Dr. Earl W.
Hendricks
WHEN WE contemplate the sorry state of affairs in our nation, many are asking where does the solution lie? Ideally what we need in this country is a major spiritual revival to help turn things around where, as a nation, we return to some of the old-fashioned Christian values that we have abandoned.
The popular values that govern how be behave today are no longer Christianity-based. While the nation's moral values descend into the pit of decadence, many church leaders, who are supposed to be the conscience of the nation, have remained silent, doing and saying virtually nothing. Few have been willing to stand up and declare with a mighty voice: "Thus says the Lord." The church no longer holds that place of reverence once reserved for it and that is because today every Tom, Dick and Harry can set up a tent somewhere and call himself a reverend. Many of those in the pulpit seem no longer to be men of great faith and character whose very lifestyle exemplifies and reflects what they preach.
So which of the religious leaders among us should we be looking to today to lead this revival? Many of today's religious leaders could be put in one of two categories. You have those who have embraced the religion of greed currently being preached and practised by some in the United States. Their only interest is in what they can get to go in their pockets. I guess you could call them the 'Religious Dons' of the community.
The offering collected each Sunday is more likely to be spent on them or used to build concrete edifices as a shameful tribute to themselves rather than to help the needy, even those in their own congregations. They take greater pride in the size of the buildings than in the size of their hearts. They are more enamoured with driving big, fancy cars than in the fact that they are called to be servants. They ask members of the congregation to sacrifice to support their "Don-like" lifestyles, while they use the gospel to intimidate and blackmail them. The gods they look to are those in the United States who have mastered the art of lining their pockets while giving pretence to preaching the gospel, a gospel according to their own making. Woe be unto them.
OTHER GROUPS
The other group of religious leaders are those who will tell you they care about the poor and the needy, but their main theology has no foundation in scripture. These are the ones who think it is right to teach our children that homosexuality is alright because "there is a lot of them in our schools". What the Bible teaches about a matter is not their main concern. They will write books about religion with long titles to match their own long fancy titles, that have very little to do with being a Christian. Their lifestyles are usually not very different from those who consider themselves decent, upstanding citizens who feel that they deserve to go to heaven because they are "good" people.
They often give the impression in their theological proclamations that they have a better understanding of what the Bible says than did the Apostles. Really now! For them there is no such thing as sin and hell. Those are the things that the ignorant masses believe in. And they, being enlightened, will not allow God or anyone else to tell them otherwise. Theirs have all the trappings and forms of religion but no godly power. They will pray Highfalutin sounding prayers from their prayer books but none from their hearts. You will never hear them publicly testify to the faithfulness of God in answering their prayers because theirs is a religion about their god and not a relationship with him. They will speak of things in generic terms while saying nothing specific. They are so heavenly-minded that they are no earthly good.
There are however the precious few. These are they for whom Christianity is not measured in the size of the house they live in, or the car they drive or even what they say. Christianity for them is measured in the quality of the Christ-like lifestyle that they live. You won't find them clamouring to get on television and on radio. They are not interested in ratings; they are only interested in right living letting their light so shine before men. They are the ones you will find day after day going to find out how "Miss Maisie" is doing and will sit and talk and bring a word of comfort. A world based not on some humanistic theology but one based on Biblical testimony. And often they come bringing whatever little they can to help a person and a need and expect nothing in return. But there are so few of these, so very few.
So don't expect to see a nationwide revival breaking out among the titled leaders of religion among us, or on television or on radio or in any of the big edifices that pass for church buildings, or from any religious books with long fancy titles, anytime soon. When it does come it will be in the villages, towns and homes where you find the simple men and women of God, who are determined to live and walk a lifestyle that is a true representation of the Christ after whom they are called. I can't wait!
Dr. Earl Hendricks can be contacted by e-mail at drehendricks@yahoo.com
