The Sacred Cow Series

Sacred Cow Definitions:

- An almost universally accepted societal value that is almost immune from questioning, often unreasonably so. (from: urbandictionary.com)

- (idiomatic) Something which cannot be tampered with, or criticized, for fear of public outcry. A person, institution, belief system, etc. which, for no reason other than the demands of established social etiquette or popular opinion, should be accorded respect or reverence, and not touched, handled or examined too closely. (from wiktionary.com)

 

 

Sacred Cows in the Church:

The Jewish religious practices of the first century were a far cry from what was established by God in the Old Testament times. Many traditions, or sacred cows, had grown up among the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders of that time. Jesus was very critical of these leaders, calling them a “generation of vipers”. In Matthew 23:27 Jesus said:

 "How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You pretenders! You are like tombs that are painted white. They look beautiful on the outside. But on the inside they are full of the bones of the dead. They are also full of other things that are not pure and clean.” (NIrV Bible)

In John 2:5 Jesus made a whip and drove the vendors and money changers out of the Temple. The temple worshipers had clearly drifted a long way from what they had been taught in the Old Testament times.

Jesus ushered in a new dispensation of worship for God. He established the church and trained the disciples in a new way of worship. The New Testament gives many stories of a vibrant and radical church; however Christianity has evolved substantially since its birth in the first century.

The first several centuries of the church witnessed multiple changes in church doctrine with new creeds and dogma. Relatively few changes were made during the following dark ages. Starting in the fourteenth century, Christian reformers worked to translate the Bible into the languages of the common people; bringing the church out of the dark ages. Multiple religious organizations have sprung up since this reformation of the church.  Each of the different organizations have developed and established their own traditions or sacred cows. Development of these traditions sometimes resulted in substituting false teachings for the true worship practices of the first century. 

People in the twenty-first century are hungry to see the supernatural power of God in their churches, just as they have read about in the book of Acts. Church members are starting to question teachings of the church that have been taught for many years.

In a manner similar to the Jewish practices of Jesus’ time; our Christian churches have evolved to traditions that are a far cry from the first century Christian church. Paul, in his letter to Timothy (2 Tim 3:5), prophesied that in the last days that there would be people having a form of godliness but denying the real power of God. This prophecy clearly speaks of what we are experiencing in the church of today.

In the Sacred Cow Series of books Paul Roddy is delivering an urgent message from God to his people:

 

       “God is tired of dead churches that deny his supernatural power”

 

God again wants to restore true worship of the church. God wants to again destroy the sacred cows that have grown up in today’s churches. Paul’s first book: “Destroying the Sacred Cows of Today’s Religion” is starting a campaign to bring the church of today back to its first-century roots!

Do you see any sacred cows in your church’s teachings? I invite you to share your favorite list of sacred cows with me. Please do not mention any church organizations; my goal is not to put down any particular organization, but to drive the church back to our original roots. Please click on the Guestbook tab at the top of this page to leave a message. Go kill a sacred cow!  

 

Supporting Articles:

God has spoken to Paul along with many other people, regarding challenging the church's sacred cows and returning the church to its first century roots. Following are recent quotes from people, exposing some of today's sacred cows:

In his book: " God: Out of Control, Out of the Box, Out of Time ", Don Nori says: Sometimes we do not realize our predicament! On the one hand, we piously pray for God’s will for our lives; then, on the other hand, we refuse to release the things that are not His will for us. No wonder our lives can be so confusing. Don’t pray for God’s will if you are not prepared to release everything to Him, even our most sacred cows. These come in all forms and descriptions, including ministry, doctrine, a certain way of praying, a method of prophecy, or a denomination.

• In their book, "Falsified: The Danger of False Conversion", authors Vincent and Lori Williams define an "epidemic" of false conversions that are sweeping the country. They talk of people who are led into a false sense of security by churches preaching a watered-down Gospel."

 

•  Nathan Byrd in his book “The Future of Worship” says: “We are so intimidated and afraid to interpret Scripture accurately because we fear what society will say about such “dogmatic” views about the way in which we are to live.

 

• Tommy Tenny in his book “Open Heaven” says: “Honestly, if you ever have a real visitation of the manifest presence of God in your church, it will probably mess up your theology, destroy your structure, and change everything you’ve been doing! Why? Because for once you will experience His glory instead of simply studying where it has been. Frankly, this is my goal. I am in pursuit of the glory of God, and I want to open the windows of Heaven.”

 

• In his book "Today’s Evangelism", Ernest C. Reisinger said of one outreach event, “It lasted eight days, and there were sixty-eight supposed conversions.” A month later, not one of the “converts” could be found.

 

• Mark Dever, senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, told ministers at a recent conference that he fears there are thousands, if not millions, of people in churches who are not truly converted. "My fellow pastors, could it be that many of our hearers each week aren't saved, even many of our members?" The systems that seem to produce false converts – not just one man, but whole congregations," he lamented. The Southern Baptist preacher described false converts as those indistinguishable from the world and who don't hold to certain Scriptural truths.

• Andrew Wommack Ministries:  "Wrong teaching—specifically religious doctrines—makes God’s Word of no effect. The most significant revelations I’ve received from the Lord all have to do with renewing my mind from old ways of thinking that I learned in church. As I was freed from the traditions, the simplicity of God’s Word set me free.

     At a recent Gospel Truth Seminar, the Lord led me to counter a number of traditions that void God’s Word. It was heavy stuff that was hard on even many full-Gospel fanatics. I tried to be as gentle as possible, but there isn’t a gentle way to kill a sacred cow.

From Dutch Sheets 4/24/13 Blog: I also heard Holy Spirit say, “Opposition, both from the church and the world, will increase as we break out of normal. Religious spirits will insist on maintaining old structures and systems, and the kingdom of darkness will react aggressively to the spirit of revival. Don’t be alarmed at this. Stay the course and resist the demonic pressure!” The first step in resisting the enemy is being aware of his tactics. Keep your eyes and ears open and don’t be surprised. Offensively resist his plans.

From Ken Smith: "Sacred Cows" are hard to spot because we have become so used to them and they so appeal to our flesh. We love our traditions that we grew up with and accept them as true and valid without going to scripture. Sacred Cows abound in our religious systems of today. Please try to stay with me when I go from teaching to meddling when I get to your favorite "Sacred Cow." God made Israel eat their "Golden Calf" and we also may need to eat ours. The majesty of Christ will not be revealed in His Bride the Church until we are willing to slaughter our sacred cows. Try to remember that the Religious Elders of Israel crucified the Lord of Glory due to their "Sacred Cows"nearly two thousand years ago.

From jdpayne.org: 

When Cultural Boundaries Become Sacred

When culturally-defined boundaries become sacred, no one dares to question the boundaries.  To do so is tantamount to questioning God.

And once the Church reaches this point, She has moved from the realm of contextualization to accommodation to a Church culture (which oftentimes has accommodated to a secular culture).

While much as been written about the need to avoid accommodating to the secular culture, little is being said among evangelicals about the need to ask the question: “Are the boundaries in our Christian subculture defined more by the subculture and less by the Bible?” 

From the book: "Discipleship in the School of Christ" by T. Austin-Sparks:  Spiritual revelation always provokes hostility - tradition never does. Orthodox religion never does cause trouble, but if you are a man or a woman living in the power of resurrection life, with your eyes wide open, you will meet trouble, and, as I have said, that trouble will come from the religious people.

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