Apostacy

So far, we have seen that God does condemn Divorce and Remarriage in many, if not most modern instances.  Yet this does happen and worse yet, it happens amongst our eldership and leaders.  If our eldership is blinded by their own sin, how can we expect any form of God-ly leadership from those tasked with shepherding us?

It would be easy to do exactly what the church has done - ignore the entire situation or blame it on the culture and continue business as usual.  Of course, this leaves us with a church with no call to righteousness, no discernment, actually no fruits or gifts of the Holy Spirit - because you are not going to find God blessing in this situation.

On the other hand, you can start to weed out those unfit for leadership, which needs to be done but there will be a cost!  Forget attendance numbers, money, etc.  Expect the world to label you as narrow minded, judgmental, exclusive, cultic, haters, etc.

What are Godly men and women to do when the very foundation of the culture, family and church are under such direct attack?  Indeed, what are Godly men and women to do?

What will happen if we do nothing?  Well, that one is actually easy!

Expect denominations to sell out Biblical standard for cultural standards.  Expect churches to become more 'liberal' in their understandings of Scripture.  Expect the least qualified of men and women to become leaders over the body.  Expect to see the church grow by leaps and bounds as the body less and less represents the one true God.  It is called apostasy - it is directly where we are headed in the modern church of today.

And when the church succeeds through apostasy, what are you to do?  Absolutely nothing, if you have not prepared for the day (or is it night?)  to come!

1.  If you have fallen as we have discussed across the last many posts, get your life right with God and fix your problems before God!
2.  Start to learn your Bible!  Do not read books about the Bible, read your Bible!  If you need ideas on where to start: Luke, John, Acts, Romans, Revelations is a great sequence.
3.  Begin to identify whom the 'real' believers' are in your fellowship.  You will need them for the next assignment.
4.  Become a prayer warrior for your church, fellowship, Bible study - what it is you have.  Remember in particular your leadership for all of these.  And, of course, the needs of your body you worship with/in.
5.  I am a solid believer that we need as many in the church as possible with Knowledge, Wisdom and Discernment as spiritual gifts.  Of course, the Holy Spirit has the right to dish these out as it sees fit and without any input from us - but it never hurts to all least ask!
6.  You are going to need faith, to give you courage and the backbone for handling the tasks God will set before you.  God will provide lots of opportunities to build your faith, if you follow and do not lead through life.
7.  You must become the least of anyone, a threat to no one, an example to all.  You must be blameless before the courts, police and your fellow man.  You have to live your faith!
8.  Support God's work.  If you can not in good conscience support your church financially, then move to another church!  There are many wonderful Christian and humanitarian missions around the world, all terribly under funded.  Need ideas, ask and I can tell you of ones I believe do a great job of financial stewardship and witnessing.
9.  As you grow in maturity, you need to become involved in service within the body.  Sunday School, youth groups, elderships, deacons, whatever your area's opportunities are to service God and not yourself.

You can have an impact for God in your family, your community, in your church, in the lives of others - but you have to be willing to put away the remote control and dedicate 'free' hours to the reality of God - to whom you are supposed to be a willing slave.....

To quote an old song, ".....it only takes a spark to get a fire going....."  You can be that spark that will awaken the current generation to the appalling conditions within the modern church.  Just do not assume that the Holy Spirit is going to raise up someone else - you might be your environment's best last chance of turning things around.