This is another reader response blog post for an up coming episode of Fighting for the Faith?
I'll first share my observations then ask the question I'd like you to answer at the end of the post.
Observation
It is clear to many people, myself included, that the wider Evangelical Church is falling deeper and deeper into apostasy.
As I survey that portion of blogosphere that notices and cares enough to actually decry the current miserable state of affairs in the church I also see a growing number of people who are discussing the apostasy as if it were a well orchestrated and planned conspiracy. It's as if they believe that the apostasy was concocted as a strategic objective by the CFR or the Communist Party and that these organizations recruited an army of Christian leaders to play different "positions" on their team in order to deliberately move the Church away from orthodoxy and into apostasy.
Based on this conspiracy model, we are to believe that some of the leadership recruited for the mission would play the role of "Open Heretics" while other team members would be "Bridgers" who feigned orthodoxy while tirelessly working to help give credibility to the "Open Heretics". Another team position are the "Ecumenicists". Their job is also to feign orthodoxy while working behind the scenes to obliterate all denominational / religious distinctives.
By subscribing to this or similar conspiracy models regarding the apostasy, some folks are spending a lot of time trying to figure out who is part of the conspiracy and what role they are playing and what evidence can be published in order to warn the church that their beloved favorite Christian leader isn't what he seems but is in fact, more than likely, part of THE conspiracy to bring about the apostasy.
All Christian leaders are automatically suspected to be part of THE conspiracy and the internet is scoured in order to find any scraps or shreds of evidence that would alert the remnant about the real agenda of these leaders. Blog posts and discussion board conversations analize the evidence and informal lists are created in people's minds.
Brian McLaren - Status: Conspirator - Position: Open Heretic
Rick Warren - Status: Kingpin Conspirator - Position: Open Heretic / Bridger
John Piper - Status: Most Likely a Conspirator - Position: Bridger
Dan Kimball - Status: Conspirator - Position: Bridger
Leonard Sweet - Status: Key Conspirator - Position: Open Heretic
Mark Driscoll - Status: Conspirator - Position: Bridger / Ecumenicist
Mike Horton - Status: Unconfirmed Conspirator - Position: Bridger
Albert Mohler - Status: Conspirator - Position: Ecumenicist
Those who subscribe to Conspiracy Models of the Apostasy rarely if ever examine the content of what a Christian leader actually teaches, says or writes. Why? Because a major feature of "The Apostasy Conspiracy" is that those leaders who are "in on it" would feign orthodoxy. So, of course they would preach and defend historic Orthodoxy because they wouldn't want to "blow their covers". So, rather than examining the content of books lectures and / or articles, the most important evidence is the evidence that can link the suspected conspirator with other known conspirators such as which conferences a leader has spoken at and who he was photographed with and which organizations they've been apart of in the past. The KEY questions to answer are these:
Has the suspected conspirator ever spoken a conference where an Open Heretic has also been one of the keynote speakers? If yes then the suspected conspirator is more than likely "in on" the conspiracy.
Has the suspected conspirator ever been photographed with an Open Heretic or other already known conspirators? If yes, was he smiling and looking friendly with the known conspirator(s)? If both questions are answered in the affirmative then the suspected conspirator is more than likely "in on" the conspiracy.
What is the suspected conspirator's view regarding the Manhattan Declaration?
Has the suspected conspirator ever endorsed or spoken favorably of Mark Driscoll, Matt Chandler or Franklin Graham?
Has the suspected conspirator linked to other known conspirators on his blog or twitter updates?
Has a known conspirator written an endorsement of the suspected conspirator's latest book?
Etc. Etc. Etc.
Question
Who is responsible for the for the current apostasy that we find ourselves in? Is it a result of carefully crafted CFR conspiracy or is it the result of some other cause? Is it productive to suspect all of our Christian leaders and rather than examine the content of what they believe teach and confess to instead scour the web for evidence that will REALLY tell us the truth about their involvement in the Apostasy?
