THE MOTE AND THE LOG

This post was written by guest blogger, Tumbleweed (http://tumbleweed.name/). I find he often words things better than I can.

I find it incredible that this nation is discussing such things as abortion and homosexuality. Is abortion a crime? Is homosexuality a sin? Is the moon made of green cheese?

Sin is established by God. Sin is not the domain of the courts of any land. No one can regulate sin But God Himself.

The courts can regulate what is considered as a crime. But what is a criminal act is not necessarily considered as sin by God. And what is considered a sin is not necessarily considered a crime by anyone's law.
There was a period of time when crime and law were the same. This was the days of Israel's leadership under God's rule. Break any of God's rules, and you have committed a sin. It was easy to determine just what was against the law in those days. If you picked up sticks on the Sabbath, or you sassed your parents, and you saw your community leaders coming toward you with a pile of stones, you might get a clue that you broke a law.

In the early days of this land, and in other lands that gave themselves the title of "civilized," there was an effort to create laws that conformed with the Bible, that is, as best as humanly possible this was accomplished. In the beginning of this nation there was established a policy that stated that there would be a separation of church and state. For two hundred years or thereabouts this was understood as a measure with which to prevent persecution of a person or a group because of their religious beliefs. This obviously was not taken to heart by either the citizenry of this nation, nor its leaders. We need but research the history of the Mormon church or the Jehovah's witnesses to bear this out.

But we at least tried to do the right thing, or at least we set the right thing as our direction.

In the early days of what we call the "media" there was a strong effort to make whatever traversed the airways conform to the moral values and the laws the we see written in the Word of God that was read by a vast majority of the people. Even our leaders were at least familiar with the Bible, or at least claimed to be familiar with the Bible or else they would have never made it to office since this was a Bible-believing nation, and at least there was an effort made to be a Bible following nation.

Over time there have been tiny steps made, unnoticed by the masses, to turn this nation and the world's thinking upside-down. One of the first things that was to be attacked is our notion of separation of church and state. Rather than this fundamental ideology protecting the church from the state, it has become a means by which to "protect" the state from the church. Now, rather than the church, that is God establishing the rules by which the citizenry must conform, it is now the world who tells us the way we must live, while at the same time denying that the One, God, who established what constitutes sin no longer exists. Therefore, since God does not exist, then neither does His rules that we use to understand what is sin.

Sin no longer exists. Sin is not a consideration in our courts or our schools any longer. Sin not only has no place in our thinking anymore, but it is encourages as a means of establishing what is called "free speech" and "personal liberty."

In the past our churches did not preach sin, that is, they did not preach what constituts sin. On occasion such a topic might have been broached as a means of providing variety, but sin, that is what sin is was known by all. It was taught from birth what sin is, and that it should be avoided at all cost. What was preached from the pulpit was the consequences for sin. And in order to try and avoid the consequences of sin, sin was in a measure avoided.

In today's churches the topic of sin is given a great deal of time and energy. The reason that the churches must preach what sin is, is because people no longer know what sin is. Sin is portrayed in everything from children's cartoons and games, to what we used to call "pornography" before the world redefined the word.

It is interesting to me that the churches must now struggle to define what is sin and what is not. In the churches (especially many of the leading churches of times past), sin is not only being discussed and defined, it is also being experimented with and allowed. And I suspect, in days to come, what the Bible defines as sin will be so pronounced in the churches that even the World will be appalled, which it already has become.

When sin was not taught in the churches, but rather the consequences of sin was preached loud and clear: people came to their knees in tears and repentance. Sin was something to be avoided at all cost if at all possible.
When the consequences of sin was preached, it was common practice to have what was then referred to as "alter calls." People would come to the alter and seek guidance and forgiveness from the Lord. Other's would kneel at their pew and seek the Lord in prayer. When I was young, this was a very common practice. Now that I an old, in all the different churches I have attended, I have not heard but very little mentioned as to the consequences of sin (and then only in passing), and I have not heard an alter call from any of them, nor have seen a single person on their knees.

I of course take into consideration the fact that I have not attended every church, nor every denomination (yet); so if your church is an exception, you are one of the fortunate ones.

The consequences of sin is seen as an evil in the churches today. It smacks of the "fire and brimstone" messages of times past when people sought to follow the Lord, and repented of their sins (or at least made an effort to repent). Consequences of sin goes contrary to the "Love of God" messages the churches of today are so fond of. The anger of God is dismissed and smoothed over in order that the Love of God will better shine from the torch of the churches.

And as the Love of God shines, and the consequences of sin is swept under the carpet, the World continues to grow farther and farther from the knowledge of what sin is. And those who know what sin is, no longer care that they sin, because there is no consequences being taught for committing sin.

The churches do not preach consequences of sin, the courts disregard sin when creating laws. And the media dictates what the attitude of the people should be.

