The "Religious" Church

The "Religious" Church

Thanks to my wife the ultimate book worm I have a house full of books. She has never found a book she wishes to throw or give away.
Quite some time ago now when we were moving into a “smaller” house someone gave her a box of Christian books dating back to the fifties.
One book entitled "Essentials in Christian Faith" by John B. Harrington, published in 1958, could have been written yesterday. It opens with this quote from Paul Gallico in Esquire Magazine in 1948:
"A writer in a popular magazine has written the following words; 'We are all, if you will pardon the expression, Headed for Hell in a handbarrow. If, ever the people of the world stood in need of a spiritual revival, it is now. We are beginning to poison the face of the earth with our miserable presence. The brakes are off. The cart of the world is sliding down the way greased with hatred, ambition, lies, self-seeking and avarice toward the pit.’"
Harrington notes that Gallico makes no pretense of being "a religious man" noting that "...for him it is precisely religion in its organized forms which has in part caused the situation he deplores. He is careful to state that it is not "religion" for which he is looking. For in his opinion, religion throughout the history of our culture has advanced its control over human beings by the investment of bigotry and persecution. 
Yet, out of despair over the current human situation he says; ‘The voice for which my heavy spirit is yearning must reach us all... For if it is not heard, we are lost. Something beyond our material enrichment and lust for power and position, some rewards founded on good will, selflessness, and the innate dignity of the human spirit...honour, humility, decency and courage."
Another Paul writing to a member of the first century church wrote the following,
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" 2 Timothy 3:1-4
If Paul Gallico is right and I believe he is, mankind is considerably nearer the bottom of that slope than he was in 1948. Moreover at the bottom of that slope is a very deep lake filled with brimstone.
The church here in North America and particularly in the United States has become “religious” in many ways. They have mixed their faith with their politics and as someone has said, mixing politics with religion is like mixing gasoline and water. The water in undrinkable, the gasoline unusable and the whole mixture is explosive.
Billy Graham said,

“Those outside the church expect followers of Christ to live differently, 

yet today many in church are chasing after the world

 - not to win them, but to be like them.”

Billy Graham.

Mahatma Gandhi said of those who claimed to be Christians around him

“Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians -

 you are not like him.”

Mahatma Gandhi.

This could be said of many who call themselves Christians today in North America. All too often I’ve heard the phrase, “why should I become a Christian. I know many Christians and I’m better than them”. Sadly in many cases it’s true.
If we look at the lives of Jesus and his disciples we see men who were not confrontational. Jesus and his disciples did not protest against the government of Rome. They did not demand “their rights”.
They didn’t protest against the rights given to other groups by the secular government of the day.
They never spoke against anything they thought was wrong outside of their own faith.
These men of God knew they had the answer to the worlds problems. They knew they had the way to heaven.
Many today like Paul Gallico back in 1948 are looking for more than this materialistic world has. They are looking for deep spiritual meaning to life. They are looking to fill that emptiness that is within. That empty space in the soul of man that only God and Christ can fill.
If we claim to be Christians in the twenty first century we need to be putting down the placards, stop protesting against things and present the pure word of God.
We need to be following the advice given to us by the apostle Peter who said,
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  
Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 
Dear friends,
 I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.  
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:9-12.
We need to heed the advice of the writer of Hebrew who said,

“Make every effort to live in peace with all men 

and to be holy; 

without holiness no one will see the Lord.” 

Hebrews 12:14.

We need to do this because someone’s eternal resting place may be dependent on our actions as Christians.
Please think about it.