We don’t have to look very hard to find “churches” today that seek to fill their pews and their coffers by offering a religion that makes people comfortable in their sins, their world view and in their own concept of God. I have friends who have a secular, political view of the world. They find the preaching of God’s word very uncomfortable and have sought out such churches in which their world view and concept of God are accepted.
We should not be surprised by this. Jesus warned, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) The apostle Paul also warned us, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3) “Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
I recently came across a Facebook post that was shared from the Episcopal Church website by a friend who professes to be a Christian. It was a drawing of Jesus with a child on His lap and a very diverse crowd of people around Him. The caption read, “I never told you to hate, I don’t care where they come from, what they look like, who they love, or who they worship. What is so difficult?” Old age may have slowed me down some, but it hasn’t shut me up yet. This is my comment to that post: Yes, Jesus teaches us to love and not hate, but His love for us includes the instruction, “Go and sin no more.” The two biggest lies being spread today are: “In order to show love for someone you must accept their sinful behavior” and “If you don’t accept someone’s sinful behavior you hate them.” There is not a bit of truth in either of those statements. I will never accept lying or adultery as acceptable behavior, but I don’t hate the ones who do it. I have never paid attention to a person’s national origin or their appearance, but I do pay close attention to their character and the content of their heart. By the way, Jesus makes it very clear who alone is worthy of our worship. There was no response at all to my comment.
You may have noticed that I did not respond to the veiled reference to homosexuality in the post. I believe I got my point across without getting caught up in that politically charged trap. I simply used another, more common, sexual sin instead. Just because some church leaders use the image and name of Jesus, doesn’t make their teaching sound doctrine based on the scriptures. Satan knows the scripture better than we do and some of his biggest lies are verses taken completely out of context (a tactic he used in tempting Jesus). We must measure all teaching with the truth of God’s complete word and the prompting of God’s Holy Spirit within us. When we do that we will quickly separate the sheep from the wolves.