Lowering the Standard

 

There is a move on today to lower the standard in every area of life. Instead of holding up the heroes of the past as an example and an inspiration for the young people we see that heroes are being edited out of the textbooks in the public schools or portrayed as persons much less honorable than they really were. Instead of George Washington on his knees praying at Valley Forge the kids look up to people like Magic Johnson, who has AIDS because of his wicked lifestyle. He is held in high esteem while men of the past who lived virtuous lives and sacrificed themselves to give us our freedom are rejected or ignored. What is the motivation behind people who teach things in such a way? It is probably because it is much easier for a person to live wickedly if his heroes are wicked, and men are always looking for an excuse for their sin.

Sad to say, we see the same thing happening in the church. All the great men of the Bible are under attack by the preachers of our day. Many good men of God are swallowing this subtle trick of the devil hook, line, and sinker, too. The stories of the men in the Bible are given for our admonition and as an example for us to live holy lives and have God's blessing and power on our lives - not to excuse our sin. Yet a different message is going out today.

For example, when you hear a message about David, what is the central point of the message most of the time? Why, it is David's adultery! David is exalted by God more than any other man in the Bible. David's name is mentioned even more than the name of Jesus! He is called a man after God's own heart by the Lord himself. How many times does the Bible say that God did things "for David's sake"? 1 Kings 15.5 says: "Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite." David's life was NOT a life of sin and disobedience to God. There are many other things to preach about David that would cause people to desire holiness and a close walk with God. Why would a preacher emphasize David's sin? The only reason I can imagine is that his own life is full of sin, or he is trying to comfort the people who are listening to him in their sin.

Another example is Peter. How many messages have you heard lately emphasizing Peter's zeal and sacrifice for God after Pentecost? Virtually every time you hear about Peter it is when he sank in the water trying to walk to Jesus or when he cursed and denied the Lord. Let me remind you that both of these things happened BEFORE the Holy Ghost was given. He had no inner guide like he did after Pentecost and like ALL saved people have today. Even without that, Peter was the ONLY one of the twelve who had the faith to step out of the boat. He is ALWAYS mentioned first among the disciples - Peter, James, and John. He is exalted by Jesus and the rest of the New Testament and yet he is railed on and belittled by the preachers of our day. There is no better example to follow than Peter after he received the Holy Spirit. Why not preach him THAT way? Wouldn't that help people more?

There are many others we could talk about - Abraham, the father of our faith, you would think he lived his life down in Egypt if all you heard was the preaching done about him these days. Moses, chosen by God, and allowed to see God's glory, but he was a temper tantrum - throwing hothead who smote the rock twice. Some are even saying now that Job sinned and that is why all that evil happened to him, even though the Bible says plainly that he did NOT. Elijah was under the juniper tree. Jeremiah quit preaching. Paul wasn't any more saved than Lot. Wow! John Mark quit. Paul was a defeated Christian in Romans 7 who couldn't do right no matter how hard he tried. My, isn't that a comfort to the fornicators and thieves in the church! If Paul could do no better than that it isn't to be expected of anyone to do any better now.

When the standard is held high the people look up and climb UP to attain it. When it is lowered they relax and don't even try. One of the great revivalists of the 19th century said that as long as the sins of the prophets are exalted, there would never be revival. The Christian life is a walk UPWARDS, not down. The Christian shines brighter and brighter as he travels toward home. He is growing in holiness. He is getting cleaner as he goes, not dirtier, and not staying the same. Hold the standard high!

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