REGENERATE

In today’s culture, it has become strangely fashionable to “go off the rails,” only to be celebrated for crawling back to the baseline of functional adulthood. Not doing drugs, not sleeping around, not blowing up your life every six months? Congratulations—you’ve now achieved what previous generations simply called functional maturity.

But the issue isn’t just out there in secular society—it’s here, inside Christian churches.

In many churches today, we’ve baptized dysfunction and call it discipleship. We’ve taken secular self-help culture, wrapped it in spiritual language, and convinced ourselves we’re being faithful to God's WORD and Christ's Great Commission. Programs like Celebrate Recovery often begin with noble intentions—and yes, they’ve helped many. But let’s be honest: far too frequently, these programs become sanctified support groups for perpetual woundedness rather than pathways to regeneration, sanctification, and spiritual maturity.

Instead of walking in the power of Christ’s resurrection, many professing Christians are still clinging to the identity of their past—still talking about the same “hurts, hang-ups, and habits” they came in with all those years ago. There is more of an attitude of arrival and contentment with “Thank God I'm not THAT person anymore,” which means we're still allowing the past to define who we are (or aren't) rather than Christ! There's often little if any evidence of repentance, reverence, or real spiritual growth—just a cycle of emotional catharsis and codependency dressed up in church clothes.

But the Gospel doesn’t call us to manage our brokenness or memorialize our old selves. It calls us to crucify them. It calls us to newness of life!

“For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His... So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” —Romans 6:5,11

We’re not supposed to carry around our corpses in decorative caskets, dragging them into church as the focal point of our testimony. We are to bury them in the tomb where King Jesus laid and leave them there. Our new identity is not “in recovery”—it’s REGENERATION in Christ!

Fruitless Fig Tree & the Temple Cleansing:

When Jesus approached the fig tree in Mark 11, it had leaves—an outward appearance of fruitfulness—but no fruit. He cursed it. Why? Because there's never an "off season" for the people of God. The appearance of fruitfulness without the reality of it is a lie. That fig tree was a metaphor for Israel—and today, it’s a warning to churches everywhere.

King Jesus then entered the temple and flipped the money changers' tables, driving them out with righteous fury. “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations,” He declared, “but you have made it a den of robbers.”

If Jesus was incensed over the corruption in the temple courts—where Gentiles were supposed to come and encounter the living God—then how much more will His anger burn against churches and entire denominations that now bear His name in emptiness through the preaching of false gospels, entertaining goats rather than feeding sheep, affirming what God hates and condemns, and baptizing unrepentant hearts -not- for His glory, but for superficial therapeutic affirmation and self-esteem?

By What Authority?

The religious leaders didn’t like Jesus overturning their religious monopoly and money tables. So they asked Him, “By what authority are You doing these things?” (Mark 11:28).

Isn't this the same posture of the modern church? Many have become so conformed to the world—so addicted to human traditions, worldly philosophies, and moralistic self-help—that when Christ confronts us by His Spirit and Word, many dare to ask, via an enraged tone, “What gives You the right?” But the truth is, God owes us nothing. He certainly doesn't owe us an explanation. Even if He hadn't gone to the Cross and died for His Bride, we would still owe Him everything that God deserves—adoration, reverence, praise, worship, and obedience.

The Wicked Tenants:

Jesus didn’t play nice with religious leaders who looked the part but produced no kingdom fruit. He told a parable about wicked tenants who refused to give the Master what was His, beat His servants, and eventually killed His Son.

“What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others… The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” —Mark 12:9-10

God's WORD tells us precisely what the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit will do. Isn't rejecting the Stone exactly what so many churches have done and continue to do today? They’ve rejected Christ as the cornerstone, choosing instead to build on the sand of cultural relevance, self-affirmation, and emotional validation spewed out by false prophets, teachers, apostles, and pastors who masquerade as servants of righteousness.

TikTok Theology and Scriptural Illiteracy:

To the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection and thought they could trap Jesus with clever questions, He said bluntly:

“Are you not mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?” —Mark 12:24

This same rebuke applies today. TikTok theology and biblical illiteracy are rampant in the Church. Reverence for God’s Word has been replaced with reinterpretation, redefinition, and a steady diet of shallow sermons designed to tickle ears rather than pierce hearts. Why? King Jesus exposed the root issue, saying, “This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.”

False Prophets & Dead Religion:

Jesus warned the crowds against the Scribes and Pharisees—those who wore long robes, offered long prayers, defrauded widows, and sat in places of honor. He called them hypocrites, whitewashed tombs, and said they made their disciples twice the children of hell as themselves (Matthew 23:15).

He also warned of a time when false Christs and false prophets would arise to perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect (Mark 13:22).

Here we are. It is not just out in the world—it’s in our churches. The poison has seeped in through the cracks of soft preaching, sentimentalized theology, moralistic therapeutic deism, unqualified leadership, and the idolatry of emotions.

Trading Repentance for Recovery:

In many cases, churches have traded repentance for recovery, discipleship for support groups, holiness for healing circles, and the sufficiency of Scripture for TikTok theology and the inspiration of Instagram. We've rebranded sanctification as "a journey of self-discovery" and replaced Spirit-led obedience with hogwash slogans like "You do you", "Live your truth", and "Just be authentic."

But the Gospel is not about recovering the best version of our dead and carnal selves. It’s about dying to self, denying self, picking up our cross daily, being raised with Christ by the power and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and being conformed to His image.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits [stoicheia] of the world, and not according to Christ.” —Colossians 2:8

These stoicheia—shallow, powerless principles of the world—have taken root in churches everywhere. Many have adopted them wholesale and slapped a cross on top.

Time to Wake Up:

“Wake up, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” —Ephesians 5:14

It’s time to wake up and stop carrying the old corpse around. It’s time to stop applauding survival as if it’s revival. It’s time to stop asking Jesus to prove Himself to us—we are the ones who must give account. Jesus is not a therapist. He is not a spiritual wet-nurse. He is KING of kings and LORD of lords—and obedience to His Word is required. King Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” It's not optional.

If Christ flipped tables for the sake of reverence in the outer courts of the Jewish temple, we can rest assured He will bring the Sword of the Spirit against every false gospel that dares take His name and defile it. Judgment begins in the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).

Let the churches tremble. Let preachers and pastors in pulpits everywhere repent. Let the sheep listen to the Shepherd’s voice. Let us stop dragging around the dead and decaying old self like an idol when Christ has already nailed it to the cross and called us to glorious REGENERATION and newness of life!

Blessings and love,

Kevin M. Kelley

Pastor

Big Island Christian Church