New Year Message – It Is Getting Darker
1st January 2019
At the start of a new year we tend to look back and look forward at the same time. And that’s what I’ve been doing. The two areas that I’ve been reflecting on are the state of the church and the state of the world because the two are connected. The church is here to witness to the world and to act as a restraint on evil. And the state of the world reflects the effectiveness of the church. I should state at this point that I’ve only been looking at the Western part of the church and the world.
I was born more than three score years ago and I‘ve been a Christian for the majority of that time. And during my lifetime I have watched the church deteriorate and evil in the world increase. The church has deteriorated in a number of ways. One of the ways in which the church has deteriorated is in terms of doctrine. This has happened in two ways. Many churches have abandoned important doctrines and many others have introducing false doctrines. For instance, there are churches which no longer preach the gospel. I was struck again this Christmas that the messages of many of the leading church men and women in Great Britain were about social and political issues. Christmas should be an opportunity to remind the world that Jesus came into the world to save us. There are many other churches that do not teach about the Baptism with the Holy Spirit or the gifts of the Holy Spirit for instance. On the other hand there are churches that teach false doctrines such as tithing by Christians, the prosperity gospel and ecumenism with other religions. Another way in which the church has deteriorated has been by bringing worldly ideas and practices into the church. This includes such things as false bibles like The Message, seeker sensitive practices, business systems, the social gospel, marketing and imitating the entertainments industry. Another way that the church has deteriorated is through being self-serving and insular. Many churches put all their efforts into maintaining the church and forget about their mission to reach out with the gospel. And worst of all there are many churches which have brought witchcraft into the church. These are just some examples of the way in which the western church has deteriorated. There are other ways but I think I’ve given enough examples to make my point.
The result of all of this wrong doing in the church has been the decline of the church in size and influence. And this in turn has resulted in an increase in evil and immorality in the western world. In my lifetime I have seen an increase in divisions and extremism in society, I’ve seen a breakdown in wisdom by our leaders and I’ve seen a concerted effort to push the church to the margins of society. I’ve also seen an increase in immorality. Some things declared by God to be sin have become acceptable in our society. There’s been a massive increase in pornography, with some porn stars becoming celebrities, and there has been a huge increase in hedonistic behaviour. Infidelity is largely accepted as something to be expected and does not have the consequences it used to do. Divorce has become easier. And in more recent years gambling has become huge in Great Britain. Lies, deception and corruption have become widespread in society and the gap between the rich and the poor just gets wider and wider.
As the light of the church becomes more and more dim, the darkness of the world around us grows ever darker. And unless the church turns around it will only get darker. So, as we start a new year, what should we do? We need to stop the rot in the church. To do this we need to grow in our knowledge of God’s word through diligent study of the bible and we need to believe and accept every word of it whether we like it or not. This will equip us to discern the truth from lies and false teaching. We also need to humble ourselves before God and seek a deeper relationship with him and reject the ways of the world. So, what will you do this year? Will you do your part to stop the rot?