The World vs. the Church

by Stephen Bastin

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In Egypt (in the days of Moses) God showed that He was more powerful than the gods of Pharaoh.

Yet notice what happened to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai.  First, God spoke to His people and said, (in part) “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.”

After God had spoken the ten commandments, Moses went up on the mountain to speak face to face with God.  He was gone for forty days.

Meanwhile, down below, the people began to worry about Moses’ delay in returning.  They came to Moses’ brother, Aaron, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

They gave their gold to Aaron and Aaron made the gold into a calf.  When he had finished, they said, “This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

Where did they get the idea of a calf to worship?  That’s easy.  They learned that in Egypt.

The Egyptians worshipped cows and God killed their cows.  Should God be worshipped as a cow?  No.  That’s easy.  Why then did Israel think that they could make a cow into a God that they could worship?

They learned it from their Egyptian “friends.”  They loved the world more than they loved God.

Silly?  Yes.  Can’t happen again?  Think again.

The world says, “Entertain me!”  The church says, “We can do that too!”

God says, “Worship Me!”  The church says, “That’s too boring.  We need to make worship more exciting and entertaining or people won’t come!”

God says, “Sing and make melody in your heart.”  The church says, “We can’t sing very well.  Let’s get some professional singers and they will sing to us.  Let’s get a piano and that will help even more.  Then let’s get us a big organ and that will drown out the congregation so no one will know how badly we sing.  Let’s get a band and then we can clap and dance and everyone will have a good time!”

God says, “Preach the gospel.”  The church says, “Preaching is boring.  Let’s get an exciting preacher who will tell us what we want to hear.  Let’s bring in a drama team and let them perform for us.  We can learn the truth better if we are entertained.”

God says (concerning communion), “Do this in remembrance of me.”  The church says, “But if we do it every Sunday everyone will get bored and it won’t mean as much as it should.  Let’s do it once a month, or even skip a month now and then.  Let’s just do it on special occasions and we will turn the lights down low and light candles and make it a really big deal with everyone going down front and kneeling.”  And God tells us that his church in the New Testament “came together on the first day of the week to break bread.”

God says (concerning the contribution), “Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  The church says, “But if we let every one decide for themselves, they won’t give enough so let’s make a law that they have to tithe (Old Testament law demanding that ten percent of income had to go to the priests).  Then if they still don’t give enough we can have pie sales, raffles, car washes, tag sales and even start a bingo game if we need more money.”

God says (concerning prayer), “Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.”  And the church says, “But we can’t discriminate against the women.  That wouldn’t be fair to them.  In fact, we ought to leave the praying to the clergy or let the congregation memorize a few prayers and we will keep everything under control in that way.  Or, we could let people pray in strange languages doing it several at a time and that will keep everyone busy trying to figure out what is going on.  That could be really exciting!”

In the above dialogues, what God says is found in the Bible.  What the church says is found in many of today’s churches, but not in the Bible.

What is the church to do?  Present a worship service where only the Word of God is used as an authority or use the benefits of a modern society to provide services that appeal to people?

Perhaps the trouble begins when someone assumes that if THEY like something then God must also like it.  The assumption is made that worship is something that I need to get something OUT of rather than being something that I do to please God.

(Please note that if you do something that pleases God, you ought to get something out of doing that.  What you should get is a feeling of satisfaction that you have done what your Creator has told you to do!)

When the Bible says, “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil,” it expressed a truth that has not changed.  More people means more money for churches.  If they can just draw in more people they will have more money to do all the wonderful things that God has told them to do.  Therefore, the end justify the means.

The only problem is that the church has “sold its soul.”  When the word of God is abandoned in order to please people, then it does not matter much what comes after that.  The church is lost because it has sold out to the world.  It has lost its power source.  It has failed.

God’s church is to be “the pillar and support of the truth.”  It is not to be tossed to and fro by every whim of people.  It is supposed to stand solidly on the foundation of Jesus.  His apostles and prophets are to be the standard of authority in the church.

“Thus saith the Lord,” was the battle cry of the church long ago.  It ought still to be the message that the church preaches to the world.

God demands that the world be changed (converted) before it comes into the church.  He is satisfied with nothing less than a wholesale change in attitude and actions.  God demands obedience.  God demands worship, that men and women bow down to Him and to the final authority of His Word, the Bible.

The world provides entertainment.  The church is to provide a word from God.  God did not entertain Moses at the burning bush.  He demanded absolute obedience.  God did not entertain the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai.  He gave them the Ten Commandments (not the Ten Suggestions).  He terrified the children of Israel as His voice thundered out His demands.

If you would like Bible references for the things we have said, we will be glad to furnish them.  Or, you may simply use a Concordance and look them up for yourselves.

We are a church that belongs to Jesus.  We seek to honor Him as the Son of God and we seek to please His Father as we come together each week for worship

We invite you to join us in bowing before the throne of God.