A new article from a pastor reveals how churchianity infects the thinking and leads to reflexively blaming the sheep instead of looking to the pulpit.

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So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. -- 1Peter 5: 1-3 (ESV)

http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/the-pulse/65903-11-unsettling-signs-you-re-a-functional-atheist

I have read many things from Joseph Mattera before that were solid in biblical truth but this story is not one of them. The one blind spot Mattera always seems to have is his complete immersion in churchianity even if he might speak against some of their abuses. I understand he was raised and taught this way and it is hard to unlearn things and admit that we were once deceived. The above link is to his latest article on Charisma News entitled, "11 Unsettling Signs You're a Functional Atheist." First let me say that who we choose to associate with matters as leaders in the body of Christ. The fact that Mattera has no problem with his writing appearing on one of the most obviously heretical and quite frankly silly faux Christian websites is disturbing and is a matter of discernment or lack thereof. At this point Charisma is nothing more than a front for the Trump Presidency, the Republican Party, the NAR and some of the most absurd false prophets we have ever seen in this world. One of their editors is Sneaky Squid Spirit Jennifer Leclaire for heaven's sake! When you share the stage with people that are false you endorse their falseness. You lead people to them.

Mattera's opening premise here is that he believes that while an atheist denies the existence of God, a large percentage of Christians live as "functional atheists." Beloved that is quite a charge! Now I agree that there are many in the body of Christ who remain spiritual infants because their pastors do not disciple them and they never advance in their walk. I further would agree that a large percentage that is growing within the body are people who are falsely converted. They said a quickie prayer and the pastor declared them saved when they are not. The result within the purpose driven model is they enter ministry and confuse their service unto God as a relationship with Him. They will stand before Jesus and say Lord Lord as Matthew 7 outlines unless someone preaches the actual Gospel to them. I would not be so crass however to label these folks as functional atheists as if they are the problem. No beloved. They are the victims. They are the sheep (or goats) being mauled by the wolves posing as Christian leaders. Mattera is sharp enough to know the difference. Let us reason together and see what his 11 signs are:

"1. You makes important decisions about your career without consulting Scripture or praying. I can't tell you how many Christians I know who choose a career or job solely on the basis of how much money they will make. They do not take into consideration how God internally wired them, how it will impact their ability to mature as a believer in the context of a local church or how it will affect their key relationships. When a person does this, they are behaving like a functional atheist." -- Joseph Mattera

What? This is your opening declaration of someone who denies the existence of God? Now listen beloved. I believe in prayer and consultation of Scripture before making any decisions in life but this point is absurd. It stems from the churchianity belief in divine purpose. That is where the "internal wiring" comment comes from. Rick Warren may have written that. This teaching essentially says that every time there is a fork in the road of our life one of the paths is from God and the other is from the devil and good luck discerning which is which. The truth is that neither is from either. Life is choices and choices should be made after prayer but both paths can be Godly paths if you serve Him where you are. Now do not get me wrong. The sliver of truth in this is believers who never take into consideration the spiritual side of decisions. Where Mattera sees this unfortunately as functional atheism, I see it as being poorly taught. If every Sunday you here messages from Jeremiah 29:11 about this grand plan God has and how you need to tithe to be blessed, is it any wonder they assume the job offer at double their salary is divine intervention? Stop beating the sheep.

"2. You choose a church solely on emotional connections. As a pastor since 1984, I have seen more people leave a church because their friends left than because they truly heard from God. Consequently, people are led by their emotions more than by the Holy Spirit when it comes to this all-important matter regarding their church family. That being said, it is totally normal for a person to come to Christ and attend a church because a friend invited them; however, once they mature in the faith, God expects them to go from carnal reasoning to a spiritually informed process regarding the choice of a church. Among other things, a mature believer will choose a church based on the will of God, where they are growing spiritually and whom God has placed in their life to be their spiritual parent (1 Cor.4:15)." -- Joseph Mattera

I agree with the premise wholeheartedly but it works both ways. I know many people who stay at a church that is no longer serving the cause of Christ for strictly social reasons. They attend, serve and give money to a work that is not of God because that is their church. That is where their friends go. If you want to see how shallow your Christian friendships are -- try leaving your church. Mattera is right though that either way, church choice ought to be a spiritual decision based upon whether the Gospel is being preached.

