As I begin, I ask you to read and consider the following dictionary definitions:

cen·tric 1: located in or at a center : CENTRAL {a ~ point} 2: concentrated about or directed to a center {a ~ activity}

the·ol·o·gy 1: the study of religious faith, practice and experience; esp: the study of God and His relation to the world.

Chris·tol·o·gy: theological interpretation of the person and work of Christ.

Chris·to·centric: centering theologically on Christ.

I imagine that just about anyone who claims to be a "Christian" would agree with the belief that Jesus Christ should be at the heart and center of the Christian Church. And considering the definition of the word "Christocentric", I suppose most would agree that the Church should be; "centered theologically on Christ". It is one thing, however, to claim to be in agreement with such a belief, and quite another to live and act within the realm of Christocentrism.

For the church to be Christocentric by definition, Jesus Christ must be at the center of our theology. Our understanding of God must be based on the person of Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God as revealed to us in the Holy Bible. Our Lord told His disciples in John's Gospel:

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. John 14:17 (KJV)

I and my Father are one. John 10:30 (KJV)

Apostle John tells us in his First Epistle:

Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. I John 2:23 (KJV)

If our "Christology" is errant it will just naturally stand to reason that our "theology" will be errant as well. We can only know and come to God the Father through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. This being the case, our knowledge of Christ must be sound and true. This truth must be absolutely central to our Christian belief. It should go without saying, but in this day and age of so much theological mumbo jumbo we must understand that our knowledge of Christ and His great salvation must come by way of Biblical revelation alone (the "Sola Scriptura" of the reformers).

Only days before His crucifixion our Lord said:

Now is the judgement of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:31,32 (KJV)

In Verse 32 Jesus begins with the words, "And I". This divine "I" must be at the heart and center of our faith if it is to be true Biblical Christianity. This is a Christocentric faith.

This he said, signifying what death he should die. John 12:33 (KJV)

Apostle John explains that Jesus was making reference to His forthcoming crucifixion when He spoke of being... "lifted up from the earth".

This is now the third time we find Jesus using this terminology in John's Gospel. In John 3:14,15 we read: And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life.

On their journeying in the wilderness, the children of Israel began complaining and murmuring against God and Moses. As a result of their rebellion, God sent "fiery serpents" into the camp which bit the people causing multiplied deaths to occur. When the people repented of their sin, God told Moses to make a serpent of brass and to lift it up on a pole in the midst of the people. God then told the people that simply looking up to the serpent on the pole would serve as an antidote to the venomous bites. And so it was, all who fixed their gaze upon the brass serpent lived. [see: Num. 21:1-9]

Speaking to Nicodemus in John 3:14,15, Jesus explained that the brass serpent which Moses placed on a pole and lifted up in the wilderness was a type and shadow of His own personal work on the cross. Just as looking to that brass serpent in faith brought physical healing to those of Israel who had been bitten by the fiery serpents, so also man can find spiritual healing for the sting of death inflicted by that old serpent Satan by looking in faith to the cross of Christ lifted up on Calvary's hill.

Speaking of the Lord Jesus, Apostle Peter wrote:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. I Peter 2:24 (KJV)

Again in John's Gospel we read:

Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things. John 8:28 (KJV)

Jesus Christ never suffered from an identity crisis, nor was He ever confused or mistaken concerning His purpose in coming to planet earth. He knew from square one that His ultimate purpose and work was to be "lifted up" on Calvary's cross in order to atone for the sins of all mankind.

"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth... " The "lifting up" of nothing or no one else ever could or ever will be able to atone for the sin of mankind. It would be Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God or nothing. He alone was worthy to be lifted up as God's once for all times atoning sacrifice for sin.

John the Baptist declared rightly when he announced on the banks of the Jordan River, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world". Not A lamb, but The Lamb! Divine forgiveness and eternal life is, was and always will be through Jesus Christ and His cross alone.

"And I, if I Be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." In this statement, our Lord used the conditional word IF. If Christ went to the cross, salvation would be made available to the human race. If He was not lifted up on Calvary, then all men, women, and children of all times would have the certainty of a fiery hell in their future. The Father's will for His Son was the sacrificial suffering and death of the cross. Yet, nonetheless, the Son of man had a personal choice to make in this matter. Jesus had a personal will which He could either follow or surrender to His heavenly Father. Because of that will, He could state "IF I be lifted up..." [and IF not?]

While wrestling in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane Christ prayed to His Father saying:

"... Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine [thy will], be done."Luke 22:42 (KJV)

Christ was faced with a cup of suffering and death, but most importantly, He was faced with drinking the cup of being forsaken by His heavenly Father as He bore the sin of man on a criminal's cross. The thought of this temporary abandonment by His Father is what I believe grieved the Lord so deeply. In His grief Jesus prayed fervently that that cup might be removed from Him "Nevertheless", He continued on, "Not my will, but thine be done." Thank God for His Son's perfect obedience to the Father's perfect will!

