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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
Short Steps On a Long Journey
It’s not hard to see: something has happened. Sure enough, the “Christianity” of the 21st century is but a mere shadow of that of the 1st century. That which is known as “Christendom” today is not only 1900 years removed but miles away from the purity of the church Jesus purchased with His blood, Acts 20:28-32. Seeing the difference, one is moved to ask, “What went wrong?” The answer to that question is found in a search of both biblical and secular history, where we discover that apostasy followed a very predictable pattern. Are we wise to ignore the warnings that are so conspicuous when we examine what the Bible and history tells us?
The first warning is inherent in the facts: Christ’s church fell away. Even with all God did for them, some still departed, as 1 Timothy 4:1 warned. It was not a lack of provision on God’s part, but it was man’s free choice. This leaves no place for smug complacency today.
The second warning is seen in the way the departure from God’s truth took place. It was a slow, gradual process. Changes did not take place overnight. Those who led this departure may not have realized what would be the consequences of those small, seemingly insignificant steps. As usual, hindsight is 20/20. It may be that elders were not sufficiently alert. Preachers may have wearied of the “reprove, rebuke and exhort” mandate given in 2 Timothy 4:2. The third warning comes from the review of attitudes that gave comfort and encouragement to the departure itself. Attitudes such as the following:
Ignorance of Scripture
For years I gave a simple pre-test to students in my State University classes. They were bright, alert and capable students, but seldom did anyone make better than 50% on the test. Why was this so? Had Bible time become merely play time? Did parents and teachers teach too little from the Bible and too much from writings of men. Who is so bold as to say that “our” youth are as knowledgeable as they should be? Such ignorance is the soil from which weakness and rejection of God’s Word is grown. It did it back then, and it can today!
Desire to Be Like Others
We expect that our children will be greatly influenced by their peers, but adults should be mature enough to know that our task is to bring the lost out of the world, not— become like the world. When Corinth improved their “image” in the community, they became “puffed up,” 1 Corinthians 5. When Israel asked for a king “like all the nations,” they did not realize where that would take them. The “go along to get along” view accepted today by many among us will take us to that same destructive end, Acts 20.
Allow Others to Think for Us
There has been a temptation for some to “hire a preacher” to do our study and thinking for us, then follow him blindly. Confidence in brethren is one thing, but no college, school of preaching or seminary is worthy of such devotion. The Bereans had confidence in Paul, but they still “searched the scriptures daily” to be sure “those things were so,” Acts 17:11. No one, regardless of how zealous or well trained, can think, study, worship or be accountable for you.
Ignoring Biblical Authority
Since God’s Word is “truth,” John 17:17, then we must recognize it as our standard. However, it has become common to hear “I think,” “It is widely believed,” or “Campbell taught” as the foundation for our convictions rather than “Thus saith the Lord.” Colossians 3:17 says “Whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus." “I feel” or “_____taught” will never be good enough.
If we want to be “Christ’s church,” we will need more teaching on Bible authority, on respecting the silence of scripture and “What saith the scripture?" See Romans 4:3.
Tolerance, Open Mindedness
No, we must not be intolerant or unwilling to listen. I am ready to listen to anyone, but “What saith the scripture?” must be the bottom line in our conclusion. “Pluralism” has our nation by the throat, demanding we accept all ideas and actions, rejecting none. Recent generations, seeing what they regard as the folly of dogmatism, have drifted toward a tolerance that borders on, if not exceeding, total rejection of truth. Comments like “No one has a patent on truth,” or “Who are we to say ______is wrong?” have taken us toward a relativism that “stands for nothing and falls for just about everything.”
Certainly, our minds should be open, but not so unguarded that just anything falls in. God says some things are “wrong,” and some things are “right,” whether we accept it or not. Our job is not to draw lines of fellowship, but to recognize the lines God has drawn.
Short steps are what make up every long journey. Let’s be careful lest we take the wrong steps.
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Growing as a Congregation
Congregational growth is a very difficult thing to measure. Numerical growth, which is the most common approach, can be very deceptive. Its emphasis tends to change both focus and efforts so that growing numerically becomes the purpose rather than the result. When this occurs, many people are often added to the number without proper instruction, so that a rush to grow numerically leads to poor grounding in the truth. (In other words, you can have a large number of baptisms, without having a large number of real conversions.) However, since numerical growth is so easy to notice, it gets people excited easily, making it a wonderful momentum builder for activity (which, unfortunately, may be more excitement than true).
The most important way a congregation needs to grow is spiritually (2 Peter 3:18), but this type of growth takes longer and is hard to measure. Significant spiritual growth can occur even when the congregation only remains steady or even declines numerically. (And weaker Christians sometimes leave the congregation due to their weakness and the widening spiritual gap created by others’ growth.) Spiritual growth is measured by the growing readiness of Christians to evaluate themselves and the congregation according to what the Bible says, rather than using tradition, society, or other congregations as a standard. This requires growth in spiritual knowledge but also growth of the spiritual will and the spiritual mindset – Romans 8:5.
Growing spiritually as a congregation is essential, yet we must also acknowledge that spiritual growth occurs individual by individual. Therefore, a congregation grows spiritually when the number of individuals setting higher moral standards and making better spiritual decisions grows. When spiritual growth occurs, spiritual activity increases, including efforts to reach the lost who have either never obeyed the gospel or have fallen away (Mark 16:15-16; James 5:19-20) and to teach them thoroughly in an ongoing way (Matthew 28:18-20). Therefore, placing spiritual growth first will indirectly but ultimately lead to numerical growth without having to compromise along the way.
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