saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye
shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
II Corinthians 6:17,18
The plain little lifesaving station became famous. Some who were saved, along with others in the nearby area, gave their own time, money and effort to support its work. New boats were bought, new crews hired and trained. The little lifesaving station grew.
Some of the members of the lifesaving station became unhappy that the old building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt a more comfortable place should be provided for those saved from the sea. They enlarged and modernized the building, and brought in better furniture. The little lifesaving station became a popular gathering place for its members. It was beautifully redecorated and furnished as a "social club".
More of the members grew disinterested in actually going on lifesaving missions. The mission of lifesaving was still given "lip service", but most members were too busy or simply refused to take a personal part in lifesaving activities any longer.
One night, a large ship wrecked off the coast. The hired crews brought in boatloads of cold, wet, half-drowned people. They were dirty and sick. Some had skin of a different color; some spoke a foreign language. The beautiful new clubhouse got messed up. The property committee soon had a shower house built outside the clubhouse where shipwreck victims would be cleaned up before they were allowed inside.
At the next meeting, there was a major split in the club membership. Most members wanted to stop the lifesaving activities because they were an unpleasant hindrance to the new operation of the club. A few members held out, insisting that lifesaving was their primary purpose. They pointed out that they were still called a lifesaving station. However, they were voted down and told that if they insisted on saving the lives of all kinds of shipwreck victims, they would have to build their own lifesaving station down the coast. They did. As the years went by, the second lifesaving station experienced the same changes that had occurred in the first. They evolved into a club and yet another lifesaving station was founded.
If you and I were to visit the seacoast in that area today, we'd find a number of exclusive clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but now most of the victims drown.
Oh no, my goodness, no--why it's "tolerance for all mankind" and for all that mankind chooses to bring into the church. Instead of the message from the pulpits and Sunday School classes being that we are to be a peculiar people (Titus 2:14), a come-ye-out-from-among-them people (II Corinthians 6:17), today's message from the churches is "tolerance towards all". How much "tolerance" do we find in
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. II Corinthians 6:14-18.So many of the pulpits of today are occupied by number-seeking, money-grubbing, self-help theorists. Today's churches no longer hold themselves to the standard of preaching the solution to this old world's problems--Jesus Christ. We've re-created Him into a namby-pamby, soft-spoken, illiterate [kind of] prophet (if even that), instead of lifting Him to the world as the Holy, Sinless, Only Begotten Son of God, our Redeemer, our Lord and Master and Soon-Coming King of Kings! Why even the demons of hell give Him more recognition than we do: And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. Mark 1:23,24.
Apathetic, anemic Christians, made that way by a diet of Scripture-Lite, occupy the padded pews of today's churches and listen to diluted, "happy word, feel good" speakers, er, preachers, drone on with a popular, politically-correct message, simply refusing to preach the Truth of the Word of God. We don't need to worry about being "politically-correct"--we'd BETTER be Christ-correct!
I ask you, when's the last time you heard a preacher with the courage to preach, "Repent of your sins or be forever lost"? (Luke 13:3) When's the last time you heard a preacher with the courage to preach, "Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to God the Father"? (John 14:6) When's the last time you heard a preacher with the courage to preach on the blood of Jesus Christ? (Acts 20:28; Romans 5:9,10) When's the last time you heard a preacher with the courage to give an altar call, a heartfelt plea to people to please not leave before they make their hearts right with God? (Romans 10:9,10; II Corinthians 6:2)
The pulpits of today are filled with blind guides leading the blind and they're all headed for a ditch. And we wonder why our "mission" is suspended in a state of inaction?
We get our blood pressures up over displaying the Ten Commandments in state buildings. Why? We don't teach our children the Ten Commandments at home--but we're worried about their display in a state building? How many Sunday School teachers (for that matter, how many preachers or parents) do you know can recite all ten of the Ten Commandments? As a matter of fact, can you? And let me point this out to you: every prisoner in every holding facility (jail, prison, etc.) is guaranteed a Bible! I ask you, how many of our children have a Bible they are encouraged and helped to read? Am I the only one to whom that seems backwards?
We want prayer in our schools--how much prayer do we have in our homes? How much prayer do we have in our church? Sad isn't it, we have time for everything else in this world, but not for the things of God. We take our Bibles to church on Sunday (just as we would soap powders to the laundromat--it's an accessory to the situation), but when do we open them otherwise? And then we wonder why the people of this world are in the sad shape they are in?
