The NAR: What's the Big Deal?

The other day, I was talking with a friend and he asked me, point-blank, "What is the worst that will happen if someone buys into this NAR stuff?"Good question.It all boils down to two things: a stunted walk with God and an ineffective witness.Stunted Walk With GodWhen someone embraces NAR beliefs, that person will experience a stunted walk with God. That is to say, she or he may not enjoy a close, intimate friendship with Him and the accompanying spiritual blessings.Now, what I just said would be shocking to people in the NAR movement. This is because they are taught that they are the ones who have intimacy with God and that people who oppose the movement are "hard-hearted Pharisees" who practice a "dead religion."So, who's right?To find out, we have to look at what the Bible says about intimacy with God.The key to fellowship with God is not the mystical or miraculous. It is the progressive cleansing of sin in our lives (1 John 1:6-7). So, the reason an NAR person will have a stunted walk with God is because she or he will become more focused on having mystical or emotional experiences and working miracles than on overcoming sin.It is true that, when we place our faith in Christ, we are forgiven of all our sins and are credited with the righteousness of Christ. But that does not mean our struggle with sin is over.  At that time, we begin a lifelong process of "sanctification," in which we become more and more like Jesus Christ through cooperation with the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our sin.More than once, Scripture declares that the people who will "see" God are those who have striven for holiness (Hebrews 12:14) and those who are "pure in heart" (Matthew 5:8)--in other words, those who pursue moral purity in every area of their lives.But no such promise is made to those who work miracles or have mystical experiences. In fact, Jesus says that, on Judgment Day, many people who worked miracles will be given the shock of their lives.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

In sum, many NAR followers have shifted their attention from moral purity to the miraculous. In doing so, they have hindered their personal relationship with God.Ineffective WitnessWhen someone embraces NAR beliefs, that person will become a less effective witness for God.We are called to be Christ's ambassadors and to take the light of His gospel into a dark world. And the gospel we are called to proclaim is the gospel of salvation from sin. But the NAR movement has redefined the gospel so that it has become, primarily, a gospel of taking dominion.This distorted gospel is a distraction from the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a disservice to people to minimize their most urgent need--salvation from personal sin--and to instead focus on taking sociopolitical control of cities and nations.An NAR person may not see the importance of spending an afternoon in the market square, sharing the undiluted gospel with nonbelievers. Instead, that person would focus efforts on what she or he thinks is most important: taking dominion through spiritual warfare. So, rather than going to the market square, she or he may head for the hills--to wage spiritual warfare by pounding stakes inscribed with Scripture verses into the ground, pouring out anointing oil, and shouting down the local "territorial spirits."What ways have you seen NAR beliefs harm people who have bought into them?-- By Holly Pivec