When in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Hebrews 5:7-9 (KJV)

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8 (KJV)

Salvation unto eternal life comes through Christ's obedient death on the cross, and our obedience to the Lord's commands. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me." Men being drawn to the Lord Jesus is contingent upon:

1. His past being lifted up from the earth on the cross.
2. Our present lifting up of Christ from the earth through preaching, teaching and witnessing which always makes Him and His cross central to the message.

Christ fulfilled His "IF" 2,000 years ago... The "IF" is now in our court. The Lord commanded us saying:

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Mark 16:15,16 (KJV)

Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 2:5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:" Christ's mind is an obedient mind. If Christ's mind be in us then we must be obedient to lift up the cross in purity and truth for all men to see. In an ever increasing fashion "Christianity" has lifted up many things apart from the cross of Christ in its attempt to build or unify the "Church".

So much is being made of trying to produce "unity" in the Church these days. In reality, those who have their Christology right, and are truly Christocentric in their focus are already enjoying the true "unity of the Spirit". Let me put it in the very simplest of terms. Those who are truly "born again of the Spirit", those who have found new life in Christ, do not have to strive for "unity" they are already unified. Must apples picked from the same tree strive for unity? Of course not, you say, they all have a common source... the tree from which they were picked was central to all of them.

If, as our Lord taught in John 15, He is the vine and those who are truly born again of His Spirit are the branches and the fruit they produce comes as a result of their connection to the vine... how can the branches be anything but unified? They can't! Why? because Christ is central to all of them. That which is "Christocentric" will always be unified. That which is not "Christocentric" will never know true unity. If this is so, why all the striving for "unity" among "Christians" these days? As much as it pains me to have to say so, I believe the sad reality is that the majority of that which calls itself "Christian" in the Western World is not. And the majority of those claiming to be "born again" are not. If peoples from various "Christian type" religions and cults cannot all find theological centering in the Jesus Christ of the Bible then they must find some other central point on which to unify.

There has risen among the ranks of the Western religious community an organization I have labeled the "Causeocentric" church. Since this word is of my own fabrication, I am forced to produce my own personal definition:

cause·o·centric : centered ideologically on a particular cause or causes

For those of us willing to admit the truth of the matter, there is and always has been a huge doctrinal gulf between Romanism and Protestantism that cannot be ignored and swept under the carpet. There stands a Christological chasm that cannot be spanned apart from Biblical compromise. How then can Roman Catholics (not to mention Mormons/L.D.S., Jehovah's Witnesses, et al) and Protestants unify apart from being Christocentric? Answer: If we can't agree on Christ, let's agree on a cause. Thus we have created "Causeocentrism". If we can't all lift up the Biblical Christ then we'll have to lift up some religious cause.

I ask, for example, can all these various religious communities agree, for the most part, that abortion on demand is evil and must be abolished? Absolutely! Now, the groups that couldn't unify around Christ, can unify around a crisis. "Let's all gather at the abortion clinic and pray together against this atrocity". Not for a minute do I overlook the cancer of abortion that afflicts this nation. I am simply saying that gathering together in agreement over such a cause can never produce Biblical unity. The problem of divergent Christologies between Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, etc. is not rectified through moral agreement.

PK / Promise Keepers, is another group which has sought to produce causeocentric unity. Under the premise that most men are not as "spiritual" as they ought to be; that they have not been the husbands and fathers that they need to be... PK has sought to unify men of various religious persuasions through the cause of becoming better "whatevers". Yet such organized gatherings are in and of themselves no more able to produce Biblical unity than are the gatherings of men at Soldier Field who agree to cheer for the Chicago Bears. If their Christology is diverse, there can be no true overall Biblical unity.

Under the general title of causeocentric can be found that which we may call sociocentric. This might include various groups which form what is often called, "The Religious Right". Political and social issues have unified many people under the umbrella of the "Christian Coalition". And being together under an organization that calls itself "Christian" (although it should be called the "Religious Coalition") people feel they have achieved Christian unity as they fight together for truth, justice and the American way! But are all these good folks truly unified with the Christ of the Bible at the heart and center of their lives? The answer should be obvious.

I could go on and on with examples of simple centrism which have been made to appear to bring Christian unity, but I will simply close with the one that is the most problematic in this preachers heart and mind. I call it the "Charisma·centric" church.

