Religion - Man's Way And
God's
Isaiah 2:17
The religion of the
world is calculated and conducted to make men and women feel good about
themselves. Preachers everywhere call upon those who hear them to "stand
up and be counted." One popular preacher likes to stir his audiences by
getting them to chant loudly, "I am somebody!" Churches and preachers
bow and scrape before men to make them feel important, valuable, and needed.
People like to be
recognized, so they give them recognition for just about anything. Churches
devote entire "worship" services to "Mother's Day",
"Father's Day", "Women's Day", "Men's Day",
"Youth Day", "Deacon's Day", etc. And the most abominable
of all is "Pastor Appreciation Day"! Can you imagine the Apostle Paul
sitting on a platform before a congregation while they extolled his virtues,
magnified his name, and showered him with gifts? Men and women are even
recognized, applauded, and honored for being first time visitors in the house
of their god! What kind of god bows to his worshippers?
People like to be
honored, so churches and preachers invent some way to honor people every week.
People like to have a good time, so they co-ordinate activities, organize ball
teams, and build gymnasiums, to show everybody a good time. People like to be
pampered, so preachers spend most of their time wiping noses, washing wounds,
pacifying enemies, and mending fences. They call it "pastoral
counselling". But the job is really that of an expensive baby-sitter for
immature, peevish men and women whose god is too small to lean upon and too
weak to help.
Even the doctrine of
the religious world is calculated to dignify the flesh and give man a sense of
power, goodness, and self-worth. The will of man is made to be sovereign and
omnipotent, to the point of controlling the will of God! The works of men are
made to be meritorious, earning rewards from God! At best, salvation is set
forth as a co-operative effort between God and man, with man having the upper
hand!
THE RELIGION OF THE
BIBLE IS EXACTLY OPPOSITE TO ALL THIS. This is God's way: "The loftiness
of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and
THE LORD ALONE SHALL BE EXALTED!"
Don Fortner