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Introduction: A Church at the Crossroads

The American church once stood as a prophetic witness to the world, a city set on a hill shining the light of Christ into darkness (Matthew 5:14–16). Today, however, that light is flickering. Instead of rebuking the world, much of the church imitates it. Instead of restraining evil, it accommodates it. The result is a toothless church that often accelerates the very wickedness it was called to oppose.

Nowhere is this more visible than in two related trends: the rise of seeker-sensitive theology and the feminizing of masculine roles in the church. Both movements hollow out biblical Christianity, replacing it with a counterfeit faith that comforts sinners rather than calling them to repentance. As Paul Washer thundered in his sermon “Ten Indictments Against the Modern Church,” the church in our age is guilty of abandoning the gospel, diminishing the authority of God’s Word, and losing the fear of the Lord. Unless there is repentance, the church will find herself not only complicit in evil but under the judgment of God.

Seeker-Sensitive Theology: Entertainment Instead of Truth

The seeker-sensitive movement emerged in the late 20th century with the promise of reaching unbelievers by making church “accessible.” Worship was shortened and rebranded as a concert, sermons became motivational talks, and the language of sin, wrath, and judgment was set aside in favor of self-help jargon.

But this is not Christianity—it is consumerism with a religious veneer. The apostle Paul declared, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). The message of the cross will never appeal to the flesh because it confronts pride, exposes guilt, and demands repentance. To strip the gospel of its offense is to strip it of its power (Romans 1:16).

Paul Washer identifies this very compromise as one of the greatest indictments against the modern church: “The Gospel is almost totally unknown today in America… We have reduced it to four spiritual laws, a little prayer, and then pronouncing someone saved.” When churches pursue numerical growth over faithfulness, they exchange eternal truth for temporal applause.

Biblical Exposition: The Folly of Man-Pleasing

Paul warned against this compromise in Galatians 1:10: “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

To build churches on man-pleasing strategies is to reject servanthood to Christ. It is to reshape worship not around God’s glory, but man’s preferences. The result is not discipleship but entertainment. Instead of sheep fed on the Word, churches produce goats entertained by programs.

The Feminizing of Masculine Roles in the Church

Parallel to the seeker-sensitive movement has been the feminizing of the church. Biblical masculinity—strength in truth, courage in conviction, self-sacrificial leadership—has been increasingly ridiculed or suppressed.

God has given clear instructions for men to lead the church and the home (1 Timothy 2:12–14; Ephesians 5:22–25). Yet many churches, bowing to cultural pressure, blur or erase these distinctions. Pastors are encouraged to be therapeutic counselors rather than heralds of truth. Men are trained to be passive, agreeable, and non-confrontational—precisely the opposite of Christ, who was meek yet fearless, tender yet bold.

Washer indicts the modern church on this point as well: “We’ve forgotten what it means to be men of God. We’ve forgotten the responsibility of fathers to lead their families, pastors to guard the flock, and men to be protectors.” In abandoning this, the church produces effeminate spirituality that cannot withstand the assaults of a militant, godless culture.

Biblical Exposition: God’s Call to Courage

Scripture does not call men to passivity. Joshua 1:9 exhorts: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Paul, likewise, commands, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13).

When men abdicate this responsibility, families crumble, churches weaken, and society decays. The feminizing of masculine roles is not merely a cultural fad; it is spiritual sabotage.

Complicity by Silence

One of the greatest failures of the modern church is her silence in the face of evil. Many pulpits will not speak against abortion, homosexuality, transgender ideology, pornography, or political corruption. Pastors claim they “just preach the gospel,” but in practice they refuse to preach the parts of the gospel that confront the sins of the age.

This silence is not neutrality—it is complicity. God charged the prophet Ezekiel: “If the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned… his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand” (Ezekiel 33:6).

Paul Washer’s indictment is piercing here: “There is no fear of God in the land today, not even in the church. We are afraid of offending men but not afraid of offending God.” To remain silent while the nation is consumed by wickedness is to betray the prophetic calling of the church.

Historical Perspective: Bonhoeffer’s Warning

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who resisted Hitler’s regime, declared: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” In Nazi Germany, many churches fell silent, fearing man rather than God. The American church faces a similar test today: will we confront evil or accommodate it?

The Ten Indictments Against the Modern Church

Paul Washer’s Ten Indictments serve as a roadmap for understanding how the American church became so compromised. A few key indictments illustrate the problem:

A Denial of the Sufficiency of Scripture

Many churches turn to marketing strategies, psychology, or cultural trends rather than the Word of God. This is rebellion, for Scripture alone is God-breathed and profitable (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

An Ignorance of God

The holiness, sovereignty, and wrath of God are downplayed in favor of sentimental portraits. This produces a domesticated deity who never confronts sin.

A Failure to Address Man’s Radical Depravity

Instead of declaring that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), churches tell men they are “broken” or “searching.” The biblical language of sin, guilt, and repentance is replaced with therapy.

A Replacement of the True Gospel with a False Gospel

Washer warns that many today preach a gospel of decisionism: raise a hand, pray a prayer, walk an aisle. But without true repentance and faith, such professions are empty.

A Neglect of Church Discipline

Churches tolerate unrepentant sin in their midst, fearing the backlash of exercising discipline. This produces corruption and hypocrisy.

Each of these indictments points to a single reality: the church has become conformed to the world (Romans 12:2).

The Call to Repentance and Renewal

The hope for the American church is not in new programs, cultural relevance, or political maneuvering—it is in repentance. The solution is as old as Pentecost: preach Christ crucified, call sinners to repentance, disciple men to lead, and fear God rather than men.

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19). The church must recover the fear of God, the boldness of prophets, and the courage of men willing to lay down their lives for Christ.

If pastors preach the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27), if men embrace their calling as leaders and protectors, if churches abandon entertainment and return to reverence, then the tide of evil may yet be resisted. The world does not need a weak, feminized, seeker-sensitive church. It needs a holy, Spirit-filled, truth-proclaiming church that will stand even if the heavens fall.

Conclusion: Will the Church Resist?

The modern American church stands guilty of complicity in the rise of evil through seeker-sensitive compromise, the feminizing of masculine roles, and cowardly silence. Paul Washer’s Ten Indictments still ring true: we have lost the fear of God, abandoned the true gospel, and conformed to the world.

But hope remains. Christ is still Lord of His church. If we repent, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The question is whether we will.

The time for neutrality is over. Evil is emboldened. The cross of Christ is the only remedy. Will the American church once again be salt and light—or will she remain toothless until she is cast out and trampled underfoot (Matthew 5:13)?