Those who preach the love of God, and minimize the anger of God, are not only setting themselves up to experience the wrath of God themselves, but all those they have influenced with their doctrine as well (Ezek 33 all; Mat 7:22). If I were one of these preachers who minimize the consequences of sin, I think I would be in dire fear of the day I have to stand before the Throne. I believe it will be difficult enough to try and justify my actions (works) in this life without having claimed to be an authority of God's Word, and a pathway to His grace.

Peace and love are the bywords of the churches today, as they were in the Hippy generation of the 70's and Woodstock. And because the churches preach the same message as did the rebellious youth of times past, it also suffers the same problems and consequences as does that generation (Modern Society).

Thus we have what he have today.

Chaos.

Who is to blame for the mess we are in? Where did we leave the golden path we were trying to follow when I was young? Fingers point in every direction: It's the media; it's the government; it's the schools; it's society.
The government, nor the schools, nor society, nor the media have been given the responsibility to inform the people concerning virtues, nor to control the morals of our world. Each of these institutions have their function, but the teaching of God's Word, and the preaching of what will happen if God's Word is not followed is not one of them. This responsibility was given to the Church, the body of Christ, God's representative here on earth. If the morals of this world has gone amiss, it is the fault of the church, not the government or of society.

If it is then the church who is at fault, and I firmly believe that it is, where did the church go astray?

When the consequences of sin was taught, the church was strong and had a great influence on the world and the direction it was taking. When the consequences of sin was withdrawn from the messages of the church, the world began to follow its own devices.

One of those devices is to do away with or minimize the consequences of committing a crime. Prison sentences were lessened or done away with altogether; capital punishment was placed on the alter of "love and forgiveness for all," crime became a psychological problem rather than a heart issue; prisons became a country club rather than a room with iron bars; and a criminal was no longer at fault for their actions, but rather it was the fault of the parent and society in general.

And where did such a notion come from? Was it from the same Bible that the fire and brimstone preachers preached from? Is it the same Book that tells of God bringing down great devastation on those nations that sinned, including the one He had taken under wing and essentially cast out for 2000 years? Is it the Book that describes in great detail the wrath and the eternal punishment He is going to rain on those who disregard His commandment and His warnings?

Society's concept of love is not working, and because it is not working, crime has become an everyday occurrence and is growing by leaps and bounds. Society has not learned its lesson.

And neither has the church.

In psychology it is taught that in order for a person to change their life, they must first admit their problem and then do something about what they have seen. The world has accepted and preaches a concept taught by God.

The Bible tells us that in order to change our lives and become like Christ, that is to be a "Christian," we must first admit our problem (which is sin), repent of that sin, and change our ways.

We know that what the psychologists preach works.

Why is it that the churches no longer preach such a message? They think they are preaching such a message, but in reality they are not. The churches preach what is closer to being "Name it and claim it" theology. They preach that if you name Jesus, and bear the title of "Christian," then you already have everything offered by God and it is up to God to change us in spite of our rebellious ways. No psychologist would say that all you have to do is recognize that you have a problem with overeating, and not say that in order to rid yourself of the consequences of your problem that you must do something about that problem

The world discusses what to do about such things as abortion and homosexuality. They no longer ask the question if it against the law or not, that is not an issue any longer in this "do your own thing" society. Questions of what to do about people who say anything about someone who commits homosexuality and abortion is discussed and given legal judgements, but not so those who practice the acts.

Is homosexuality against the law? Is the killing of the unborn against the law?

Not in this country they are not.

Is homosexuality and abortion a sin?

The mere fact that such subjects are even being discussed, especially in the churches, shows how far astray our nation has come from reality.
Homosexuality is a sin. Abortion is a sin. And before the ACLU stones me, or the churches praise my stance, let me add this:

So is adultery a sin. So is covertness a sin. So is lust a sin. Homosexuality and abortion are no more a sin than is lying. God condemns them all in one huge lump. Someone who is guilty of one is guilty of all (James 2:10-13).

Until the church learns to evaluate itself, and returns to a pure direction, calling sin the abomination it is, in all it's forms, not just those sins it deems as unacceptable; and until the church cleanses itself of even the "least" of its stains of sin: it will have no effect on society or government (1Cor 5:all; Rev 22:14-15).

Pointing the finger will not solve the problem. The problem lies with the church itself. We are told that we have control over but one person, that is ourself. This is equally true of the church. Struggling against laws that are passed, and who will be in elected positions is not the responsibility of the church. But the purification of itself, and the perfecting of the Saints is its responsibility (Mat 7:3-4).

This is not being done.

Trying to cleanse the world with our hands filthy will do nothing more than spread the filth that already exists. Yet it has been given to us to spread the Word to the world, and to influence the world toward righteousness. But until we preach righteousness, and the consequences for the lack of such righteousness, and demonstrate such in our own lives, we will have less than no influence on those we seek to purify.