Modern Christianity has lost the thread. Once we marveled at the Savior who died for us, but now His death is just a trendy symbol we wear on our clothing and around our necks. We once revered the Bible as the fully sufficient, inerrant, and complete revelation of God, but now we yearn for the teaching of ungodly men who refute even the plainest teachings of God’s Word. What happened?
For decades, we have compromised the clear and authoritative laws of God to make our churches more palatable for sinners, more comfortable for saints, and more profitable for preachers. Little by little, inch by inch, we let the world slip in between the cracks of our doubt and unbelief. What remains are pathetic and powerless churches ineffective in carrying out the Great Commission.
The Bible is all about God. While there are principles and laws given for life, the fact remains the book is to allow us to know Christ. If you listen to many of the popular preachers today, you may think God wrote the words just for you and even about you.
The disturbing trend in many churches, and indeed most of the well-known ones, is to make the sermon about you. Some preachers even place themselves in the middle of the stories and teachings of scripture, making it about them and what their ministry is going through. It’s disgusting and it all mirrors the selfish tendencies of our culture. Again, we allowed the world to creep in slowly over time to where there is now little distinction between the typical church-goer and those in the world.
It is a struggle for me to understand how someone who doesn’t understand that the point of the Bible is to teach us to worship and honor God can be a true Christian. When you believe God aimed the Bible at you, you are elevating yourself to the place of God. It’s one (of many) ways the popular prosperity gospel preachers get it all wrong. They think the Bible contains the keys for you to be healthy, wealthy, and happy here on earth. None of that is in the Bible. The only way you can twist the scriptures to say those things is to make the object you instead of God. In other words, the only way to prove their teaching is to blaspheme God.
Paul said a little yeast leavens the whole loaf (1 Corinthians 5:6). A little compromise has poisoned the Church in every city and every country. No country has arguably done more to spread the gospel than America, but I also believe no country has exported a distorted gospel to the degree America has. There will be a reckoning, but that will come later. For now, those of us who hold fast to the truth of scripture must stand unwavering in declaring the true gospel. We must avoid compromise at any cost. Stand with those who unashamedly call evil and perversion sin and reject those who try to alter the Word of God to align with the selfish and deviant ways of the culture.
Compromise is the subtle and deadly work of the devil. Once given a foothold, he will not stop until the door is flung wide open. It is true in our lives and it is true in the life of the Church. No one is immune, so we must be ever vigilant. Read God’s Word. Study it and know it. Then stand firm on it without compromise. Hold your leaders and pastors accountable to do the same. Now is not the time to shrink back, but to restore what Satan has spoiled. Follow Jesus without compromise, whatever the cost, and without looking back.