THE DANGERS OF THE GOSPEL OF ACCOMMODATION - PART TWO

(This is the second part of a prophetic word given by David Wilkerson in 1998. The first portion of this message is available by going to the archives [below on the left] and choosing February 7, 2014. Next week we will finish this series by posting Part 3.)

THE DANGERS OF THE GOSPEL OF ACCOMMODATION

PART TWO

I have two preacher sons. One of them confessed to me, “Dad, I was that close to being sucked in (taken in), because I fasted and prayed and didn’t see the [church] growth I wanted to see, even while I saw others growing. That hook was there, and I almost bought it.”

The attractiveness of the gospel of accommodation with its easy and quick church growth is something every church movement is going to have to look at and deal with. It is possible, through unholy ambition, to be transformed from a man of God who has been seeking God and getting a word from heaven, to unholy ambition and achieving success at any cost. Let every pastor heed this warning: The moment you begin to consider the “competition,” seeds of accommodation will be planted in your heart. Suddenly, Satan will put in your path a wolf in sheep’s clothing—who will try to seduce you into ungodly ambition and achieving church growth at any cost.

The Right Formula

If you find the right formula, according to the accommodation gospel, you can succeed in any field of endeavor.

An editorial in The New York Times (March 1, 1998) was entitled, How to Manufacture a Best-Seller. It told the story of John Baldwin, a 53-year-old carpenter and would-be writer, who had struggled for years to make a living from writing. He determined to become famous and rich by writing a best-selling medical thriller. He studied five or six best-selling thrillers and after seven years’ research, he found ten steps to producing a best-selling medical novel. He honed this ten-step formula with some Hollywood writers and agents, and here it is:

1. The hero is an expert.
2. The villain is an expert.
3. You must watch all the villain’s activities over his shoulder.
4. The hero has a team of experts behind him, working in various fields.
5. Two or more on the team must fall in love.
6. Two or more on the team must die.
7. The villain must turn his attention from his initial goal to the team.
8. The villain and the hero must live to do battle again in the sequel.
9. All deaths must proceed from the individual to the group.

10.     If the story bogs down, just kill somebody.

John Baldwin had the formula but no story, so he read of John Marr, a researcher who was studying the epidemiological causes of the ten plagues, hoping to explain their causes scientifically. The two men formed a partnership, and using Baldwin’s ten–step formula, together wrote a 640-page manuscript called The Eleventh Plague. Harper Collins bought it for almost $2 million.

Baldwin said, “If I get the formula, I’m going to be a multimillionaire and famous.” Well, he’s going to make another $3 million on the movie rights, and he’s laughing all the way to the bank. His philosophy: “If you have the right formula, you can be a success at anything.”

You see, this is the gospel of accommodation—the formula. You get the formula, you get (understand) what people want, and you can become a success. I am here to tell you that a formula-based, accommodating gospel is contrary to everything in the Scriptures.

God’s Method

Certain men of God met at Antioch to send out men to preach the gospel and establish churches (Acts 13). Here is God’s method:

1. They ministered to the Lord and fasted (13:2). This was their planning session—worshiping, fasting, waiting on the Lord, and calling for direction from the Holy Ghost.

   There were no formulas, no surveys, no door-to-door        asking people what they wanted and then serving it to them.

2.   They prayed—no strategizing, no networking, and not one step until the Holy Ghost        spoke His mind. Then and only then did they lay hands upon Barnabas and Saul (Paul),    anoint them, and send them out in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost (13:3).

The Apostle Paul had lived his whole religious life on religious formulas, and he said they didn’t work. He gave up on formulas and said, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Paul boasted unashamedly, “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:23). He was saying, “Gentlemen (talking to his peers), they want us to accommodate. The Jews are looking for signs in our gospel. The Greeks want the wisdom. They want to know how to cope, but I’m not compromising. There is only one message. Our gospel has been and will be the cross and its demands as well as its victories. As for me, I am determined to preach nothing among you but Christ and Him crucified.”

(Next week: Part 3 of The Dangers of The Gospel of Accommodation. For more information on the continuing ministries of David Wilkerson, please visit www.worldchallenge.org.)