Duh!!!

If the results of the question regarding youth's knowledge of their parents was Pastor Burke's shocker, this week's was mine. It probably shouldn't be given what is accepted as a "church"; in that case, we're all doing pretty well. Maybe we should have been a bit more specific in our question; the numbers then would have been a little more realistic. So again we find ourselves asking that all important question - Why? Why, if everyone expects a certain result, is that result not evident? There are a few different scenarios possible. One is that too few Christians want to fight the battle anymore and are content to see that their child grows up and is in "church", even though that "church" is a far cry from what a true New Testament Baptist church should be. That would be the Conforming Christian. Two would be the Christian who is kinda putting up a fight but not real consistently or enthusiastically. Then when the child goes off into the world, they toss their hands up and say, "I don't know what happened. We did all we could. They're in the Lord's hands now." We might call this the Conceding Christian. Third would be the Christian who is a good moral person with great standards, who doesn't do this and doesn't do that but that begins to be their religion. Instead of putting up standards to protect themselves from sin so they might better serve God, those standards become their god, the thing they trust in and judge themselves and others by. This person might be called the Condescending Christian. What do all these have in common? All their "religion" is based on self. They don't want to take a stand, they don't want to be consistent, they don't want to look bad. God is removed from the center, and is replaced with me. Is it any wonder then, when young people grow up, they follow the same pattern? Producing a self-centered, self-pleasing religion. "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away." II Tim 3:5