Quite recently I tuned in to a radio story concerning a certain church denomination. The broadcast declared that this denomination was having a meeting of the top leadership to discuss critical issues facing the church. Due to the negative effects related to these issues, church membership had been steadily declining.
One hot issue of the discussion had to do with whether or not church leaders should be allowed to marry. The reasoning behind the consideration of this subject – aside from the aforementioned dwindling membership – was that the church should embrace the great strides that have been made by women in recent years. “We must modernize the church … bring it into the new millennium…”, they declared. Following closely on the heels of this was the issue of ordaining church leaders. All the experts agreed that the delegates would be looking at candidates that were of a certain age and over. After a few more painful minutes of this ecclesiastical rhetoric I reached for the “Scan” button – even country music I thought would be preferable to this dribble!
Not one of the parties involved in this conversation ever broached the most vital issue of all – “What do the Scriptures say?” One would think that the one book that should be consulted on any issue confronting a group of so-called Bible believing men and women would be the Bible. Are they more concerned with the popular thought patterns of the times than with the truth of the Scriptures? Does being a modern church mean that you ignore the timeless truths of the Bible? Are the membership numbers more important than adhering to God’s own guidance?
To tell you the truth I was not really all that surprised. From all accounts there seems to be very little interest in what the Word of God has to say in the organized churches.
Jeremiah 2:13
“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.”
This truth from the Book of Jeremiah is as relevant today as in the days of the prophet. God says that the people had forsaken Him and made their own theological systems (cisterns). A cistern was an underground container for storing water. Furthermore God states that these cisterns were broken ones that could hold no water. That is an adequate description of the man-made religious systems of our day.
One group wants their leaders to marry, another does not; one group wants to dip you in water, another says water is all dried up; one group says Christ is coming back, another, that he already has; one group says smoking is a sin, another says that you can smoke but you can’t dance; one says homosexuality is evil, another ordains homosexual ministers – and the list goes on and on. The only clear criteria for the decisions made seems to be whether the decision maker fell heads up or not. For those who even hint at going back to the text that started all this, the not so nice label, “fundamentalist” is attached. Could you imagine a quarterback yelling “Foul!” at the head referee for taking a moment to consult the rule book?
With all this wrangling over church traditions and customs, it’s no wonder the brick and stain glass shops of our day are waning in their effect. Those of us who count it their life’s most vital work to serve the bread of life should take this as a solemn wake up call. For a good dose of useless opinion and rhetoric people will soon realize all they have to do is reach for the remote. For truths that have transcended the known history of man and still satisfy a hunger to know the Creator, the only place to go is the Bible. Give it to them.