Thursday, July 29, 2010

Itching Ears

Columnist James Lambert had a hard time finding a pastor willing to speak out on California Proposition 19 which puts the legalization of marijuana to a vote. This reveals the apostasy of the church when church leaders are afraid to take a stand on a moral issue. And using marijuana is a moral issue because its use is generally an intoxicating escape from reality.

Pastors avoiding moral issues is not just an issue in California. For example, it is rare to hear a sermon on hell. There seems to be a concern among church leaders that it is not polite to make people uncomfortable. But that was not the attitude of Jesus when He was here. Jesus when out of His way to make people uncomfortable with their sinful condition...
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." (Matthew 10:34-37, NKJ)

The Bible tells us there will be a falling away from faith in Christ among those professing to believe in Him. This will get so bad that Jesus asked, "when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8 NKJ). The church reveals a lack of faith in Christ when it compromises with the world. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

While Christendom is in a sorry state from a biblical perspective, God is still working through the church since followers of Jesus have the only solution for a doomed world. What the preponderance of pastors scratching the ears of their constituents reveals is that we are getting ever closer to the return of Christ.

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