I understand it) the "Jezebel spirit" creeping into evangelical churches, confusing God's people, who may be weak in their knowledge of such spiritual issues! It is truly amazing to see masses of people being pulled into its ugly vortex – one minute they are moving with the Light, and the next they are moving against the Light. The same motif is at work every time – to steal, kill and destroy (divide). Church people, who were once very close and active for Jesus, are becoming hard, cold, bitter and even aggressive. And if you try tell them about this spiritual battle happening near them, they call you the crazy one – yet I know many still have their eyes and ears closed by the evil one. The lawless one does indeed abound today, and its hanging out in the churches where the innocent have no knowledge of its character. So I agree with you Michael – wake up churches, study hard, for the attack is upon & against you!
Amen pastor Youssef ! And a big "Thank you" to Michael Mooney for posting this. Michael Youssef has absolutely hit the nail on the head as far as Satan and the false doctrines of humanism invading the churches in America (and around the world) today. The increasingly drastic movement away from God's Word and toward secularism, humanism and deviancy is precisely why I renounced my credentials and standing and left the Disciples of Christ denomination. That was a heart-breaking decision on my part considering the fact that I was a third-generation DOC. But in reality, the denomination left me long before I left them. The DOC of today (and the majority of all the other mainline denominations) is not at all what it was (they were) in my youth where God's Word was the absolute source and His words were not twisted, turned, re-edited and revised to suit alternative life styles and blatant sin. My sense of freedom and release has been incredible since I joined NACM and obtained my ordination in this brotherhood. The church I have pastored and led for the past 6 years was fully behind my decision these many months ago. The entire world needs to be reminded that God's Word is infallible, incorruptible, unchangeable and eternal regardless of human whim and desire. Praise the Lord! And may He have mercy on our nation as we continue down the corrupt and sinful paths of ancient Israel. Keep the faith my friends, and God bless you all.