The following post was originally published in 2017 on the original Refined4him website at blogger.com. It is here in its original format, unedited. I can no longer guarantee that any links associated with this post are still active.

Do you like all you can eat buffets? My aging self can no longer hold his own at an all you can eat buffet and after the second plate I am done. However, I have more fanfare for a breakfast buffet than I do dinner. One of the issues that I have with a breakfast buffet are the eggs. They generally lack flavor. Usually adding salt can remedy the situation. Now, you may be like me and dislike adding salt to foods and instead choose pepper. Or you could go all out like I do and throw a ladle of sausage gravy all over your eggs. That’s how we roll in the south.

Now before I continue discussing buffet eggs and salt I should recap what I have covered so far in this series. In Part 1 I had brought to light how mankind in America (and I am sure that other parts of the world are not immune as well) has become like an untamed savage. In Parts 2and 3 I had linked man’s unrestrained debauchery to that of the people of Romans 1, who had become debased in their minds and had elevated their own personal desires and views to that of an idol. Mankind and his wickedness is his new god. All of this is because man has rejected God, and therefore, God has rejected him. They have been left alone to themselves and their own devices of evil.

So what does a world of fallen savages have to do with salt? In my last three parts I laid out the argument against the unbeliever. We shouldn’t be surprised at how one who is without God would act and live. It is surprising, however, how low man has gone in these recent years, and he will continue to go further down without the restraint of God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. We know that the unregenerate man is guilty before our holy God and he remains guilty until he accepts Christ as his savior and is thus made righteous before God. “…but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith” (Philippians 3:9). Now, I am sure that if there were any unbelievers who happened upon this blog (it is hard to say that with a straight face because I only have three readers), they would probably say “Who are you Chris? Holier than thou? It is just like you Christians to think that you are perfect and better than everyone else!” So, to answer such a remark, allow me to present another group that is responsible for the downward spiral of mankind: The Church.

Now, I hope that I didn’t cause you to choke on your tasteless buffet eggs, but allow me to elaborate on my indictment against the Church. I am not talking about the bride of Christ as a whole, but I am talking about the modern church (sometimes referred to as the American Church). And this doesn’t include all churches in America, but the system, or way of thought that a majority of churches in America operate under. Typically these churches are the popular ones and the megachurches, but not all popular and megachurches fall under this category. You follow? The characteristics of such a church are as follows: Entertainment based worship that focuses more on appeasing the crowd than appeasing God; Entertainment based worship that seeks to replicate the world as much as possible; Worship that does its best to not seem offensive or uncomfortable to anyone who is unchurched or an unbeliever; Entertainment based worship that uses lighting, smoke, and mirrors in order to please the eyes of the audience; Churches that focus more on programs and less on lifting each other up or reaching the lost; Pastors that rely on being “hip and cool” in order to seem like they are just as much a part of the world as any unbeliever in attendance (because to dress up and act “holy” is considered hypocrisy) ; etc. In other words it is a church that is more focused on itself and its desires to reach the world by trying to act like the world. Holiness becomes a “four letter word”.

Jesus said to His disciples in Matthew 5 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” (v. 13). Salt not just preserves food, but also is a flavor enhancer. So how is a believer related to salt? One way we can look at this is that they preserve God’s truth in a world where all truth is subjective and like meat that lacks a preservative, eventually rots. Another way that we can look at it is that they alter what lacks flavor. Now, don’t get me wrong on the latter. I know that in its effort to be relative to and reach the world the modern church acts like the world and thus “alters” the bad flavor of the world (say that five times fast). However Jesus said “if the salt loses its flavor…it is good for nothing but to be trampled…” The salt that was used for flavoring and preserving was pure salt, whereas the salt from the Dead Sea was contaminated, flavorless, and ineffective and was used to keep vegetation from growing over footpaths. Notice that the flavorless salt is contaminated and is no good? Jesus is ultimately saying that the salt (believers) should remain pure and not stoop to the level of contamination, even if that means to try to turn contaminated salt into pure salt. He goes on to say: “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (vv. 14-16). The problem is that we have a modern church that tries to copy the darkness of the world to be relevant to the world, but by remaining light. Is that even possible? It is but the result is not a powerful bright light that permeates and overcomes the darkness. John 1:5 says “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Just like black and white, so is light and dark, “And what communion has light with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14). There is no gray. The power of the modern church has instead been reduced to a dim light, a mix of light and dark, that leaves a dying world asking “Jesus, is that you?”. They cannot see “…your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Therefor they cannot see the true Jesus.

The results of a church that is trying to live like a dim light or a half contaminated barrel of salt is that it gives credence to the non-believing “Christians are hypocrites” crowd. Believe it or not there is a godly standard to live by (holiness), and many have an idea of what that looks like. Surprisingly a great deal of people who have rejected God even know what this looks like and what is expected of Christians. So when we try to push the envelope towards being like a sinful dying world, no one is impressed but ourselves. We become the fools by playing the fools in order to reach the fools. The other result is that we forgo holiness and being separate from the world, and that results in a church that loses its unique identity as being salt and light. 1 Peter 2:9 states “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”. We are called out of the darkness to be light, not a half dim flickering light but a powerful example to the ever changing power of Christ and the Holy Spirit. People should say “Wow! Look at the power in the lives of those Christians. I wonder what it is that is different in their life”, not “Wow! Look, those Christians act just like us. There is no proof of power of any Jesus in their lives. So what on earth do I need Jesus for?” This is what Jesus meant in Matthew 5 when He said “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” God cannot get the glory if we have one foot in life and the other in death.

A further result of a church that has become a dim light is that they develop a distorted view of sin and holiness. This is why the modern church has a great deal of sin within its ranks (and even leadership), and instead of being dealt with biblically it is being either ignored or celebrated. How is it that there are denominations like the Presbyterians who allow for homosexual practices and leadership, and the Methodists who recently have been having meetings to discuss whether or not to allow (celebrate) homosexuality in their congregations and even their leadership positions as well? The result of this action is that the dying world believes that God does condone sin and homosexuality and therefore those who preach against it are wrong and are in fact in the sights of God’s judgment. God ends up being recreated into something that He is not. Where the debased minded man has elevated himself to his own idol, the modern liberal Christian church ends up on its own path of a downward spiral that ultimately makes a new god its own idol. It all begins with allowing a little bit of the world in, then comes hypocrisy, then comes confusion, then comes the sin, then comes the pride, and then comes the fall. “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6).

The sad thing is that the modern church has convinced itself that in order to reach the world they must be like the world. But Scripture says “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4). James compares those who try to live for God while living for the world “adulterers”. So who are they committing adultery against?

God.

But…there is hope!