Infiltration

The Bible gives us the ability and the authority to contradict ideas and teachings that are not in line with the Scriptures.  We have to identify error, even in our own thinking, and bring it under
subjection to Christ. 2nd Corinthians 10 says:
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.
4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

We are called to cling to truth - the Bible is our source, and His truth can penetrate our hearts so that our lives will be built on a solid foundation and so that we may counter ideas that are of this world that are in line with our spiritual enemy.  We can examine or evaluate ideas and statements using the measuring stick, or the plumb line, as the book of Amos says, of the Word of God.  We can carefully consider what we hear or read in light of what God teaches.

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We have to be on guard against ideas that contradict the Scriptures infiltrating our minds, as well as our churches and ministries. In the book of Jude, we read:
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

There has certainly been a fascination with Russia throughout the past couple of years, and around the time that President Trump traveled to Helsinki to meet with Russian President Putin, there was the arrest of a certain Russian lady who, according to Religion News Service, was charged with “conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation.”

Her name is Mariia Butina, she is 29 years old, and the RNS story stated that she wanted to "influence U.S. officials" through organizations such as the NRA and...the annual National Prayer Breakfast. The article states:

According to the affidavit, Butina intended to use the 2017 prayer breakfast as a way to gather a group of influential Russians in the U.S. to “establish a back channel of communication” with Americans. She allegedly described the list of Russian attendees to the prayer breakfast as “populated by important political advisors to Russian President (Vladimir) Putin, university presidents, mayors, and substantial private businessmen.”

The Breakfast is sponsored by an organization called the International Fellowship, also referred to as "the Family" or "the Fellowship." The story states: "Its organizers often refuse to divulge guest lists, preferring to offer sanctuary to meetings between American politicians and global leaders, without government or media scrutiny." It adds, "...if the charges against Butina are true, it shows how the fusion of the foundation’s influence and dedication to anonymity may have allowed it to become a target for political exploitation and potential international espionage." The article also says:

The affidavit released this week cites a 2017 email from Butina to a prayer breakfast organizer in which she thanks the person for allowing her group to attend “and the very private meeting that followed.”

This story doesn't necessarily indicate any wrongdoing on the part of the breakfast organizers, but the series of events spoke to me about how people can use faith organizations to further agendas that don't line up with a Biblical perspective.

And, we're seeing the infiltration of a variety of concerning agendas into the Church.  Consider how major denominations and organizations have allowed ideas that are not rooted in Scripture to be integrated into their policies and discussions.  Some examples:

According to The Christian Post, "the Episcopal Church has held off on editing their Book of Common Prayer to possibly remove gender specific language for God. Instead, they passed a resolution encouraging the creation of new liturgies." The article says:

At the mainline denomination's 79th General Convention in Austin, Texas, the House of Deputies approved a resolution calling for revising their Book of Common Prayer to include more "inclusive and expansive language" for both God and humanity.

Mark Tooley of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, in commenting on the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a denomination in steep decline, cited an RNS story about newly elected bishops referring to the Holy Spirit as "she."

The Wesleyan Covenant Association, an organization calling United Methodists to maintain their Biblical orthodoxy, reports on three plans regarding sexuality to be considered at a special conference next year.  One, called the One Church plan, retains the Biblical definition of marriage as a man and a woman, but leaves it up to more localized entities about how to deal with performing same-sex weddings and ordaining homosexuals. This is apparently endorsed by the majority of bishops in the church.  Another plan would hold to the traditional views on homosexuality.  And a third plan would split the UMC into three different branches.

And, a leading voice in the church, the pastor of the denomination's largest body, Adam Hamilton, according to The Christian Post, spoke to the issue of same-sex marriage - the article states:

Speaking at a conference organized by the group Uniting Methodists held last week at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church in Dallas, Hamilton spoke about the authority of Scripture regarding the church body's debate over LGBT issues.

He argued that both sides of the debate within the UMC held high opinions of Scripture and that the differences were over interpretation instead.

Hamilton took issue with the idea that Christians accepting same-sex marriage means that they have rejected "the historic essentials of the Christian faith."

See how it works?  There are ideas that have infiltrated a variety of churches that run counter to the Biblical teaching on marriage and that support the LGBT agenda.

And, other denominations have been infiltrated by gay advocacy.  People associated with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian Church in America were supportive of last weekend's Revoice conference, which unfolded, to a large extent, it seems, just as those expressing concern about it had said it would.  Over at The Resurgent website, which is operated by Erick Erickson, Peter Heck related some content from one particular message, delivered by one of the chief organizers, Nate Collins.  He writes:

...in blasphemously comparing those normalizing homosexual relationships within the church to the prophet Jeremiah, speaker Nate Collins asked this stunning series of leading questions:

“Is it possible gay people today are being sent by God like Jeremiah to find God's words for the church to eat them and make them our own; to shed light on modern false teachings and idolatries? Is it possible that gender and sexual minorities living lives of costly obedience are themselves a prophetic call to the church to abandon idolatrous attitudes toward the nuclear family, towards sexual pleasure? If so, then we are prophets. But to embrace this calling, we also embrace the lament. For we will be persecuted... We have suffering & injustice to endure... Jeremiah's primary ministry was to call Judah to repentance. Jeremiah experienced enormous suffering as a result of faithfulness to his calling.”

He also quoted Southern Baptist pastor Tom Buck, who has been outstanding on social media with respect to Revoice.  Buck wrote:

So, Nate Collins considers himself, & other "Gay Christians," to be modern day prophets to the church to call us to repentance for our idolatry of the "nuclear family?" It's somehow "idolatrous" for the church to embrace & uplift God's created design of the nuclear family?

Finally, we are to believe that the ones God has sent to save the church from His created order in Genesis are those who are disordered in their attractions as described in Romans 1? If they are being sent to do this, I can assure you that God isn't the one sending them.

Be on guard: an organization called LOVEBoldly is calling youth pastors to Cincinnati next month for a conference called, Devoted.  The website says:

Is it possible to maintain a traditional Biblical view on sexuality, yet remain devoted to the youth in your care who identify as LGBTQ+? Join us for this one-day seminar that will equip you to take practical steps towards loving the LGBTQ+ students in your community with a new boldness, while avoiding common pitfalls that erode relationships, harm your students, and damage those who identify as LGBTQ+.

LOVEBoldly declares that "LOVEboldly exists to empower willing Christians and LGBTQ+ individuals to step towards loving one another more boldly."

We have to discern whether or not our own minds and ideals have been infiltrated, as well as our churches.  There are people who want to use the Church to further agendas that run counter to the teachings of the Bible.  We have to ascertain if errant ideas have gained a foothold.

We also have to make sure that we are innoculated by the Scriptures - that we are so rooted in what the Lord teaches that we can easily recognize when the infiltration is occurring.  

And, it's important to take the bold steps of being loving toward people, to the extent that we correct teaching that doesn't line up with God's standards.  It's been said that the most loving thing you can do for a person is to tell him or her the truth.  In an age in which truth seems to be a moving target, we can rejoice that we have a source of absolute, unwavering truth.