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Nehemiah is one of my favorite Old Testament books, and while reading it this week, I came across a familiar favorite passage of mine. Though I am familiar with the passage, I was struck anew with its importance. Nehemiah had overseen the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall after Israel’s return to her land after exile. In this passage they were installing the new gates to the city.

Nehemiah states in Nehemiah 7:1

“The gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed.”

At this point Nehemiah turned over the charge of Jerusalem to his brother and the governor of the castle. Exiles were returning from Babylon and were sorted out according to their genealogies. Anyone who did not appear in the register “were excluded from the priesthood as unclean.” (Nehemiah 7:64b). They had all been in Babylon for many years, which was rife with idols and pagan beliefs. With the core reconstruction completed and the people organized, the hearts of all the people seemed to turn as one to focus on the word of God:

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. (Nehemiah 8:1)

They stood for the reading “from early morning until midday” (Nehemiah 8:3) and listened attentively. (Nehemiah 8:4) The line in the historical narrative that grabbed my attention was in Nehemiah 8:8:

They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

There was a hunger for the word of God and a desire to not only hear it read but understand what it meant. Not only did they want it read aloud but wanted Ezra and the other readers to exegete the text. They wanted to know its meaning. Having returned to the land, they were in the process of reconstructing their faith.

We host a live online evening study group on Tuesday evenings. A few weeks ago, while we were discussing the phenomenon of “deconstructing faith,” I (Don) mentioned that something plaguing the church today is the wild spread of “spiritual A.I.D.S.” among the flock. Dr. Donald Williams, who is part of the teaching team, looked a bit puzzled by my statement. I explained that “Spiritual A.I.D.S.” is a phrase we coined about two decades ago.¹We used it in the 2005 article, An Indistinct Sound | Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc (midwestoutreach.org) The acronym stands for the “Acquired Ignorance of the Doctrines of Scripture” and it is to us a spiritual equivalent of physical A.I.D.S. which stands for Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome. A compromised immune system leaves the individual largely defenseless in fighting off various illnesses.

As we compared the two, Dr. Williams agreed it was an apt description and thought be might adopt it himself. While many churches are replacing the teaching of the word of God with other “spiritual tools” and “spiritual disciplines,” the knowledge and understanding of the actual word of God is receding to the background in the information base of many Christians. This sad phenomenon has reached “crisis status” in our opinion. However, as far as the Church has wandered, the only antidote is still the word of God, studied in context and applied liberally, which strengthens the spiritual immune system.

We can clearly see the results when Biblical training is lacking, demonstrated in studies like the 2022 State of Theology. 41% of Evangelicals in 2014 agreed that:

The Bible, like all sacred writings, contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true. (Statement No. 16)

By 2022, only eight years later, that number had risen to 53%. In eight years, the view that the Bible is a myth had risen 12%. Nearly half (46%) agree with Statement No. 28:

The Bible’s condemnation of homosexual behavior doesn’t apply today.

The God being embraced by many Evangelicals is a relativist. Biblical Sexual morality – in this view – is cultural and situational and has little connection to the holiness of God and His care of humans He created in His image. Here is another stunner: Over half (56%) of Evangelicals agree with Statement No. 3:

God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.

The idea that Jesus is the only way to God is considered arrogant. How dare Christians believe that the truth they have received is the only true truth? There is no “truth” difference between Hinduism, Islam or Christianity. Perennialism, the idea that all religions have the truth about God, has been intravenously fed into the bloodstream of the Body of Christ by Richard Rohr and his followers and, in many cases, by pastors promoting their material. We should note that it is true that all religions do lead to God, but that isn’t the end of the journey. Everyone will indeed stand before God:

for it is written, 

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess to God.” (Romans 14:11)

Those who made that confession while calling on the Lord for salvation in this life will go from that joyful meeting into a blessed eternity with God. Those who refused to make that confession in life will finally admit He is Lord as they stand before His throne – and be eternally separated from God.

We and others have been warning about the infiltration of Eastern metaphysical practices into the church through such things as Contemplative Prayer. Spiritual A.I.D.S. elevates these practices to an equal or even superior position to the word of God. In Contemplating Contemplative Prayer: Is It Really Prayer? Marcia Montenegro points out:

The influence of Buddhism and Hinduism on Contemplative Prayer (hereafter referred to as CP) is apparent. Words such as “detachment,” “transformation,” “emptiness,” “enlightenment,” and “awakening” swim in and out of the waters of these books. The use of such terms certainly mandates a closer inspection of what is being taught, even though Contemplative Prayer is presented as Christian practice.

Themes that one finds echoed in the CP movement include the notions that true prayer is silent, is beyond words, is beyond thought, does away with the “false self,” triggers transformation of consciousness, and is an awakening. Suggested techniques often include breathing exercises, visualization, repetition of a word or phrase, and detachment from thinking.

These past few decades have been a deadly preparation for the introduction of Enneagram into a body that does not have a solid “spiritual immune system” to fight off the disease of outright heresy. The Bible has been relegated to a degraded status of “perhaps helpful” – but insufficient. Many have been in search of something more powerful and personal than the rather “outdated” scriptures. Something which holds supposed answers to life’s questions that the Bible doesn’t seem to provide. Answers to questions like: Where did I come from? Why do we do what we do? How do I understand myself and others? How do I relate to God?  Being ignorant of sound biblical teaching leaves one wandering about in a world of seemingly unanswered questions.

The Bible is God-centered, but I want to hear more and more about me. I am pursuing a Christianity that doesn’t require believing the Bible and instead affirms that whatever I want to do is okay with God.

Pastors and church leaders have two main jobs.

1. Guard the flock from spiritual predators. (Acts 20:28-31).
2. Train the flock to protect itself and others, which enables the people to grow spiritually and hopefully train others to protect even more.

The Bible is not out of date. To us it seems more up-to-the-minute than ever! God has not changed in the past 2000+ years. As a matter of fact, according to Malachi 3:6 He never changes. Human nature hasn’t changed either. Nor is the Bible silent about the pagan ideas and practices that are reemerging in our day. It can be shown that all the exciting “new” teachings are as old as Lucifer, and all the enticing “you-centered” ideas are just recycled paganism.  Eyes need to be opened to that truth. Nothing is new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Wake up, church! There are wonderful pastors and elders who are seriously engaged in protecting their people from the wolves. We would just encourage all others to take a good look at the world in which we currently live, and to stand up and read and clearly explain the word of God – and warn their people away from the circling wolves who seek to infect them and their children with Spiritual A.I.D.S. The wolves seek nothing less than to turn them away from the truth and towards destruction.Ω