I have been, in addition to being an educator, a Baptist preacher for well over 50 years. During that time I was proud to be a part of a movement that produced some wonderful, Christ honoring and people loving Churches through men of God like Lee Robertson who recently passed away. He and many many others were devoted men of genuine Christian character. Men who loved God more than money or the worldly possessions it brings. Men of humble origins who continued living as humble servants never forgetting the "pit from which they were digged".
This is not to say they did not live well, they did; but with a simplicity of living seemingly foreign to many ministers today. How big a house does one need for just his wife and himself? How many cars and airplanes? Art collections and expensive hobbies; are they really necessary in order to minister as a Pastor? How big a church must one pastor? Of course men are not Pastors anymore, really. Not in the historic and Biblical sense. Few truly "shepherd" their flocks today; most do not know most of the people who come to their churches, how can you when the number exceeds several thousand. How personal can you be? This, of course, is overcome by simply hireing more sub pastors...ministers of everything from youth to maintenance. Where the divine call for these "pastors" is to be found eludes me.
Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating that preachers must live lives of poverty or quiet desperation. the laborer is certainly worth his hire. However I believe money, like unchecked familiarity, is a trap that, once sprung, soon enslaves the one captured. Coupled with popularity and power, prosperity can have deadly consequences for the individual and others. The forces of evil in this world, where Satan is its God according to the scriptures, are moved with ghoulish glee over the myriads of prospects for moral corruption and destruction.
Personally I am Ashamed of the Extravagance of the Prosperity Preaching coming from our pulpits, and not just by the Charismatics. To me it is a trap because the true believer knows from scripture that this world is not our permanent home, only our temporary dwelling, and that we must not drive our stakes too deeply here for the Apostle Paul tells us that "our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians 3:20 where the word "conversation" in that verse is the Greek word politeuma, from polis...city; therefore "citizenship). Its a trap folks!
It is not that money has its roots in all evil, but the desire to have and then be controlled by money is what leads to all evil. Seldom is one able to maintain his dependence entirely on God when he has the riches of this world. Seldom is one able to maintain his fervent desire to please the Father and serve the Son when one has so much of this worlds goods they become a serious distraction and that which diverts ones attention from humble worship of God.
I am ashamed...because Christianity today is under attack, not because of its evangelistic fervor and zeal; not because of its proselyting influence; but because it has become a spectical! A spectical of commonality, immorality and of licence where there is no definitive standard of conduct or dress and no doctrinal guidelines for faith and practice.
There was a time when Christianity and its churches sought to raise the standard of ones personal relationship with their God. A personal modesty in appearance and attitude was not just taught, it was sought after by believers. The approach to God was reverent, humble, and in awe of the glory and majesty of their Lord. Today we see the move to a vulgar approach to God and Christ where modesty and reverence are excluded and an anything goes attitude pervades the thinking of those coming to our churches.
Appearance is perception! A prostitute is easily recognized on the street; a homeless person likewise. But you cannot recognize a Christian! Should you be able to? I think so. Christians ought to stand out in their humility and selflessness; their helpfulness and kindness. People are prone to discount scantily dressed women and girls, and men and boys who look so shoddy their appearance reflects the looseness of society. What is wrong with dressing in attire that projects a clean and wholesome image? Why must the shoddyness and immodesty of the way society dresses be the model for Christians? This is also true in the area of music, or non music as Pat says. We both love good music.
I am ashamed...and dissappointed. The movement is moving! What movement? The movement away from traditional Christianity and from Doctrinal instruction that is based, not on "what does the scripture mean to you", but "what do the scriptures mean as originally written? We have moved into a period of church history where what we used to avoid like the plague is now the way to approach the Bible; that of existentialism.
Existentialism has always been a self serving philosophy, yet this is the new approach...and I am ashamed and very dissappointed because preachers are promoting it. I fear it will come to a disasterous end because of its shallowness.
End...page one!
PAGE TWO..."SAVANAROLA was hanged then burned to a crisp", by the Church!
In my next post I will show that this kind of hatred still exists among Christians. Be sure to read it!
Gerald Stokes
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