Spiritual Baby Food And Christian Cotton Candy

A Commentary On Dumbed-Down Christianity

“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”
Hebrews 5:12

“You are what you eat” as they say and that old familiar adage applies to spiritual food also.  Many pastors are serving up spiritual “baby food” and Christian “cotton candy” to their congregations, either because they think the people want it and like it or else those church leaders think that that is their job… to keep the “troops” entertained and coming back to continue to support the entertainers. The baby food is anything of a spiritual nature that does not delve too deeply into the Bible and into Bible doctrine.  So that means a huge volume of spiritual subjects are off limits like Bible versions, “6 day” creation, election, predestination, limited atonement, the exclusivity of Christ’s atonement, holiness, sola scriptura and so on.

The “baby food” churches never spend much if any time purging out biblical error. So not only won’t you hear them explaining what practices are unbiblical and why they are unbiblical, you will probably find those “baby food” churches actively involved in preaching and participating in those unbiblical practices. Some of those unbiblical practices that have infiltrated many churches today include: the ecumenical movement, the prosperity gospel, the tongues movement, the love gospel, the social gospel, the free-will gospel, friendship evangelism, altar calls, the sinner’s prayer and the four spiritual laws.

The cotton candy is that which is sweet to the ears and does not offend people who like being comfortable in their sin.   And that means avoiding preaching about specific sins. Just speak in gross generalities like: “We all do bad things…” – if you must preach about sin.  Therefore, in cotton candy churches, a great number of subjects (sins) are off limits like abortion, homosexuality, fornication, drunkenness, adultery, pornography, divorce, remarriage, gossip, slander, lying, mocking, coveting, swearing, immodest attire, ungodly music, piercings, tattoos, and just plain old-fashioned worldliness.  Obviously, you can’t expect the unsaved to think, talk and act like they’ve been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, but at the same time, a true preacher should never let the lost souls out in his audience think that sin means nothing to a thrice-holy God.  Sin is rebellion against God’s law and the Lawgiver – God Himself.

 
As a final note, I would like to point out that even churches that are preaching against sin and doing a decent job of teaching the bible are apt to avoid teaching certain subjects that are just too “hot” for them to handle. Those subjects include Bible versions, hermeneutics (how to properly interpret the Bible), the regulative principle, election, predestination, home schooling and other important subjects that Christians in the local church need to know about so they will be thoroughly equipped to accurately share their faith and raise their families in the most God glorifying way. Also, so many local churches no longer have any kind of serious evangelism program other than perhaps visiting shutins, visiting people who visited the church recently and supporting foreign missionaries. The most important area of evangelism is often totally neglected, which is for the local churches to train their members to accurately share the Gospel everywhere they go, to teach them how and when to use Gospel tracts, which tracts to avoid and why, which tracts are good for which situations. Also, there should be a process in place whereby believers in the local church go out on a regular basis to the “highways and byways” preaching the Gospel. Those highways and byways should include college campuses, local prisons, downtown shopping centers, public parks, rest stops, and any other public venues where people congregate. And going door-to-door should not be frowned upon either just because the cults do that. They are being more obedient to the command to “go into all the world” than most genuine Christians nowadays.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”
2 Timothy 4:3

Other Articles About Church Lukewarmness, Doctrinal Error & Apostasy:

• What Most Churches Don’t Teach Their Members
• False Doctrines In Christianity Today
• Famous False Christian Teachers & Preachers
• The Happy Slappy Clappy Church
• Smiley-Face Christianity: The Gospel For The 21st Century
• The Warm And Fuzzy Lovie-Dovie Wishie-Washie Church
• The Uselessness Of Church Entertainers

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