Posted on 04/01/2023 7:53:37 PM PDT by lightman
There was a time, some decades ago, that all denominations held certain things in common. There were things that were not even questioned. I consider these things as the basics. The basics included men (XY) and women (XX) had certain roles in the church and in the family. The sacrament of marriage was the beginning of family life. It was for life. It was between a man and woman, not two women or two men. Families were expected and that meant children. Many teachings all led to family, even when mistakes (sin) occurred - think of the days when a man made a woman pregnant outside of marriage. He did the right thing and got married.
Women had expected roles in the church and in the family. Likewise, men had their roles. Those roles have been turned upside down and inside out in many churches.
It is partly the fault of churches/pastors, and partly the fault of people. People have lost their courage to speak up about what is being preached and what is being done by churches. Whereas government has assumed many responsibilities of the people, churches have done the same in the name of charity. Charity has taken on a completely different meaning and often times is funded by government. It is now big business, devoid of God’s teachings. It’s beyond the essentials of feeding and clothing the poor in exchange for listening to God’s word and ultimately accepting Christ’s salvation.
Quite simply, churches suffer many of the same problems as government. Neither are offering very narrowly defined services that actually succeed. Put another way, churches like government, have gone beyond their roles to be all things to all people as if it is some popularity contest. That lack of focus leads to failure on all fronts.
I haven’t read the comments of other posters, but I’m guessing at least some have said something about sticking to and teaching God’s word. That’s the basics and much more. That’s the domain of the church. And it is not insignificant.
The Holy Bible contains thousands of years of proven wisdom. The Word has its origins before the written word. Its truth is immutable. It is a blessing to all, even to non-believers.
It is impossible to live one’s life and simply learn from one’s successes and mistakes. That is the height of all arrogance. There is not enough time to learn right and wrong through “experimentation”.
Pastors and priests need to preach and expose these truths that have millennia of success. There is little time for much else.
The rest of Romans Chapter 1, verse 27 to the end of this chapter says a whole lot about the world today also.
Then we’d better be training some exorcists!
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