Do you like
all you can eat buffets? My aging self can no longer hold his own at an all you
can eat buffet and after the second plate I am done. However, I have more
fanfare for a breakfast buffet than I do dinner. One of the issues that I have
with a breakfast buffet are the eggs. They generally lack flavor. Usually
adding salt can remedy the situation. Now, you may be like me and dislike
adding salt to foods and instead choose pepper. Or you could go all out like I
do and throw a ladle of sausage gravy all over your eggs. That’s how we roll in
the south.
Now before I continue discussing
buffet eggs and salt I should recap what I have covered so far in this series.
In Part 1 I had brought to light how mankind in America (and I am sure that
other parts of the world are not immune as well) has become like an untamed
savage. In Parts 2 and 3 I had linked man’s unrestrained debauchery to that of
the people of Romans 1, who had become debased in their minds and had elevated
their own personal desires and views to that of an idol. Mankind and his
wickedness is his new god. All of this is because man has rejected God, and
therefore, God has rejected him. They have been left alone to themselves and
their own devices of evil.
So what does a world of fallen savages
have to do with salt? In my last three parts I laid out the argument against
the unbeliever. We shouldn’t be surprised at how one who is without God would
act and live. It is surprising, however, how low man has gone in these recent
years, and he will continue to go further down without the restraint of God’s
grace and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. We know that the unregenerate man is
guilty before our holy God and he remains guilty until he accepts Christ as his
savior and is thus made righteous before God. “…but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is
from God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). Now, I am sure that if there were any
unbelievers who happened upon this blog (it is hard to say that with a straight
face because I only have three readers), they would probably say “Who are you
Chris? Holier than thou? It is just like you Christians to think that you are
perfect and better than everyone else!” So, to answer such a remark, allow me
to present another group that is responsible for the downward spiral of
mankind: The Church.
Now, I hope that I didn’t cause you
to choke on your tasteless buffet eggs, but allow me to elaborate on my
indictment against the Church. I am not talking about the bride of Christ as a
whole, but I am talking about the modern church (sometimes referred to as the
American Church). And this doesn’t include all churches in America, but the
system, or way of thought that a majority of churches in America operate under.
Typically these churches are the popular ones and the megachurches, but not all
popular and megachurches fall under this category. You follow? The
characteristics of such a church are as follows: Entertainment based worship
that focuses more on appeasing the crowd than appeasing God; Entertainment
based worship that seeks to replicate the world as much as possible; Worship
that does its best to not seem offensive or uncomfortable to anyone who is
unchurched or an unbeliever; Entertainment based worship that uses lighting,
smoke, and mirrors in order to please the eyes of the audience; Churches that
focus more on programs and less on lifting each other up or reaching the lost;
Pastors that rely on being “hip and cool” in order to seem like they are just
as much a part of the world as any unbeliever in attendance (because to dress
up and act “holy” is considered hypocrisy) ; etc. In other words it is a church
that is more focused on itself and its desires to reach the world by trying to
act like the world. Holiness becomes a “four letter word”.
Jesus said to His disciples in
Matthew 5 “You are the salt of the earth;
but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for
nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (v. 13). Salt
not just preserves food, but also is a flavor enhancer. So how is a believer
related to salt? One way we can look at this is that they preserve God’s truth
in a world where all truth is subjective and like meat that lacks a
preservative, eventually rots. Another way that we can look at it is that they
alter what lacks flavor. Now, don’t get me wrong on the latter. I know that in
its effort to be relative to and reach the world the modern church acts like
the world and thus “alters” the bad flavor of the world (say that five times
fast). However Jesus said “if the salt loses its flavor…it is good for nothing
but to be trampled…” The salt that was used for flavoring and preserving was
pure salt, whereas the salt from the Dead Sea was contaminated, flavorless, and
ineffective and was used to keep vegetation from growing over footpaths. Notice
that the flavorless salt is contaminated and is no good? Jesus is ultimately
saying that the salt (believers) should remain pure and not stoop to the level
of contamination, even if that means to try to turn contaminated salt into pure
salt. He goes on to say: “You are the
light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they
light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light
to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (vv. 14-16). The
problem is that we have a modern church that tries to copy the darkness of the
world to be relevant to the world, but by remaining light. Is that even
possible? It is but the result is not a powerful bright light that permeates
and overcomes the darkness. John 1:5 says “And
the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
Just like black and white, so is light and dark, “And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
There is no gray. The power of the modern church has instead been reduced to a
dim light, a mix of light and dark, that leaves a dying world asking “Jesus, is
that you?”. They cannot see “…your light so shine before men, that they may see
your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Therefor they cannot see
the true Jesus.
The results of a church that is
trying to live like a dim light or a half contaminated barrel of salt is that
it gives credence to the non-believing “Christians are hypocrites” crowd.
Believe it or not there is a godly standard to live by (holiness), and many
have an idea of what that looks like. Surprisingly a great deal of people who
have rejected God even know what this looks like and what is expected of
Christians. So when we try to push the envelope towards being like a sinful
dying world, no one is impressed but ourselves. We become the fools by playing
the fools in order to reach the fools. The other result is that we forgo
holiness and being separate from the world, and that results in a church that
loses its unique identity as being salt and light. 1 Peter 2:9 states “But you
are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special
people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light;”. We are called out of the darkness to
be light, not a half dim flickering light but a powerful example to the ever
changing power of Christ and the Holy Spirit. People should say “Wow! Look at
the power in the lives of those Christians. I wonder what it is that is
different in their life”, not “Wow! Look, those Christians act just like us.
There is no proof of power of any Jesus in their lives. So what on earth do I
need Jesus for?” This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 5 when He said “Let your light so shine before men, that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” God cannot
get the glory if we have one foot in life and the other in death.
A further result of a church that has become a dim light is
that they develop a distorted view of sin and holiness. This is why the modern
church has a great deal of sin within its ranks (and even leadership), and
instead of being dealt with biblically it is being either ignored or
celebrated. How is it that there are denominations like the Presbyterians who
allow for homosexual practices and leadership, and the Methodists who recently
have been having meetings to discuss whether or not to allow (celebrate)
homosexuality in their congregations and even their leadership positions as
well? The result of this action is that the dying world believes that God does
condone sin and homosexuality and therefore those who preach against it are
wrong and are in fact in the sights of God’s judgment. God ends up being
recreated into something that He is not. Where the debased minded man has
elevated himself to his own idol, the modern liberal Christian church ends up
on its own path of a downward spiral that ultimately makes a new god its own
idol. It all begins with allowing a little bit of the world in, then comes
hypocrisy, then comes confusion, then comes the sin, then comes the pride, and
then comes the fall. “Do you not know
that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6).
The sad thing is that the modern
church has convinced itself that in order to reach the world they must be like
the world. But Scripture says “Adulterers
and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with
God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy
of God.” (James 4:4). James compares those who try to live for God while
living for the world “adulterers”. So who are they committing adultery against?
God.
But…there is
hope!
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