For Israel slideth back as a backsliding heifer... Hos
4:16
The church of today is the Israel of God. The land of
Israel was adjudged by the Lord to be in a state of backsliding. As we examine
the state of the church today, we see a great need to return to the basics of
the Christian faith. We need to ask ourselves if we are not chasing the wind.
We need to be very sure that we are not merely feeding on the wind. How do you
recognize a church feeding on the wind? It is a church that is not walking in
the Spirit and in the truth. We will examine some indices of a backsliding
church.
Disobedience to God’s covenant
God has a covenant with His people. In the New
Testament, our covenant pact was signed and sealed when we gave our lives to
the Lord. Speaking of the New Covenant, the Lord said the Law would be written
in our hearts. It means we walk in holiness by grace through the Spirit. God’s
covenant with His church is anchored on His sacrifice on the cross. He bought
us with His precious blood. We need to follow Him in discipleship. This is a
correct response to what God did for us on Calvary’s cross. We need to live according
to God’s word. Israel was living contrary to God’s covenant and that meant they
were chasing the wind. A church that is not walking according to the revealed
word of God through the Bible and the Holy Spirit is chasing the wind. Such a
church will reap the whirlwind of sinfulness, satanic attacks and eternal
damnation.
Leadership challenge
They have set up kings but not by me...Hos8:4
Israel chose kings (leaders) without seeking God for
guidance. One of the signs that a church is backsliding is when such a fold
appoints leaders and ordains them when they are not qualified for such
leadership position. Clearly, it reveals that seeking God has been sidelined in
that selection. Such leaders who are wrongly appointed begin to lead the church
members in a wrong direction and there is so much chaos. The body of Christ in
that setting will not be properly fed with God’s word.
Jesus is the head of His church. He leads the church.
The guidance of the Lord must be sought in selecting leaders in the body of
Christ.
Worldliness
Someone said that the world is becoming churchy and
that the church is becoming worldly. This is very true in many settings. A worldly
church is simply a church that imports and incorporates worldly system and
practices into their worship. This is a sad trend. As a church leader, you must
ensure that all aspects of worship in your church perfectly align with God’s
word as revealed in the Bible. For example, asking worldly entertainers or
comedians to speak on the pulpit is a desecration of God’s house.
Lack of understanding of God’s word
Today, more denominations are springing up and some seem
to have a private interpretation to God’s word. Many seem to have a challenge
with Bible interpretation. Some don’t even understand God’s word, yet they keep
preaching all manner of false things.
Peter said, “As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be
understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they
do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” (2 Pet
3:16)
This clearly shows that it is
very possible to wrest (distort, twist and explain falsely) scriptures. The
scriptures also tell us the kinds of people that will always have a distorted
view of divine revelation. These are either unstable people or unlearned
people. We need to seek the understanding of God’s word so that we will not
miss divine instructions to our lives.
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