The mad dash to tear down walls, build bridges and compromise truth in order to achieve ecumenical unity seems to be nowhere more prominent than in the Pentecostal/Charismatic community. First off, the Holy Bible, when received with a literal interpretation, is very divisive and problematic to the cause of "Christian unity". Pure Biblical doctrine and a sound Scriptural theology are sure to bring division between Protestant and Catholic, Classical Pentecostal and Charismatic, Trinitarian and Oneness Pentecostals, etc., etc.. Christ prayed for unity within the church in John 17:21. So in order to make that happen, the moderns have had to replace the Christocentrism of Scripture, and its doctrines that divide with a central focus that will unify. TBN president Paul Crouch once counseled his viewers to let God "sort out all this doctrinal doo-doo".¹ Sadly enough, I'm afraid this line of thinking goes far beyond the personal opinion of Paul Crouch. If Biblically sound, Christ centered doctrine is seen as divisive and counterproductive to "Christian unity" then it must be diminished (or in Crouches case, viciously maligned) and a new focal point for unity must be established. Nowhere could this transition be more easily accomplished than within the Pentecostal/Charismatic realm. Within Pentecostalism and its various offshoots we already have a large group of people who are open to the supernatural gifts and work of the Holy Spirit of God. As a Classical Pentecostal, I certainly believe in the supernatural operation of the Spirit of God as defined for us by the Holy Bible.

When it comes to discerning and testing the true supernatural workings of the Spirit, many deceivers try to hoodwink the naive and gullible with that hackneyed old line, "You can't put God in a box!". I would like to suggest that God has already placed Himself within the box of His Holy Word. All paranormal activity not found within that Box must be rejected. God is not being just if He tells us to test the spirits, and then leaves us to our own subjective test of, does it feel like God or not? All things are either confirmed or refuted by Scripture, and there we must stand!

Nevertheless, in order to produce a form of "Christian unity", Neo-Pentecostals and Charismatics have shifted their focus from Christ, His cross and His Word as the essentials of Christian unity and have made Charismatic experience the rallying point and measure of Christian fellowship and union. Fellowship used to be based on the reality of being truly born again of the Spirit of God. Again this was based on the reality of the completed work of Christ on the cross. Fellowship was based on a common belief in the Christ of the Word. This is too objective and exclusive for today's ecumenical community which seems bent on running mindlessly to its own destruction like so many lemmings running toward the sea to be drowned.

Christocentrism has been traded in for Charismacentrism. We are no longer unified in our common faith in Jesus Christ, we now find unity in a common supernatural experience. Pentecostal leaders (and I use the term loosely) who once knew better have now based there acceptance of other "Christians" as true brothers and sisters in the Lord on whether they have spoken in tongues. Pitch doctrine out the window, if we've both spoken in tongues we are one in the Spirit! Spoke in tongues, slain in the Spirit, shook and jerked, got gold filled teeth, experienced God in this way or that... this seems to be the measure of who is and who isn't a "Christian" today. This sort of subjective measure may produce unity of a sort, but it is certainly not the unity Christ prayed for.

Today, a Roman Catholic priest can bow the knee to idols, pray to Mary and a multitude of saints, attempt to recrucify the Lord of glory on a daily basis through the transubstantiated elements of the mass, and then be welcomed with open arms by Pentecostal/ Charismatic pastors and leaders as a "brother in the Lord" because he is a "Spirit filled" priest who speaks in tongues. Many a cult member speaks in tongues. I believe that true believers, truly baptized with the Spirit of God will speak in tongues as the initial physical evidence of the baptism. However, I also believe that a person can speak in tongues and not be filled with the Spirit or saved by the blood of Christ, either one. To base Christian fellowship on tongues or any other experience or manifestation is absolute preposterous!

Did the Reformers die in vain? Sometimes it would seem so. But I say no! They did not. Maybe we simply need another "Reformation" today. Perhaps we need a few more men and women of conviction who will take their stand beneath the cross of Christ, Bible in hand and filled with the Spirit of boldness declare once again as Martin Luther did in ages past, "Here stand I. I can do no other. So help me God."

I am satisfied that all religion that is not Christocentric is headed for a common goal or end. All the promoters of bogus centrisms which seek to unify "the church", apart from the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, are either wittingly or unwittingly bringing together a people who will comprise the "Great Whore" religious system of Revelation 17.

In Revelation 17:15 John the revelator writes: And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

In the Full Life Study Bible, Brother Donald Stamps makes the following comments concerning this verse of Scripture:

Where will it all end? Right there! All the pietistic breaking down of religious walls, and all the sanctimonious religious reconciliation is in reality the machine that will usher in the one world church and its anti-christ. There doesn't seem to be much preaching about that anymore these days... I wonder why? I know why!

There is but one rational response that man can make to the onslaught of such a devious system of religious entrapment:

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not her plagues. Revelation 18:4 (KJV)

It's time for a wake-up call from the top down. It's time to return to the Book, the Blood and the Blessed Hope! It's time to return to the one true Christocentric Church.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; ... Revelation 2:7 (KJV)

*******************************************************************************************

Articles

Home