We live in a time of unprecedented “corporate sponsorship”, where everything from a college football bowl game (e.g. the “Tostitos” Fiesta Bowl…) to the stadium in which it’s played (e.g. the “RCA” Dome…) can bear its own commercial moniker. In the business world this type of arrangement is viewed as a “win-win” situation, whereby the corporate entity generally provides much needed resources in exchange for the benefits of having their name associated with a particular venue, event, team… While each arrangement can have its own unique characteristics, generally a sponsor will have a limited amount of control over the things that it promotes. For instance, the corporate sponsors of a concert tour aren’t able to dictate which songs are played each night; the sponsors of a NASCAR team don’t have a say in when the car takes a pit stop, and the sponsors of a college football bowl game don’t get to call any plays.
This is true of venues as well. When the Ohio State University built its updated sports complex, the Schottenstein family brought their considerable resources to bear; and in exchange their family (and corporate) name was included on the facility. While the arena is known as the “Schottenstein Center”, this family does not own the property, nor are they necessarily present when it is in use, nor are they the focal point of the activities within it, nor are they in control of those activities. Ultimately their hope is simply that their name will eventually become synonymous with Ohio State University athletics, and the qualities ascribed to that program.
In the midst of a time of prayer, I felt like the Lord said that in much of the church His role has been reduced to that of a “corporate sponsor”. That because of His benevolent gift of long ago His name has remained on the buildings, but that He is often not the focal point of the activities within them. That His message of hope is frequently replaced with other messages, which are viewed as being more culturally relevant. And that the pursuit of His will has generally been forsaken for the pursuit of other ambitions. He said that a “spirit of antichrist” has infiltrated the church, and that many who have loved Him are now being taken captive through hollow and deceptive philosophies, which depend on human tradition and the basic principles of this world, rather than on Him. And that though we still value our name being associated with His, He is often just invited in the hope that He might somehow subsidize (i.e. bless) our vision.
While I’m not much interested in the examination of demonic spirits, I must admit that there are some subtleties with the spirit of antichrist that warrant a closer look. This spirit is not opposed to people connecting with a church, as long as they don’t become personally connected to Jesus. It is not opposed to an active church, as long as that activity doesn’t result in lives being genuinely transformed. It is not opposed to people being “spiritual”, as long as there isn’t any corresponding submission to the Spirit of God. It is not opposed to people having faith, as long as that faith is never invested in the person of Jesus Christ. It is not opposed to people being disciples of the church (or of Christian values), as long as they never become disciples of Jesus.
The truth is that this spirit works closely with the spirit of religion and it actually thrives in a religious setting. It seeks to keep our eyes focused on everything but “the Author and Finisher of our faith” and to make Christ “implicit” within the church; as it knows that it is solely our connection to Christ that will allow us to have any impact in this life or the next. It opposes the centrality of Christ and the sufficiency of His “finished” work. It seeks to reconstruct the veil that keeps us from coming directly into God’s presence and to reinstate the need for intermediaries in our relationship with Him. It seeks to keep us focused on what is “seen”, so that we never access what has been attained for us in the “unseen” realm.
Based on what has been the popular Christian portrayal of the end times, it is easy to imagine the snarling manifestation of the spirit of antichrist, spewing venom against all of Christendom; but I sense that there is a far more dangerous manifestation of this spirit that has already taken root. It thrives in an atmosphere where people call themselves Christian, but live in a way that is undiscernibly different from the world. Where their leaders are attractive and gifted, but bear no resemblance to Jesus Christ. Where people have a sense of being empowered by God with no corresponding sense of submission to Him. Where accommodation and tolerance are valued above absolute truth. An atmosphere where our natural senses are almost constantly stimulated, while our spirits remain largely dormant. Where God is represented in symbols and rituals, but is not truly tangible to us. Where prayer doesn’t move past petition/declaration and actually become communication. Where people evoke the name of Christ, but feel no real sense of connection to Him. Within such an atmosphere the spirit of antichrist has the ability to move about undeterred and undetected, while our own sinful nature propels us toward futility. Under such conditions we become a people who have a form of godliness, but who live in way that denies His true power. A people who honor His name, but whose hearts remain far from Him.
In times of prayer I’ve sensed that the pervasiveness of this spirit can be directly attributed to the church’s ongoing efforts to make itself relevant to a post-modern society. With what I believe to be a misguided understanding of the “Great Commission”, the church seems to be desperately trying to reinvent itself in the hopes of attracting the culture to Christ; as though we might somehow package salvation in a way that eventually invalidates the scripture that says, “To those who are perishing, the cross is foolishness”. Or as if we might attain some eternal gain through temporal means, despite the fact that all of our authority and strength come from the spiritual realm. I believe that such efforts have largely resulted in the church losing focus on its true objective and in many cases to the compromise of its core values. Instead of the church influencing the world, the church has simply become worldly.
While this spirit may sound formidable, its extrication is simply a matter of putting Christ in the center of everything we do. It is defeated when we have a personal and passionate relationship with our Lord and Savior; when we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth; when we speak directly to Him and allow Him to speak directly to us; and when we commit ourselves to live in response to Him alone. If we lived in a way that genuinely demonstrated Christ’s character (i.e. the fruit of the Spirit); if we were known by the way that we loved each other; if we were true worshippers and partakers of the divine nature, Jesus could literally draw men unto Himself. God has not commissioned us to build a bridge between the world and the church; He has commissioned us to be the bridge between the world and Him.
