Life is Simple But Not Easy

HAS GOD’S WORD BEEN FORGOTTEN IN AMERICA?

by Robert McCurry, ©2013

(Mar. 20, 2013) — Life is simple. It is not necessary to teach a newborn baby how to cry or how to nurse: these are inborn traits. A newborn baby has only two inborn fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud noises. Other traits of the ‘simplicity of life’ beyond these initial traits continue into adolescence and beyond. For example, it’s simple to respect human life; don’t kill; it’s simple to be honest; tell the truth; it’s simple to be modest; cover your nakedness; it’s simple to be moral; refrain from engaging in immorality. Although Biblical Christianity is the highest level of these ‘life is simple’ traits, it’s not necessary to be a Christian to practice them.

In the not-too-distant past, these ‘life is simple’ traits were the norm in America for Christians and non-Christians alike; not everyone was a Christian, but America was a Biblically Christian-oriented culture that practiced Biblical standards of honesty, modesty, and morality, and the populace at large agreed. These traits were all-inclusive and reflected in the ‘laws of the land’ that included consequences for their violation.

Not anymore.

The ‘life is simple’ truths and guidelines were preached from America’s pulpits and taught in the homes. Christians were taught that they were to be salt and light and Ambassadors for Christ in the real world; an acceptance of the Ten Commandments as the standard for right living was the norm for Christians and non-Christians alike; they were displayed in every public school classroom.

Not anymore.

Although life is simple, life is not always easy. All true Christians will be an oddity in a non-Christian culture; all that live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution of some kind; the Biblical and historical record affirms this. Satan has transformed himself into an ‘angel of light’ and has enlisted many to work in concert with him to deceive the populace at large, including Baptist and Protestants, to believe that ‘darkness is light’ and ‘evil is good’; avoid being an ‘oddity’ and persecution; go with the flow. Thus, God’s perfect law, sin, worldliness, the holiness of God, and practical application of God’s Word in the real world are obsolete and antiquated subjects among today’s pastors and professing Christians, with some exceptions.

Alas! America’s Christian culture is now nonexistent. Why?

“If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart, and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation.” ~Charles Finney

“The church’s mightiest influence is felt when she is different from the world in which she lives. Her power lies in her being different, rises with the degree in which she differs and sinks as the difference diminishes.” A.W. Tozer, The Set of the Sail, 35, 36.

“Without Biblical authority, or any other right under the sun, carnal religious leaders have introduced a host of attractions that serve no purpose except to provide entertainment for the non-Christians and retarded saints.

“It is now common practice in many religious circles to offer the people, especially the young people, a maximum of entertainment and a minimum of serious instruction. It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God’s professed children are bored with Him, for they must be wooed to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of the world’s music, religious movies, games and refreshments.”  A.W. Tozer, The Dwelling Place of God, 135, 136.

“Within recent times we have actually seen a major shift in the beliefs and practices of many religious gatherings so radical as to amount to a complete sellout; and all this behind the cloak of fervent orthodoxy. With Bibles under their arms and bundles of tracts in their pockets, religious persons now meet to carry on “services” so carnal, so pagan, that they can hardly be distinguished from the old vaudeville shows of earlier days. And for a preacher or a writer to challenge this heresy is to invite ridicule and abuse from every quarter.

“Our only hope is that renewed spiritual pressure will be exerted increasingly by self-effacing and courageous men who desire nothing but the glory of God and the purity of the Lord’s Church. May God send us many of them. They are long overdue.” A.W. Tozer, Of God and Men, 16-18.

Wake-up, Pastors! Wake-up, Christians!