Throughout history, the sins of the culture tend to become the sins of the Church.
And at this specific time in history, the message of culture that leverages pluralism and promotes tolerance of all faiths is having a deep and profound effect on most Christians, especially those between ages 18-35.In recent studies, 50% of those who identify as born again Christians believe that God is the Creator of all and that Jesus is the right way for them; but they also believe there are ways to Heaven outside of Him. This is probably why less than 1% of these believers share the gospel.
Church battles have constantly raged over biblical truth and lies of the culture. When Christians retreat from God’s viewpoint, the sins of the culture infiltrate the Church and popular opinions trump God’s truth.
Lies exchanged for the truth of God always intend to dumb our Lord into a functional Savior who gets us to Heaven without requiring us to truly follow His ways.
Often these lies are masked by words such as tolerance, acceptance, freedom, and love, and serve to override God’s ways. This statement by the Apostle Paul describes the world’s longing to have its deepest needs of meaning, purpose, and significance met by creation rather than the Creator
“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things (or creature) rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.” –Romans 1:25
The cornerstone of biblical Christianity is God’s revelation to His creation and His Church—all those who have truly trusted Christ personally for salvation—through His Word.
Today, I am calling all of those who are part of the Church to look at our hearts to determine what we are trusting in for life, joy, and peace. Do we trust the Creator or the creation and its false messages?
To resist being duped into turning from biblical truth, true believers must know how God thinks. If we don’t, we are susceptible to closing our hearts to the truth and opening ourselves to lies that walk by sight, not faith. These lies end in hopeless compromise of the eternal for the temporal.
No lie flowing from the sins of our culture has better answers for life than the cross of Christ. My brothers and sisters, let’s not exchange the God’s truth for lies.
John Maisel
John's travels for ministry behind the Iron Curtain led him to found East-West Ministries International in 1993. John and his wife, Susie, live in Dallas, Texas and have a grown daughter and two grandchildren.