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The Way
Posted in Commentaries, tagged admonish, anti-christ, authority, champion, connection, deceive, deception, discern, embodiment, end times, eternal, eternity, evoke, exchange, fix our eyes, focus, genuine, hate, illusion, image, influence, Jesus name, kingdom, life, manifest, Sceva, seen, Spirit, spiritual, substitute, temporal, transform, truth, unseen, warning, way on September 25, 2025| Leave a Comment »
The danger of living in the social media age is that we can gather a following of like-minded folks, spend our days shouting into the echo chamber, and cancel anyone who dares to disagree with us. Devoid of any contrasting perspective, it’s easy to deceive ourselves into believing that our perceptions have become reality. And with the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), we can be sure that our electronic feed will remain full of voices that endorse and reinforce our illusion.
While this type of pattern is unhealthy on many levels, it is most dangerous from a spiritual standpoint. Throughout the scripture we are warned against leaning on our own understanding (Prov.3:5-7), about the deceitfulness of our hearts (Jer.17:9), and of the great deceivers and deceptions that will be visited upon God’s people (Matt.24:24). We are cautioned against focusing on what is seen, as it is perishing (2Cor.4:18). And most importantly, we are told to fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb.12:2).
I suspect that popular renderings of a singular “Anti-Christ” figure, from our depictions of the End Times, have clouded our understanding of the true spirit of anti-Christ, which manifests in many forms. While we’ve been taught to make bold declarations against such things, I have found that these spirits are not nearly as intimidated by our use of Jesus’ name as we might think. Like the sons of Sceva, the Chief Priest (Acts 19:13-16) or those people Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:21-23, we can try to evoke His name while having no genuine connection to Him (John 15:5). In such instances, this word carries no spiritual authority.
Ultimately, attacking the authentic, life-giving connection to Christ is the aim of the anti-Christ spirit. It tries to redefine the “work of God” as being something other than believing in the One that He sent (John 6:29). It offers symbols and rituals and formulas and brokers as a substitute for a genuine one on one relationship with the person of God. It offers earthly prosperity and temporal gains as a substitute for genuine spiritual authority.
It encourages us to know ministers by their gifts instead of by their fruit (Matt.7:16). It fills the atmosphere with voices and things to look at, so that we don’t discern the still small voice of God (1Kings 19:11-13) or fix our gaze on the Giver of Life (Heb.12:2). It inspires religious leaders to build an earthly replica of the kingdom, so that the genuine Kingdom does not become manifest.
This spirit does not care that Jesus’ name is plastered all over our buildings, bumper stickers, t-shirts and letter heads, as long as we don’t look anything like Him (Rom.8:29). It does not oppose our gatherings, as long as people aren’t genuinely connecting with the Savior (or each other). It does not resist our endless Bible study, as long as the scripture remains little more than a tool for the rationalization of our own carnal interests (John 5:39-40). It is not against us viewing Jesus as a resource for strength, as long as cultivating an authentic relationship with Him never becomes the goal. In such cases, the inclusion of Jesus’ name actually lends a sense of legitimacy to the whole deception.
Evidence of this spiritual influence would be a people who call themselves “Christians” yet aren’t identifiable by their love and grace for one another (John 13:35); who aren’t concerned about the fact that they nor their leaders look or sound anything like Christ (Rom.8:29), and who are more concerned with current events (i.e., the seen realm) than eternity (i.e., the unseen realm) (2Cor.4:18). They would likely be a people who were known more for their divisions than their unity (Eph.4:4-6).
In the absence of Christ’s Lordship, such a people would be destined to idolize mere men, and likely to crown themselves an earthly king (1Sam.8). And apart from the guidance of Christ’s Spirit, they would be highly susceptible to hollow and deceptive philosophies, which depend on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world (Col.2:8).
It would be difficult to argue that this isn’t a fairly accurate portrait of Western Christianity.
There are so many scriptures that appear to be warnings for individuals who count themselves as believers, or followers, or even disciples. Passages referencing a people who possess a form of godliness but also deny the power thereof (2Tim.3:5), who honor Jesus with their lips, but whose hearts remain far from Him (Matt.15:8), and/or who will exchange God’s thoughts for the rhetoric that fuels their true passion (2Tim.4:3-4). Yet we can convince ourselves that these words don’t really apply to us because we are good and moral people, who hate what is evil and champion the proper value system.
Despite the fact that many Christians would say that we are fast approaching, or perhaps even living amid the “end times”, there seems to be little concern regarding the Lord’s admonishments to the churches in the book of Revelation. If we really believe His return is imminent, we should probably be mindful of what it looks like to forsake our first love for some other passion (Rev.2:1-7) and perhaps be on the lookout for the false prophets who threaten to lead us astray (Rev.2:18-29). We might also want to ponder what might cause Him to view us as “lukewarm” (Rev.3:14-22).
Jesus taught that He is the way, the truth and the life; and that there is no other path to the Father (John 14:6). But the anti-Christ spirit works diligently to separate our concept of these things from the person of Jesus. It invites us to fix our eyes on anything but Him. Unless Christ becomes the embodiment of our truth, we will never walk in the way He’s ordained for us, nor experience the life He died to give us.
Ultimately, God’s ways are much higher than our ways (Isa.55:8-9) and that pattern was so perfectly demonstrated by Christ that at the end of His life He was able to say that, if you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father (John 14:9). Through this perfect reflection of the Father’s heart, Jesus became “The Way” for us (John 14:6), and now the only thing that keeps us from walking in that way is “the way that seems right” to us (Prov.14:12) instead.
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