Nathan Brewer
A few years ago, professional hockey player Sean Avery, NBA member Steve Nash, and pro basketball broadcaster Charles Barkley all voiced support for homosexual marriage. That would have been career suicide a few decades ago, but now it barely creates a ripple.
That’s because America is becoming increasingly secular. Instead of being guided by a biblical code of conduct and morality, utilitarianism — doing whatever “works”— is the prevailing ethos.
For years now, we have been weaned away from biblical teaching on both doctrinal and moral issues. Religion is relegated to something people do, if they do it at all, on the occasional Sunday. But come Monday, it’s back to working and making money and having fun, with little regard for spiritual matters.
In many areas of the country, we are still very “religious,” yet we’re following the same trend. Most claim to belong to some church, but fewer are attending. For those who do make an effort, few seem to allow the Bible to impact their lives on a daily basis.
People give lip service to God, but live as though God does not exist. Culture has played a part in this trend, but so has religion. There has been a shift away from teaching the Bible, with the focus now on “building relationships” and offering social outlets for people. As culture shifts, churches are keeping pace by changing too.
Now, it’s difficult to get religious people, even preachers, to discuss the Bible. Having a real discussion about biblical topics and passages is next to impossible, because there might be disagreement, and that just doesn’t go over well in society’s current mindset: accept everything, disagree over nothing, just love each other, and don’t ever tell people they’re wrong.
That is entirely unbiblical. There is such a thing as right and wrong. God does make demands of us behaviorally and in serving Him. He expects us to live for Him and become more like His Son, not just an hour a week or month, but every hour of every day.
Today, even religious people accept immorality, because they either don’t think it’s wrong, or they think it’s wrong to tell people it’s wrong. We don’t fear God nearly as much as we fear being labeled “judgmental.”
Believers are walking around with little thought of spiritual matters or spiritual consequences, as though God does not exist. Satan must be enjoying this.
God loves you and wants you to love Him in return. He wants, and demands, the top spot in your life. Let His word guide your every thought, word and action. Believe the gospel (John 8:24), repent of your sins (Luke 13:3), confess Christ (Matthew 10:32; Acts 8:37), and be baptized into Christ for the remission of your sins (Acts 2:38).
