“The Roots Of Change”

          “And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing,” (Acts 17:19-21).

As the church in many places seems bent on changing itself, the valid question is asked, “Why?” Any list of reasons would surely include at least some of the following: 

1) Cultural Trends: The aforementioned passage clearly shows the ancient world tired of familiar things, and wanted the new, perhaps more intriguing, version. As our culture marches farther from God, the emptiness this creates will be filled with man-made substitutes (Matthew 15:8-9).

2) Craving For Entertainment & The Emotion driven Experience: Brethren in churches of Christ violate clear, Biblical teaching while validating their practice with an appeal to emotion and that which, “tickles the ears,” (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

3) Dislike For Rules and Parameters: Beginning with Eve, Satan has long appealed to the idea that man’s understanding of God is too restrictive. God, however, keeps on replying that, “sin is lawlessness,” (1 John 3:4).

4) Lack Of Spiritual Depth and Desire: Long ago, the Lord said that when the seed is sown on either rocky or thorny soil, it will not grow and bear fruit (Luke 8:4-15). Modern man seems to tire quickly of almost everything, including those inventions of his that were intended to entertain and amuse. 

There is no doubt that the church is changing. There is hypocrisy in wagging an accusing finger at the denominations for their abominable acceptance of such things as homosexuality. This openness of theirs began long ago – in their embracing of things that we in the Lord’s church are just now getting around to dealing with.