Holiness Lost

With the Supreme Court's latest surrender to the Enemy, I look at the path that our country is on and wonder why Holiness is not the hot topic in our nation's pulpits.  The podcast preachers I follow will speak out against immorality, but they say little about "Coming out from them," to be separate... to be pure, Holy, and set apart for the Bridegroom.

Hebrews 12:14 tells us, "to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord..."  So it must be important.

Here's my theory:  If a preacher is being unfaithful to his wife, he probably isn't moved to preach about the evil of adultery.  In the same way, if a preacher is addicted to the worldly media and its entertainment, he probably doesn't feel moved to preach about separation.

If a preacher in America brought up the subject of television's most popular sitcom, The Big Bang Theory, the congregation would probably smile, if not applaud.  This makes it problematic to speak of the female character as a little whore who, I understand, has slept with two of the male characters.  After all, this little blond is adorable and most pew-sitters will overlook such indiscretions in order to be entertained.

Anyway, here's my conclusion:  As long as our preachers and their congregations are willing participants in the Enemy's incredibly influential media, they will be so much like the unbelievers that they will have no influence upon the culture... or their neighborhoods.  They will be personally moral, but because they love to watch immorality, they never attend their thoughts to separation... To Holiness.

It's just not much fun to deny yourself.  Seeking the Narrow Gate is neither entertaining nor titillating.   Laying down worldly idols is a lonely business.  Good luck finding a support group.

Another problem is that Organized Religion in America is so... American.  We pew-sitters want to whoop it up, put on big smiles, and feel good about ourselves.  Concentrating on something at which we are so dreadfully pathetic, separating from America's ugly culture, might be a bummer and might fill neither the building, nor the collection basket.  It hurts our pride to try and repent of this sin and know that we fail every day. 

But if we hope to see the Lord, we must be down for this struggle.  If we hope to inherit the Grace of God... Not the words, "I never knew you,"  repenting of worldliness must be our passion.  We will not be consistent... We will fail daily.   It won't make us popular at work or in the community... or at Sunday services.  But being among "The Few" has eternal advantages.

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