Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
What is wrong with the church today? Nothing and I stand firm on that and will never budge.
“How can you say that Jeff? Look at everything that goes on in the church – lying, cheating, stealing, hate, gossiping, text messaging during services, teens having sex, alcoholism the same % as the national average, pornography addiction. Jeff, how can you say that nothing is wrong in the church?”
Fasten your seatbelts for an answer you may not like. What you are thinking of as the church….. is not the Church of Christ. The true Church of the Lord is healthy and forging ahead as commanded - Eph 2:19-22. It is going to all nations, it is preaching the true gospel, it is preaching the definite need for repentance.
Now what you may be calling the church is a building with walls and members of what could be labeled these days as a social club. Pastors no longer proclaiming the gospel of Christ as the Word says, sins being looked over, no kind of biblical reprimands, leadership that the former pastors of old would disassociate with immediately. The big problem with churches (the social club type) is that they are full of unrepentant sinners that think they are on their way to heaven because they once made a “decision” for Christ. These are more often times call “backsliders, hypocrites or prodigals” and that they just need to rededicate their life to God. Well, more than likely they are lost and in need to repent of their sins and follow Jesus. It is not possible for a child of God to live in a sinful lifestyle, be it drinking alcohol, having sex if not married, stealing from your employer, drug addiction, lying on your taxes, whatever other sinful lifestyle. It’s just not possible. 2 Corinthians 5:17 lays out in that IF anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, old things are passed away, all things become new.
This apostasy didn’t happen overnight. It’s been a downward spiral for many years. Churches have adopted worldly draws to entice people to come inside, from rock concerts to now days poker tournaments, instead of letting the Holy Spirit draw them in. This also translates over into the messages being proclaimed, looking outside the Bible for truths as does Brian Mclaren, Rob Bell, Doug Pagitt and unfortunately many others. They proclaim just enough of the Bible to make you think they are from God, but spew forth a very dangerous, damning message. Yoga, Universalism, looking outside the bible for “truth”. It’s nothing new, it’s been going on since the bible was being written. Until people KNOW the Truth of God, they will not see it. They will search in whatever fits their personal thoughts instead of following the Word of God. Sola Scriptura , Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, Soli Deo Gloria – In Scripture Alone, By Faith Alone, By Grace Alone, In Christ Alone, Glory to God Alone. When people get back to that, then there will be change in the world, there will be change in the “church” so much as the buildings called churches will be empty because the Christians will be out telling everyone about Christ. Then again, the state of the world today is just one sign of the closing day of the Glorious Appearing of the Lord. I’m ready, Are You?
1 comment:
I live in Paducah too! I am an atheist. Sorry.
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