On this day in 1521 Martin Luther addressed the assembly at the Diet of Worms and refused to recant his teachings. He took such a hard-line against wickedness in the church establishment that he almost brought about his demise. However, he stuck by his belief of the church’s need for reformation and the necessity for all men and women to have access to an understandable copy of the scriptures. It is a day forever etched in history. One man made a difference ensuring that you and I would have equal access to God’s word and therefore, to His throne. It’s amazing to me how God can use a single person to accomplish so much. Through one man (Abraham) He promised to bless the nations. Through another man (David) He promised to establish His kingdom forever. Through one man (Jesus) He gave us the path to eternal life.

Throughout history, it has often been a single person who impacted many.  For example, while I watched the news today one man had a broad scale impact on many. Another church official or even a pastor has committed a crime making us cringe and wonder how this will impact people’s view of the Church. I wish I could say this was something new, but the Bible agrees with the news. Consider the Church at Corinth. In many ways it appeared to be precisely the opposite of what most scripture teaches. They exhibited divisions (1 Cor. 1:10–11), carnality (3:1-9), incest (5:1–8), worldliness (5:9–13), lawsuits (6:1–8), fornication (6:12–20), abuse of liberty (8:1–13; 10:23–33), demon worship (10:19–22), abuses of the Lord’s supper and love feasts (11:17–34), and abuses of spiritual gifts (12:1–14:40).

Kids, I tell you these things, not to discourage you, but to be honest with you. There is no perfect church. As long as people are involved, egos, imperfection, rationalization, justification of behavior, and downright rebellion will continue. You and I will not change that. God gave everyone the freedom to choose their paths, so people will do what they want, when they want. People are drawn to churches in a hope of a better life. Since the standards are higher, we hope behavior will improve as we cross the threshold onto holy ground. As you know, buildings are not where God dwells, but rather in hearts where Jeremiah prophesied He would dwell (31:33). That is why it is so important for you to understand the world but not be a part of it.

Jesus was very specific when He said there would be a separation of “people types” (Matthew 13:49, 25:32) when He and His angels returned. Later we see that Paul specified the types of people who would be separated from God (Ephesians 2:12, 4:18) and those who no one can separate from God (Romans 8:35, 2 Corinthians 6:17). The truth is that people come to church for their own reasons — some good, some bad. Who shows up is not the issue! Remember pretenders or unbelievers have NO spiritual capacity (1 Corinthians 2:14) and therefore you cannot use them as a measuring stick of what a church should look like. God’s measuring stick is your motivation for being in church. Embrace and enjoy Him, just don’t be influenced by His creations!

Love,

Dad