Morality

The church has lost its bearings when it comes to morality. How? We have somehow come to the conclusion that we are called to define morality. We're not. God already did that. We call it the Bible. What the church is called to do is defend and live what God has already established. Yet, we have become just as relativistic as the culture in which we live. We are always debating if that's what God meant, or if some factor such as culture hasn't changed what God meant to what we want Him to mean. The teaching of God's Word is not being undermined and "watered down" by the world but by the church. We are the spokesmen of doubt, denial, and deception. In the name of scholarship we read the Bible to find out what it means instead of what it says. The church is not an active agent for righteousness in the world because we promote the world's values and because we do most things the same way the world does them. The church is big business. The church is entertainment. The church is adjusting to the culture. And the rottenness of the culture in which we live is accelerating at a greater rate than it ever has before. The light is hidden and the salt has lost its savor. It is no longer "Thus says the Lord." Instead we have come up with our own morality, our own way to worship, our own agenda for reaching the world. It's time we got back to teaching what God says and letting the people in our churches and the culture in which we live measure their morality by God's standards and not man's. Man's wisdom cannot change lives. Man's charisma cannot change lives. Man's eloquence cannot change lives. Man's reason cannot change lives. The agent for change in the lives of people is the Spirit of God. And the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. "Thus says the Lord" has never been popular. But to wield any other weapon in an attempt to bring people to Christ is foolishness--ungodly, devoid of the fear of the Lord.