The other night I was going through some channels and came across a religious program with a very prominent day religious figure. The place had thousands and as the man spoke in his kind and gentle voice, people would often break out into clapping and an occasional yelling out. As I listened, I realized that he was speaking nothing but a lot of nice, fun (and sometimes comical) words with a soothing voice. Then he quoted a Scripture and no one seemed to get it. He misquoted the Bible! I have a DVR and replayed it to make sure I heard what I heard. He misquoted Scripture. I thought maybe it was a mistake but he kept quoting it wrongly and his lesson was based on this misquoted Scripture.
As I listened for a few more minutes, it struck me how all these thousands weren't bothered. They believed they were hearing the word of God but it was nothing more than a bunch of twisted and abuse of God's word. It was the Scriptures turned into lies and no one knew it!
People have very little drive and desire in our day and time to find out if there is any truth in what is said or not. People aren't interested in the truth. They are interested in being made to feel good. Preachers are wanting to be more polished and smooth rather than be truthful. People want preachers that are "with the times" and can woo us into a world of perfect English with smooth lines. The truth is being trampled and there is little desire for holding it up.
Recently I wrote on the blog of a brotherhood preacher. He has an outreach of many across this nation of ours. He was offering suggestions on how he thought we should be reaching out. Out of the several suggestions he gave, only one dealt with the truth of God's word. The other suggestions were extremely fleshly but polished. There was not one shread of Scripture to back them up. I wrote and told him that instead of following the world, we need to make certain we do things according to Christ (Col. 2:8). He responded and said he agreed but that we need to be careful we aren't so rigid that we turn away the lost world from us. In other words, let's cater to the world and what the world would be attracted to.
Jesus didn't do this. His apostles didn't do this. The truth is the ONLY thing that can save anyone. The truth is the only thing that can keep us free from sin and corruption. The truth is what the church of our Lord is to stand on. The truth is meant to be obeyed. The truth is the ONLY thing that can set one free. The truth twisted or changed is no longer the truth, which means the preaching and teaching are no long lined up with God. The truth is the ONLY thing that brings assurance and hope. Maybe we need to heed the words of Jesus: "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speak a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44) The truth is for doing!
3 comments:
"So rigid we turn the away the lost world"? WOW!
Should be any less rigid when it comes to the truth than Paul, Peter, or the other Apostles? Paul was so rigid that he was stoned and thrown into prison. Should be any less rigid than Christ, who paid the ultimate price for our sin while being sinless?
No. The truth is always the truth. There are no degrees of rigidness when it comes to the truth. There is only the Truth. The lost world will turn away regardless of how rigid it believes the Truth is. We are told to go forth and spread the Gospel. We are never told that we will save the entire lost world. There will be some that turn away no matter how many times they hear the truth.
If we falter on the truth before the lost world, have we really done the right thing for them or ourselves?
Yes, the truth is right, whether we love it or not.Search the truth always and never get your head turned by entertainment. Even with mass followings of those that are seemingly great preachers,,yes it is just a form of an entertainment!
A real nice fellow from the Church of Christ told me of this very thing years ago!
Post a Comment