Today's churches are more interested in sucking up to the world than they are of socking Satan every chance they get. They pander to the world, with an "in-step" message: "It's ok--come as you are..", with a powerful, definite slant towards, "and it's ok for you to stay that way, too." Why folks wouldn't wear to the doctor's office or their job what they wear to church! There's no respect for the House of God or the things of God any more. Why? Because it's not a "popular" message. We have lowered the standards!
Isaiah 59:19 tells us, ...When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Isaiah 62:10,12 tells us that we are to ... lift up a standard for the people, and they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. It says LIFT UP, not take down! In other words, lift a banner, make declaration of who you are and what you represent, not hide it behind a bunch of politically-correct platitudes!
So many of our churches today offer just enough "feel good" that people will show up, but do not feel an obligation to actually do anything--certainly not work for the Kingdom of God. Ever so often we are heartened to hear a voice cry out against the awfulness of sin, but about time our hearts are lifted to hear it, they apologize for having said it! Why? Because they are lovers of pleasure, not lovers of God. They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. They are seeking after the accolades of mankind, not the holiness that the Word of God tells us we need to have in our hearts and lives today.
Someone says "holiness" today, and folks get spastic: "Why that's holy-roller stuff!" No, it isn't. We are SUPPOSED to live holy lives, 24/7, not be "sometime Christians" (when we won't get too embarrassed by it). Our "Christianity" is a role we slip into, when we're not around our office mates, or our society-club members. We think if we sing in the choir, pay tithes, volunteer for this committee or that one, we've done more than enough. But witnessing? Are you kidding? Why would we witness? They would just be hollow words, even laughable, because we sure aren't living it! "Why would I witness? I can't very well witness after I've told the latest dirty joke. And if I witness, I can't tell the joke! We all need a good laugh now and then!"
The churches of today (bodies of "so-called" believers) dare not rattle the cage of this lost and dying world with the uncompromised truth from the Word of God. It would mean leaving behind many of the things of this world that we have incorporated into our lives, our worship services, our "religious" doctrines. Churches today are fruitless, because they are not sowing the seed of the Word of God. They are mutual-admiration societies, social clubs, self-help centers, friendship circles, coffee-klatches.
The Word of God tells us, Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. II Timothy 4:2-4. Guess what? That certainly describes a lot of what is going on in our churches today.
Now, more than ever before, we are seeking the accolades of men, instead of the "Well done!" of Jesus Christ. We need to compel people to see themselves as they really are: a sinner in need of the Savior, Jesus Christ. We don't need to deal in flattery and inflated self-esteem! When's the last time YOU asked someone, "Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?"
There are times we must rebuke: we, as true Christians (as in followers of Christ), don't need to engage in gossip, backbiting, tale-bearing. You know, "silence may be golden", but sometimes it's yellow! It is not our place to set ourselves up as moral judges of anyone, but it IS our duty to speak that warning word when it needs to be spoken. However, that "warning word" is to be spoken TO that person, not gossiped about to someone else! There is a very plain set of instructions, in the Word of God, on how we should deal with those who err, and it is NOT by whispering behind our hands about someone!
We must exhort. We should never offer rebuke in such a way that it drives a person to despair. We can correct and encourage at the same time, and all without the falsity of flattery.
And we must do all this with unwearied patience. To sit in judgment of someone is to turn up our "Bertha-Better-Than-Thou" noses at them and regard them as beyond salvation. The true Christian patiently believes in his (her) fellow man because he (she) believes in the changing power of Christ.
My friends, if we will apply ourselves to serving Christ and not self, to seeking Christ and not the things of this world, we can get our hearts and minds refocused on our individual mission: to witness of the Love God had for mankind by giving His Only Begotten Son to die for their sins. And if we do our work for Christ in that spirit, we can come together in unity as workers for Christ and get our church (body of believers) back on track for the Truth from the Word of God. "Mission Inaction" can be turned into
"Mission Inaction" Copyright © 2002 by Patricia Sikes.
All Rights Reserved.
If you have been blessed, give God the Glory!
Please sign our guestbook; let us know you enjoyed
"Mission Inaction".
Thank you so much for visiting He Is Able!
ALL material on He Is Able is protected by copyright.
