Modern Messages

My grandfather was an old time preacher who lived through the revivals of the 50s to the early 80s. He still glows with the light of his conversion, and the memory of it all is still locked inside him. We gathered around him as he shared with us what it was like to be a believer in his days. To sum it up, it was remarkably different from what it is today. He mentioned things that would sound awkward nowadays. Some of them border on extremism, but they helped shape them into good, faithful and reproductive Christians that they were. They knew how to shun evil and remembered how to always do good things. I wanted to know what was the secret of all this. The old man answered, in a voice that was calm but emphatic, “The messages, the messages, yes, our messages were different from what you are preaching these days.” That struck a cord in my heart about the messages we are hearing these days. Can we say they are all in line with the Word of God? When a schools pass rate is low we blame the teachers. When a team is not winning, we blame and even fire the coach. Because the school or football results are a reflection of what takes place in the class or dressing room. When we look at Christians these days, are we sure they are what they are supposed to be? When we consider their spiritual life, their immorality, the alarming divorce rate, the abortions and co-habitations that are so rampart, can we say that that is the way Christ wanted His church to be? What about the prayerlessness that has engrossed our assemblies and congregations?

The pew man is interested to know where things have gone wrong. Could it be that our men in religious costumes have toned down, or even changed the message? There were days when we were reminded again and again that this world is not our home and that we are just passing through. We were taught that Jesus is coming again, and that his coming is drawing near. We were also taught that Christians ought to maintain moral and spiritual purity in order to qualify for heaven. Back then, the coming of Christ was an issue of paramount importance. People were fired up to preach like dying men to a dying world. In those days people knew they had an urgent message to share with the lost and dying world. But a different message emphasizing prosperity, breakthrough, and success has taken over. These things are not wrong, but are not a priority. Jesus said they shall follow us (Mathew 6: 33), but we are busy pursuing them hard. Are preachers doing justice to us by emphasizing the less important at the expense of core issues? My personal opinion is that they are responsible for this demeaning and embarrassing moral degradation in our societies and even in our churches? A bench warmer is dying for those messages. I want to hear sin being rebuked again. Yes my ears are itching to hear about the coming of the Lord and the signs of His coming. I do not mean those date setting, dooms day fanatical predictors, but Bible based messages.