Isaiah 29:13 reads “Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.” Greek version.

Have you ever thought of the possibility that we are in the end-time period of the church age as presented in the Scriptures? Could it be? Could we be part of an end-times church? Is it possible that we are witnessing the events from Scripture right now? I think it is!

Note that this past month, the Episcopal Church has adopted worldly, secular, anti-Biblical beliefs and made them part of their doctrinal position. You know what I am talking about. Issues regarding God-ordained marriage and divesting themselves from Israel.

Though that is a stretch for most Christians to believe that it strikes close to home with their church, note that almost all churches of every denomination have adopted much of the world into their way of doing church. Many of these “adoptions” are subtle. They sound Christian, but they are a stretch from Biblical teaching.

Take for example all the things we have incorporated into the church that you did not read in the Bible. I could list many of them, but for the sake of brevity I will not go into them. However if you choose to think about Scripture and the church you attend, I’m sure you can identify some of these tendencies to incorporate the world’s standards and practices into the church setting.

Look at the way you worship, the multiple programs promoted in and through the church, the way the church comes together and prays (or not), the brother and sister relationship of the saved, the finances and offerings, the huge multi-million dollar structures, and the absence of true Biblical teaching, perhaps not in doctrine but in the way you operate and function.

Have we brought the world in and pampered her? I think that is a no-brainer! Are we much different from the world? I don’t think so. We have been tutored in the Laodicean fashion of operating from a worldly direction and are neither cold nor hot but lukewarm. We cannot be identified as different from this world’s culture because we are immersed in it so deeply and most Christians haven’t noticed the drift away from God.

Isaiah said “Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.”

Does the church need to change? Yes. Will it change? Only a few will follow the light of God’s Word in these last days but most will just keep following what is popular and cool. Nobody wants to look different from the world because they might suffer indignation. The church in America is plunging rapidly into the godless culture of this world, blinded by their own self-interests, arrogance, stubbornness, and belief that they are doing God’s business.

My prayer is that many Christians will turn from the allurements of this world to a life of selfless, humble devotion to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ken Lewis ThD