The Winds of Compromise

If you live long enough, you find that trends, fads, and movements come and go. If you live longer still, you find that many trends, fads, and movements eventually come back and become popular to a new generation. And if you are blessed to live long enough to make sense of it all, you realize that lasting change doesn't come from trends, fads, or movements at all, so you simply quit caring about them.
It breaks my heart, then, when I see the Church of Jesus Christ so willing to follow trends, fads, and movements, often at the expense of orthodoxy, tradition, and history? It breaks my heart to see believers become so desirous of something new when they often fail to see that "new" means little more than "naught". It breaks my heart to see believers caught up in, hurt by, and confused by fads, trends, and movements that are little more than repackaged deceptions that distract and detract from our mission.
It begs the question: Why are the promises of the things that God makes new everyday not good enough anymore: mercy, the old paths, strength, hope, purpose, the gathering of the saints etc. How have God's people been turned so far aside that they now find themselves playing marbles with God's diamonds? Surely there is an answer to it, but I fear it would not be a pleasing answer to the Lord.
This kind of rejection for God’s goodness is akin to the Israelites loathing (oh, what did they call it again? Oh, that’s right) “that worthless manna”. It seems that God’s people become easily shortsighted to His goodness that they begin to desire things that cannot satisfy. In our day, we’ve seen trends like “The Holiness Movement”, “The Prosperity Gospel”, and “The Self-Help Gospel” wreak havoc in the lives of believers. We’ve seen fads like postmodernism, social justice, intersectionality, and the like divide the Church like never before. And we’ve seen (what were called) “movements of the Holy Spirit” rise to popularity only to die out in unsustainability. All this is occurring simultaneously besides the decline of orthodoxy, traditionalism, and church history.
Naturally, the question becomes: Why is this happening? Historically, the answer to that question can be found in the pages of the Bible. The pattern Scripture provides tells us that periods of faithfulness are usually followed by periods of idolatry, apathy, and rebellion. Certainly, reading through Judges, the Kings/Chronicles, and the Prophets show us that God’s people are easily deluded by intoxicating temptations to chase after other things besides God: Wealth, leisure, and opulence to name a few. These things, though provided by God, are often quickly taken for granted, only to be followed by hard times.
This reason drives my desire for FBCUC to be a place of faithfulness; that we never take the blessings God has given to us for granted, but that we would put those blessings to work for the Kingdom’s sake. The spirit within me is compelled to never become too comfortable, but to always be ready to give glory to God for all the good things He has done.
I invite you to join me in this appreciation! God is doing so many good things here, and it would be a shame to forfeit the opportunity to praise and thank Him through faithfulness and obedience. He alone is worthy!
Blessings,
Bro. Ben