Weathervane Churches

Have you noticed how many Christian churches have weathervanes instead of crosses on top of their buildings? It’s fitting for this age. Too many churches today follow every new teacher and teaching that comes out, every wind of doctrine blows through the churches. Too many are more culture-driven then Christ-driven.
Whether it’s positive thinking, positive confessions, purpose driven, your best life now, power thoughts, speaking in gibberish, Jesus exercises, hawking vitamins, how to be happy, etc., these teachings all have one thing in common; they’re not Christian. They do all have a Christianish veneer but that’s where it ends.
It’s all can-do religion. You, the ‘sinner’, can please God and He’s just waiting to release His blessings on you if ONLY you do this, this, and this. Oh, and make sure the offering you send is substantial enough so the purveyors of these doctrines can continue to live in high style. Too many ministers live like kings. Sadly they reign without Christ.

One of the problems with today’s religion is it’s refusal of the suffering that a fallen world exists in. It seems the only attitudes one may have today is being happy and positive, at least if they want to be socially acceptable. But Christ suffered and calls us to suffering, He calls us to follow Him, trusting in His promises. He promised that joy comes in the morning, when we rise from the dead. Right now we have joy and all of Christ blessings by faith not by sight. But His gifts do came in packages distasteful to Americans. Many of today’s so-called Christian churches may have accepted a great delusion. But death is still coming and ‘happiness’ or ‘power and self-glory’ won’t save us.
It is truly a selfie age we live in but God is not as impressed with us as we are with ourselves. Instead, He wants us to be impressed with Him and His work for us. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, gave His life a ransom for us and paid for our sins when He was crucified. That’s impressive.

Listen to what you hear in church. Is Jesus preached in your church or are ‘you’ preached in your church? Who’s doing the doing? Who’s the subject in the sermon and liturgy. Is Jesus the actor or the audience? Is He just a cheerleader? Is He the guy that collects the protection money?
If your church gives you a “work program” to enter eternal life, run like hell. Look for a church that gives you the forgiveness of sins freely for Christ’s sake, and the sermons are about this great salvation, not the pastor’s self-absorbed life, politics, or the supposed power you have to create your own reality.
Christianity is about Christ, and Christ came ‘for’ us.

Here are a couple of great quotes from Martin Luther that describe clearly the good Word and work of Christ:

“You, my Lord Jesus are my Righteousness; I am your sin. You have taken from me what is mine and have given me what is Yours. You became what You were not and made me what I was not.”

“Beware of your ceaseless striving after a righteousness so great that you no longer appear as a sinner in your own eyes and do not want to be a sinner. For Christ dwells only in sinners!”

Teaching like this gives relief with no terror, especially when the Grim Reaper comes knocking.

A great place to get true Christian teaching is Issues,Etc.
It’s a Christ-centered and cross-focused talk radio show.
You can listen live or go through the archives and listen to individual shows.
And you’ll never find them blowing in the wind.