Day 2428 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.
Isaiah 30:10 NIV
Now don't get me wrong, I firmly understand that this world and this twisted generation wants nothing to do with what's right. They've made that perfectly clear. Sin is the preferred path of the populace. So it's definitely no surprise that the vast majority of people aren't interested in God's word or in walking the narrow path of self-control and righteousness.
The problem is that way of thinking has no place in our faith. But sadly, as we discussed a bit yesterday, that's exactly what's happened. We've taken a wrong turn somewhere and just never really acknowledged it. We've allowed our priorities to get all out of whack, our goals to be shifted, and our purpose to become watered down. To put it bluntly, some have chosen to ignore God's call to be holy and do what He says is right and listen instead to what their wicked hearts prefer.
One of the biggest problems in our faith these days is that we've started catering to what people want rather than sticking to what we all need. We've adapted our messages to please the ears of those who want to remain comfortable. We've tried to soften the edges of the Gospel so that it doesn't hurt people’s feelings or offend anyone. We've allowed the weakness of the world to transform the message that God gave us to share.
What we seem to have forgotten is that filling auditoriums means nothing if we have to change or gloss over God's word to do it. Breaking records for church attendance means nothing if the people are only there for a mini concert and some fresh donuts. The whole point of our faith and the calling of Christ to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to all creation" is just that. To point people to Jesus. To teach the truth of sin. To share the importance of repentance. None of that has anything to do with making people happy or catering to what they want.
That's where so much gets lost. We become so worried about what people want that we stop worrying about what they need. People want lights and drum solos. People need to hear about what Jesus endured because of their sins. People want messages about comfort and prosperity. People need messages about courage and trust through times of struggle. It's time that we stop trying to make our faith more like the world and work to make the world understand the importance of our faith.
There will always be people who are only interested in things that are entertaining and comfortable. And if you're looking for those kinds of things in following Christ and living by faith then you're probably not going to be happy. That's not at all what this is about. Our faith is about understanding that we're not the ones who get to decide what's important. We're not the ones who decide what we need. Doing things our way created the issues that caused Christ's suffering. And twisting things to meet our desires will only lead to more problems.
We are not here to cater to the masses because the masses will always prefer sin. We are here to share the truth of the Gospel to help save those few who will listen, take it to heart, and be changed because of it. We can't risk letting people remain comfortable because comfort won't get us to Heaven. It is time that we get back to what the world considers boring, offensive, and difficult. The truth will always be those things to those who want to live a lie. But we're not here to cater to opinions. We're here to change hearts and help save souls. That's what matters.
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