Paul warned Timothy, “in the last days there will come times of difficulty” (2 Timothy 3:1). Savage seasons have, in fact, battered Christ’s Church through its history by means of waves of worldly ideologies:

• Sacramentalism – in which ordinances and rituals were falsely elevated and undermined salvation by grace
• Rationalism – where scholarship and human reason attempted to dethrone God
• Orthodoxism – with its dead, cold, indifferent spirituality 
• Politicism – which led to a preoccupation with political power and social causes
• Ecumenism – where a lack of discernment resulted from an obsession with unity at any doctrinal cost
• Experientialism – that viewed truth as originating in feelings, intuition, and special revelations, relegating Scripture to secondary importance
• Subjectivism – where psychology captured the church, resulting in a man-centered, needs-based theology 
• Mysticism – as people began to seek individual, subjective spiritual experiences apart from the objective truth of God’s Word
• Pragmatism – where appropriate means of ministry were defined by the “customer-parishioner,” and truth was the servant of what worked 
• Syncretism – in which evangelicals, intimidated by cultural agendas and eager to find favor with the unsaved world, capitulated to blending Biblical truth with all forms of theological error

There is a cumulative effect as these movements increase in frequency and intensity (2 Tim. 3:13). In response to Paul’s exhortation that we have the divinely-empowered weapons to destroy such strongholds (2 Cor. 10:3-5), Guzik explained that wrong thoughts and perceptions, which contradict the true knowledge and nature of God, stubbornly set deep roots in human hearts and minds, influencing adversely an individual’s beliefs and behaviors. 

Christ’s church currently finds itself besieged by the ideological tidal wave of the Social Justice Movement, having been described as the greatest threat to the church in the last hundred years. Likened to a three-headed dragon, its peril lies in emulating secular culture while undermining Scripture in the areas of race, gender, and sexuality. The comprehensiveness of the movement presents unique challenges to church leadership, as it functions as a worldview, complete with its own soteriology, epistemology, sacred texts, and prophets. 

Almost a century ago, Machen cautioned regarding the powerful force of modern culture, which is either “subservient to the gospel or the deadliest enemy of the gospel.” He declared that subjugating culture necessitates not mere religious emotion but neglected intellectual labor, stating, “The Church has turned to easier tasks. And now she is reaping the fruits of her indolence. Now she must battle for her life.”