There appears to be only three types of people in the world today: those who are afraid, those who do not know enough to be afraid, and those who know their Bibles.
Sodom was a country with no churches, no prayer meetings, no preachers, no gospel tracts, no TV evangelists - and it perished!
How then shall we who live in America with all our scores of side by side churches and mounting "preachers", and new "Bibles" coming out almost every day, fare? We have it all, and yet we appease sin.
A major problem is that men build churches and do not enter them. They build churches which now appease - not oppose sin.
Look at us this very day as you read this.
The world is divided as to the gross sin of homosexuality. Even many "churches" and "christians" are screaming that gay marriage is just fine "because times have changed." The fact is they are right, times have changed. However, God has NOT changed and never will. Sin remains sin.
We appease, not oppose.
Churches sit empty on Wednesday night for the most part. Visitation programs are nil and void. We have no time for witnessing to the lost. The cry is "live and let live."
We appease, not oppose.
We are in a war which we picked ourselves and divided over the daily deaths of our soldiers. We have become a warmonger, arrogant country bent on controlling the world in a Hitler-like government. We are called upon to love and cherish one another and we strike out - whether struck AT or not.
We appease, not oppose.
Every form of spurious religious cult has moved across our soils, and we cower and leave them alone lest we become seen as intolerant bigots. Where are the Elijah's who mock Baal and accost him in his nest?
We appease--not oppose.
And the list goes on.
Decide today. We need to stop seeking scapegoats for the FACT that God hates sin. We need to stop blaming TV or radio...or McDonalds and Wendy's. The blame for the fast decline and decay of morality in our country lies securely at the door of the church.
The church is no longer a thorn in the side of the world. People laugh us to scorn when we do finally speak up, and depict us as silly giddy womanizers on television and in the "movies".
Church, we cannot afford any longer to believe that we are presenting the New Testament standard to mankind while living such a substandard of Christian life. We have done so for so long now that the world finds us no more than a redbug bite which can be neutralized with alcohol!
Samuel Chadwick said it best many centuries ago:
"The sign of Christianity is NOT a cross, but a tongue of fire!"
But, we have spit out the fire and replaced it with a massive soft marshmallow!
We are now the Church of Appease.
What will God do with the lukewarm church?
God, help us stand up against sin again!