"3. You choose a mate based solely on mutual attraction. Based on my pastoral observation, I have seen countless Christians marry a person merely because of an emotional or physical attraction. Although God can work through any marital situation (Rom. 8:28), making a decision like this is no different than an atheist who will also choose a mate merely on emotional and physical attraction. I believe God uses the way He has wired us emotionally, physically and spiritually, for example, I would never council a person to marry a person to which they were not physically attracted However, at the end of the day, God has a specific spouse who matches your calling and destiny, which comes from being led by the Spirit and hearing from God. To be fair, I have seen many married couples come to Christ whom God brought together even though they were not believers, but after you are saved, much more is required of you regarding decision-making." -- Joseph Mattera

A spouse who matches your calling and destiny? Put down Jeremiah Chapter 29 and slowly walk away. The truly sad thing is this is a real point to be made but Mattera misses it. Instead of misusing Romans 8:28, he should have went to the scripture that flat out says do not be unequally yoked. That is the real problem. Many Christians settle. I understand the struggle as a single Christian. The church does a pitiful job of ministering to single Christians and that does not help either. The truth however is that if you marry someone who does not share your beliefs they will ultimately lead you away from Christ. I do need to note again the foundational premise is simply beating the sheep. I know people who made the decision to marry someone who did not share their beliefs and to call them a functional atheist is cruel and unfair. They were lonely and made a poor decision. God however can still make something out of that poor decision.

"4. You have no consistent communion with God. Any believer who does not seek the Lord regularly, aiming to be in continual communion with Him, is living like a functional atheist. Moses said to the Lord, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here" (Ex. 33:15). Being in communion with the Spirit and being led by Him continually is a staple of normal Christianity (Rom. 8:14; Eph. 5:15-18). Believers who continually fill their lives with activities bereft of seeking Him behave like functional atheists." -- Joseph Mattera

I bristle at the use of a singular verse from the Exodus to create whole doctrine but will bypass that point for the more simple issue here. Mattera seems to overly spiritualize this point and people without discernment could easily mistake what he is saying. We are to be led in what we do by God. Our faith should not only inform our lives but guide it. That is accomplished through reading His Word and through prayer. The Spirit will lead us into all truth within the Word and intercede for us in prayer. The notion of "continual communion" sounds like what one might hear at IHOP or Bethel. A pastor might be able to live in a Christian bubble but the rest of us have to live and work in this world. I also do not know how he leaped to "activities bereft of seeking Him." That is very disturbing. Does Mattera have a family? Take vacations? You cannot lay this level of legalism on believers. It is unfair and not accomplishable. Perhaps this item was just written poorly.

"5. Scripture does not inform your worldview. Every election season it amazes me the unbiblical policies and candidates some believers support. It is obvious to me that they are primarily informed by secular humanism and don't understand how to integrate their private faith with public policy. Those who are not informed by Scripture regarding their world and life views are functional atheists in this area." -- Joseph Mattera

Now we see the effect of Charisma News on Mattera. This is straight up NAR nonsense that constantly drives sheep out of the sheepfold. We are not of this world beloved. We are citizens of heaven. We are not supposed to inform culture but save people from it. The shining city on the hill shines because it stands out not because it picks a carnal side. Neither party cares for the cause of Christ which means the best you can do is guess the lesser of two evils. To then go out and defend that evil as if it were righteous? That is a problem far worse than functional atheism. To beat the sheep of the Lord into your political submission is beyond the pale.

"6. You casually speak negatively about churches and spiritual leaders." The Bible teaches us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 1:7). When a person casually speaks evil of other people, especially Christian leaders and churches, it demonstrates that they lack the fear of the Lord who hates discord among His people (Prov. 6:19; Eph. 4:29-31). Slanderers and gossipers in the church live like functional atheists." -- Joseph Mattera

Looks like I am a functional atheist. That is how absurd these arguments are. Now let us be clear. If someone speaks falsely about someone that is slanderous. If someone gives away privileged information that is gossip. Neither of these behaviors are Christian, although if we were to label those who might sin in this area atheists there will be very few sheep left. That is another point Mattera misses. These are sins beloved and guess what? We sin as human beings every single day. That does not make us functional atheists. It makes us in need of a Savior and thanks be to God He gave us one. The larger point here however is the blatant attempt by Mattera to silence dissent. The Bible commands us to rebuke what and who is false. Neither I nor any discernment ministry I have seen speaks "casually" about these matters. A true lack of fear of God is more on display in this sheep flogging.

