The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same

When I hear any discussion of social media, I have two distinctly different reactions. I believe social media have contributed significantly to the pervasive negativity and anxiety of our times, as well as a seeming groundswell of narcissism. However, social media serve a significant communications role and introduce us to a wide range of useful information we might not encounter in any other way. The trick is being able to distinguish between what’s useful and what’s unproductive.

 

William Booth
(Wikipedia photo)

Recently I came across one of the former, an intriguing quote by William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, that he made in the early 1900s: “The chief danger of the 20^th century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”

What I find most interesting about this is not just Booth’s specific points, but that this seems equally true in the 21^st century. Increasingly we hear people talking in terms of the God they want, rather than the God who is. Rather than regarding the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, many feel they have the license to treat biblical teachings as suggestions to be interpreted, redefined and applied according to their preferences and the prevailing winds of culture.

 

Times do change, no doubt. Styles of fashion, social customs, even vocabulary. Technology has become a major factor in our ever-shifting approach to everyday living. And yet, as we read in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Times may change, but our Creator God is unchanging. The same is true of His Word.

 

Even in biblical times there were those eager to distort and manipulate the Scriptures to accomplish their purposes. We see the apostle Paul warning two of his proteges, Timothy and Titus, to avoid the seduction of false teaching.

 

He cautioned Timothy, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1). Do such stern words have a familiar ring for today?

 

I’ve previously referred to Paul’s prophetic words that, “the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine…they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear…” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

 

For this reason, he later exhorted young pastor Tim to, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). I like how another translation phrases it: “rightly dividing the word of truth.” It evokes the image of a farmer plowing a field in straight furrows, rather than frequently glancing behind him and creating an uneven path.

 

The apostle expressed similar concerns to Titus, who was ministering to believers in Crete. Paul wrote of the qualifications for spiritual leadership, including faithfulness to godly teaching: “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9).

 

About the dangers of listening to false teachers, Paul declared, “They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain” (Titus 1:11). To counter this, he offered Titus this challenge: “You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). 

 

Two thousand years later we find ourselves in similar circumstances. On TV, radio and from many pulpits, messages are given that seem straight out of the books of 1 and 2 Opinions. (They’re not in the Bible.) Seeking to be “woke,” or perhaps thinking that by diluting the message of the Gospel they can make Jesus more palatable, they’re promoting exactly what Booth warned against: a religion lacking the presence and power of the Holy Spirit; a Christ-less Christianity; forgiveness that requires no repentance; a salvation absent of becoming a new creation in Christ; a godless government, and no fear of eternal punishment for rejecting God’s gift of redemption.

 

We must never forget that we receive salvation and eternal life on God’s terms, not ours. As Jesus admonished, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). To state it another way, ‘Don’t follow the crowd. Follow Jesus.’