Generally, the religious world today is like a ship that has
been shipwrecked because it lost its anchor of faith in God and His Son, Jesus
Christ. This ship, headed for eternal destruction, is filled with
people "hav(ing)
a form of godliness but denying its
power" (2.Tim.3:5). The ship has been steered by
"ungodly men, who turn the grace of our Lord into lewdness
and deny the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."
(Jude 4). The anchor that one time held them fast to God
has been lost in the sea of confusion and hopelessness, and the ship has been
wrecked on the rocks of unbelief, despair, and doubt. It is now slowly sinking
into oblivion, and the lives of the people onboard the ship are about to be
drowned and lost for eternity. This is the picture the apostle Paul used to
describe those who had lost their faith, "which some having rejected, concerning the faith have
suffered shipwreck."
(1 Tim.1:19).
The people described above have made the
mistake of choosing to sail on a ship with a crew who see no need for someone
with proper authority to tell them how to sail the ship safely to its
destination while avoiding the pitfalls and dangers that lay ahead. The crew
shows disdain and a lack of respect for the chart provided by the governing
authority to guide them safely to the other shore, and at the same time warns
them of the dangers that lay ahead for the ship. By failing to follow the
guidebook and charts provided in it, shipwreck will be the inevitable
result.
Just talking to and/or reading after people who
profess to be Christians today one soon comes to the conclusion that the
majority of those claiming to be Christians have little religious conviction.
Their faith is shipwrecked. I am convinced that one of the reasons for this is
they have lost respect for the authority of God. This lack of respect has come
about either because they are ignorant of what the word of God teaches, or don't
care about following after divine authority. This includes members in the Lord's
church.
In an email dated 7/8/07, Dick Millwee, via
Biblelist, biblelist@yahoogroups.com sent an article entitled "Americans Shallow In Their Faith Scholars Say." The article illustrates clearly the things I wrote above. Dick
was quoting a religious survey of the same title, published that day in
the "Bakersfield Californian."
The article appeared under the byline of Helen Gray
of "McClatchy Newspapers." Here are some of the things stated in the article, showing the
shallowness of the faith of many so called Christians.
People today have little religious conviction
according to recent statistics made by the Bama Group (a Christian research
company). David Kinnaman, president of the Bama Group reached the conclusion
that one reason
TRADITIONAL BELIEFS
DECLINE.
The survey showed this lack of conviction. Eighty three %
claim Christianity but only forty nine % are committed to it. Kinnaman also
observed, "There is increasing pressure on
Christians to bend and shape their views into something that's popular,
something that fits the pop culture's view of what spirituality ought to
be." So why would 7 out of 10 people
surveyed say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus but show so little
evidence in their lives? One of the conclusions he reached was that the church
had failed to teach the young people to think as Christians, so that many of
them put Jesus on the shelf after they reach
adulthood.
Another person quoted in the article, D C Hart, a
church historian, said "
David Roozen, religion and society professor at
Hartford Seminary observed in the article that the reason why 83% claim
Christianity but only 49% are committed to it, is the "trend toward a religion a
la carte, people putting together their own religion." He said this leads to
"increasing numbers of people who live their lives without serious attention to
religious practice." He quotes a couple of people. One said, "I'm a Christian,
but I don't think Christianity is the only path." Another said, "I'm a
Christian, but I'm not going to die for it because there may be some truths in
other faiths." Hart, quoted earlier, said, "They want to be able to pick and
choose beliefs according to their needs and preferences." "That is the nature of
having this marketplace of ideas and faiths." "The weakening of biblical and
doctrinal knowledge among evangelicals is affecting their religious practices
and their morale."
When men lose respect for God's authority
as revealed in His word, spiritual death and eternal destruction will be the
outcome. When one reads such things as above, one should have no trouble seeing
that there is a definite need for following God's authority and not our
own.
---Thomas
Thornhill
The Difference Between Individuals & The Church
"Why maintain a division in the church over money
when the money is God's before it is given on the 1st day of the week, and is
still God's when it is not given? . . . If there is nothing that is not God's
then His money is still feeding the poor either through the elders hand or
through individuals. It is God's money, God's people, doing God's
work."
What we see here is a classic case of
failing to recognize the difference between individual Christians and the church
as a collective body. Notice these passages which make this clear
distinction:
1. The individual is not the church: "For the body is not one member, but
many."
(1 Corinthians 12:14)
2. The individual is charged when the church is not:
"If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them
relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that
are widows indeed." (1 Timothy
5:16)
3. The individual has responsibility that the church does
not: "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go
and tell him his fault between thee and him alone ... if he will not hear thee,
then take with thee one or two more ... and if he shall neglect to hear them,
tell it unto the church ..."
(Matthew 18:15-17)
4. The individual's money is distinct from the
church's: "But a certain man named Ananias ...sold a possession, and
kept back part of the price . . .and brought a certain part, and laid it, at the
apostles' feet. But Peter said ... , Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart
to lie to the Holy Ghost. While it remained, was it not thine own? and after it
was sold, was it not in thine own power?"
(Acts 5:1-4)
(Editor’s Note: Brother Gwin’s excellent article reminded me of a visitor
and his wife from
As our conversation continued, he stated that he
and his wife would certainly not be coming to visit the services with us any
more. He was clearly one of those who brother Gwin speaks of who doesn’t know
the difference between the money which is laid by in store on the first day of
the week and the money that is in my billfold in my back pocket. E.R.H.)
---Greg Gwin