"7. You determine how many children you will have. One of the original commands God gave humankind was to bear fruit and multiply, which means to have children (Gen. 1:28). Biological children are a heritage from the Lord (Ps. 127:3-5). Having children is one of our primary callings because we partner with God to expand His eternal family; those who cannot have children or called to be single should focus on having spiritual children. With something as important as this, married couples should pray over Genesis 1:28 and ask God how many children He wants them to have; those who determine family planning without God act like functional atheists." -- Joseph Mattera

Wow. I am unsure if I ever heard this theology before. First of all, this instruction was given to Adam and Eve not you and I. In order to make it doctrine, it needs to be confirmed by Scripture and saying children are a heritage of the Lord does not even come close. There appears to be at least two reasons why God said this. First of all -- there were no other human beings on the planet! God wanted to fill the earth so Adam and Eve would need to be fruitful and multiply. Secondly as a tacit encouragement that the activity is divinely permissible and not sin. What solution does Mattera offer? Again this vague pray and hear what God says. I would imagine with our wickedly deceitful hearts that we will "hear" the answer we want. Once again however to scourge the sheep as basically not believing in God because they decide they want two kids seems to border on the spiritually criminal.

"8. You choose to divorce your spouse for unbiblical reasons. I have known of spiritual leaders who glibly divorce their spouses merely because they do not get along. Jesus did not make divorce that easy (Matt. 5:31-32; 19:1-10). Those whose primary plumb line for divorce is happiness break covenant with God and their spouses and act like functional atheists. Of course, if a believer chooses to divorce, the other person in the marriage is not responsible or in bondage (1 Cor. 7:15)." -- Joseph Mattera

Absolutely agree with everything except the foundation. This is a poor choice and a sin but it does not mean you act as if God does not exist. That is a bridge too far. Does Joseph Mattera live a perfect life? Is divorce unpardonable? Moving on:

"9. Your walk with God is based on blessing and convenience. Those who only serve God when it is convenient or only requires a minimal sacrifice live as functional atheists." -- Joseph Mattera

Two points of enhancement, not necessarily disagreement. First of all, I would wonder if they were saved more than if they were atheists. Secondly, the vast majority of purpose driven, seeker-friendly churches preach nothing but blessing and convenience! It seems as if many in leadership expect more from sheep than they do from shepherds.

"10. You live independent of His body. Once we come to Christ, He places us in His body (1 Cor. 12:12-13). Conversely, lone rangers who continually church hop or live without being in covenant or accountability with spiritual leadership live as functional atheists. I have learned through studying the New Testament that I cannot walk out my calling apart from a local church." -- Joseph Mattera

Here are two more popular false teachings from the NAR. The false authority paradigm and the false covenant paradigm. Beloved we are in covenant with God, not a church building. The church is the body of believers, not a physical location. Now, Mattera is correct that we ought to try our best to be part of a local church because the enemy would love to deal with us alone. The problem is that consistent with the rest of this article, Materra's first instinct is to beat the sheep instead of look to the pulpit. There are real reasons why people leave church that have nothing to do with the sheep wanting to live as functional atheists. Any pastor raised up under the purpose driven church is taught to blessedly subtract sheep from their sheepfold if they disagree with "vision." I know personally in my life and have spoken to many other brothers and sisters who simply cannot find a church anymore that is preaching the uncompromised Gospel of Jesus Christ. When faced with a choice of sacrificing doctrine or fellowship -- fellowship must always give way to the preeminence of doctrine.

"11. You make a geographical move without hearing from God. I am amazed at how many Christians I have known since my conversion in 1978 who have moved away from the church God planted them in, only to waste years of their lives floundering in a stagnant spiritual state. Before a geographical move that impacts a life-giving church connection, I would suggest you do the following: Make sure you have heard from God in conjunction with the independent witness of other mature believers, consult with your spiritual leaders, make sure you are not being driven merely by money or convenience, make sure there is another church in that new community that you have visited and to which you sense a connection and make sure you do not burn any bridges in case you make a mistake and have to return. Those who superficially make a huge geographical move act as functional atheists." -- Joseph Mattera

My answer is the same as number one. Beloved the overall point is that this is how living in modern day churchianity leadership corrupts the thought process. I have read very fine articles from Joseph Mattera but this one does not make the cut. Quite frankly it is also unseemly to take the shepherd's rod meant for the wolves and instead beat the sheep with it. The truly sad thing is that there are good points buried in this article that are simply lost amidst the cries of pain from the beaten sheep. The key verses today expressly instruct pastors and elders to oversee their flocks without being domineering over them and by being an example for them. Not casting them to the curb with accusations that they are no better than those who do not even believe God exists. When I see a malnourished sheep I do not yell at them for not eating enough. I look at who is responsible for feeding them.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- June 30, 2017

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.