A 'spiritual cancer' pervades every aspect of society, from the family to the government, according to this charismatic preacher. But God, in His kindness, provided a cure for this spiritual disease.
On November 26, Shane Idleman, the founder and lead pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship, wrote a blog in which he spoke of hope and healing in the midst of persecution and cultural decay.
He quoted a Barna study stating that roughly 72% of churches do not turn to the Bible as their ultimate authority and guidance.
But to Idleman, church leaders are responsible for the problem.
"When the pew is sick, the pulpit must prescribe the remedy," he pointed out. "But the remedy-the life-changing application of God's Word-is being withheld. As a result, Jeremiah 5:31 is eerily similar to our condition today, 'The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?'"
Like Jeremiah and Isaiah during their day, Idleman said that pastors must identify and heal people's spiritual illnesses.
"A doctor would lose his license for saying that everything is fine where there are clear signs of cancer. How much more dangerous is it to remain silent in the midst of spiritual cancer?" he said.
These silent shepherds, he observed, continue to devour the "junk food of liberalism and the downward pull of compromise" rather than entirely reforming their "spiritual diet." Consequently, people do not know that their sins are driving them to a life of torment and death. As a result, according to Idleman, fervent prayer is required in order to see the powerful baptism of the Holy Spirit descend once again on pulpits.
Addiction, sexual immorality, and perversion are all symptoms of spiritual cancer on the ground. Children are suffering as a consequence of the breakdown of marriages and the breakdown of families.
Curing this spiritual cancer won't be possible outside of a Christian setting, though. In the end, it will be God's own handiwork.
"To get the ear of God and experience spiritual healing, we must return to brokenness, reverence, and the fear of the Lord," Idleman maintained.
But to deal with spiritual cancer as effectively as physical cancer, one must take extreme measures immediately.
"When it comes to spiritual cancer, shouldn't we be just as aggressive and drastic, if not more so?" Idleman asked. "Shouldn't there be a sense of urgency? Absolutely. But we are not desperate enough. Desperate people do desperate things and cry out like Isaiah, 'Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence' (Isaiah 64:1 NKJV).
To that end, like the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 64:1, Idleman believes that the cure for spiritual cancer starts with a sense of "desperation" in which Christians spend substantial time praying and fasting before God.
"God listens to desperate, broken people who repent and focus on Him. We must begin here," he said. "It's simple, but not easy. Throughout Scripture, the call of God is not to Washington, Hollywood, or Sacramento, but to us."
