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I read a story once (I don’t remember where) about a man who went to pastor a new congregation. He was a very serious young man who was just simple enough to believe the Bible as it was written. He tried to lead the congregation into a deeper experience with the Lord, but kept running into the blockage of the idea that to be socially relevant, the church must blend into our modern culture. It seems to be the idea today that to reach our modern population we must change to become culturally relevant.
One day, as he was going to make a call on one of the congregation, he came upon a man who had slid off the road into a ditch. Lo and behold, it was the chairman of his board. It was raining and slick, so his car was mired in the mud.
The pastor told the fellow he would be glad to help. That he would back his car down into the ditch, hook a chain to his car, and pull him out. At this the fellow said, “Don’t do that. If you get down in this ditch you will be as stuck in this mud as I am.” The young pastor said, “That is true and it is what I have been trying
to teach our church. To pull you out, I must stay up on the solid road and pull you out from here. The church must stay on solid ground and not drop to the level of the world, if we are going to throw them a line and pull them up. If we drop to the level of our modern culture, we will not be able to lift our world.”
The church was designed to set the standard for the world, but in these times it seems the church has decided to let the world set the standard for the church, with the excuse that we must be relevant. If our purpose is only for this time world, this may be alright, but if our purpose is for eternity, this idea will never accomplish our purpose. The question is, What is the purpose of the church?
When I was in the military we marched in formation from one place to another. To move a large group from one location to another with any hope of success requires some organization. Without this, chaos is usually the result. There are proven methods to accomplish this. We all march in step. In the front is a person with a banner on a long pole. This is called a guidon or standard. This is the standard to be followed in order to arrive at the proper location at the appointed time.
The Bible is our book of proven methods and the church is to be our guidon or standard. It doesn’t matter what each person thinks. If we do not follow the standard bearer, the result is confusion and failure.
God intended for the church to be the standard bearer for our society in our march from here to eternity. Somewhere along our journey we have stopped following our guidon, and began to follow each other. We have stopped setting the standard for our social culture, and began to let our modern culture set the standard for the church. In doing so we have lost our direction, and confusion has been the result. This has happened under the guise of being relevant in order to be effective.
Believe me, the church has always been relevant, but just as Satan did in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, he has lied to people today, and said that God’s way is out dated, and needs to be made relevant. Under the guise of political correctness, he has led us away from our standard or guidon, and caused us to run in all directions, with confusion as the result.
I know that so is easy to become discouraged when we try and try and it seems that no one is interested. I am sure Noah probably wanted to give up sometimes. We see others that seem to have success and we are tempted to give up the battle and join the parade. We must ask ourselves, where is this parade going? Remember that God’s word says that we are not to become weary for we will reap in due season if we faint not. I know that it may take time, but God’s word and His way will always produce the desired results in due time.
Yes, God’s way is old fashioned, but proven to be effective. Let us again lift up the standard of God’s Word. Accept the sovereignty of God, give Him and His Word the respect they deserve and set the standard for the world, but do not let the world set the standard for God’s church.
Let’s put on our shoes, pull up our baggy pants, tuck in our shirts, tighten our belts, lift high our banner, and LEAD our world in our march from here to eternity.
Like a mighty army Moves the church of God: Brothers, we are treading Where the saints have trod: We are not divided, All one body we, One in hope and doctrine, One in charity. Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war, With the cross of Jesus Going on before. --Sabine Baring-Gould
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