“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”

-Hebrews 12:28-29

I remember it well. Forever etched into my mind. That is unless Time chooses to remove it. I received a flyer in the mail. An advertisement for a new “seeker friendly” church that was set to open just down the road. On the cover was the following mathematical image (not in this particular order): A pair of blue jeans + a cup of coffee + an electric guitar + a cross + “you” = [the name of the church].

In reality a true church should have only had one picture- The Cross. However, in The Modern Church, there is an emphasis on entertainment and fleshly comfort in their worship. What you have are churches that strive NOT to be “Grandma’s Church”. Dressing in your best because you respect God’s house of worship? Congregational singing from hymnals and lifting Him up in worship corporately? These are now no more. The Jumbotron now makes the need for your Bible obsolete. Pastor typically dresses like his teenage son (or grandson, depending on his age) with the intention to be relevant to the congregants that have come dressed in their Saturday Night’s Best. Many of them shun “Grandma’s Church”, stating that their traditions are outdated. That singing Hymns and dressing well by choice is in fact them putting on a show, proclaiming that they are “holier than thou”. That it is nothing more than a mask. That Grandma and Grandpa secretly want to dance in the aisle to Danny Gokey, and they need The Modern Church to set them free. However, the true sum of the equation with The Modern Church is that you end up with a Sunday Morning Entertainment and Funhouse Worship Center. One that is growing by the day, as Tradition locks its doors. Yet, there is something lacking greatly in The Modern Church that “Grandma’s Church” has. Something that has existed since the inception of The Church two-thousand years ago and has only recently died within the past two generations. What is that? 

Reverence. 

I have noticed that churches that promote sloppy dress from both the pews and the pulpit, also practice sloppy theology. They speak of a God of Love. Not a God of Justice. They seldom stand against the ungodly influences of our day. They rarely confront Sin and only choose to tickle the ears of their members and guests. Maybe it is because they do not desire to offend? Or maybe they do not desire to lose their audience (and with it… money). Their music is void of the rich depth that one may find in the lyrics of the ancient hymns. Instead it is filled with repetitive lines, saying things like “Yes Jesus!”, or “Fill me with your Spirit!” over and over again for ten minutes. Some of these “church songs” even use imagery of The World in order to capture the minds of The Modern (Worldly) Christian. A majority of these “services” are nothing more than a forty five minute concert, followed by a fifteen minute inspirational speech from one of their ten pastors. Seldom does The Believer walk out feeling conviction. A conviction to turn from Sin. A conviction to strive for Holiness. A conviction to die daily to their old self. A conviction to walk in The Spirit, guided by The Word. Conviction is slain by Inspiration. They come as they are. They leave just the same. They only feel better about themselves when they depart.

“Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”

-The Prophet Isaiah

The weakness of The Modern Christian and The Modern Church can be found in the lack of Reverence for Christ. Which, in turn, leads to a lack of Humility. The weight of our Sin that crushed Him on The Cross is no longer taken seriously. Such Reverence is dead. We embrace The World, which is that which we should be leaving behind. Not looking over our shoulder as we walk away, yearning for yesterday. Lest we become a pillar of rancid salt, only fit for a footpath. When we look into The Word, we see Reverence. We see people stand before God and Jesus in visions, and they come undone. Isaiah fell to pieces. The Apostle Paul was left speechless. The Apostle John fell at the feet of Christ. Reverence is the recognition that we are unholy people. Always carrying the stains of Sin upon our flesh. It is the recognition that Christ is Holy. That we should be unworthy to stand in His presence. But Love, Grace, and Mercy says “Yes, my child.”. Reverence is a holy respect and fear of God as we bow low beneath the dust of the earth. With a desire to bow further if we could. Reverence is when we choose to honor Him in obedience. To glorify His Holy Name before a dead world.

“And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last…’”

-John, from The Book of Revelation

Yet, instead of coming undone by the weight of our Sin before Holiness, we treat Grace as if it allows us to sit upon The Throne. I am convinced at times that The Modern Christian, if in the midst of active Sin, looked up from Debauchery and stared into the eyes of The Savior, that he would not come unraveled. But that he would say “Jesus!!! What’s up my homeboy?!? Fist bump!!!” And Jesus would respond “Hey bro! It’s no big thang. I still love you. I’ll go over here and chill with some Netflix while you finish up.” Maybe, as our eyes are fixed upon the filth on the movie screen, we turn and see Christ watching us. We swallow hard our guilt, fearing what he may say. He smiles and quietly says “I love this part…” as he helps himself to our popcorn. Jesus of the modern day has been relegated from being a suffering and bleeding Savior that has died to save us from our Sin, that through Resurrection we may have Life renewed as we reach for Holiness as the sun rises and sets. No. Now He is our “best bud”. Thumbs up with an eye wink. A bobble head on our dashboard. A good luck charm. A fashion ornament.

The problem with The Modern Church is that it is plagued with a Low view of Christ, God, and The Holy Spirit. We see The Father and Son as being gracious and loving towards us in a way that permits us to drag Their names through the mud with our worldly hands. The Modern Christian has a major issue with not just God’s Holiness, but with his own calling to be holy. He is unable, whether through ignorance or intention, to separate himself from The World. From fornication, to cursing, to alcoholism, to smoking, and then some. This is The New Christian. All acceptable behaviors. And all through these worldly and sinful actions he professes the name of Christ. Charismatic is the new name of The Holy Spirit. No longer is He the helper to open our eyes to The Word’s revelations and our Sinfulness that begs for conviction. No. Now He is an experience. In some cases a force so powerful as to drive us to convulsions and speaking utter nonsense. We are no longer to grow into Christ through Sanctification. We are to feel Him.

“A time will come when instead of shepherds feeding the sheep, the church will have clowns entertaining the goats”

-Charles Spurgeon 

The Modern Christian is to nevermore darken the doorstep of Grandma’s Church with Reverence in dress and song. Oh so bored Grandma must be! Enslaved to antiquity. Lord forbid that they awaken one morning alone on a deserted island with a KJV Bible and a Hymnal. His Low view of God in Reverence has created an issue within The Modern Church. In many instances we have traded the desire for biblical preaching on the radio, for short Tik Toks about Jesus and Contemporary Christian Music. Because the attention span of Man is quickly becoming like that of a toddler. I am a firm believer that the reason why this blog ministry (something that has existed since 2022, and something that I have been doing for over fifteen years) has never gained any traction is because it requires people to read. I am sure that if I could reduce this down to a one minute video, then we would be telling a different story. But we have become not just an entertainment based society, but also lazy. We would be more willing to pay the extra money for someone to bring us our McDonalds, than for us to drive five minutes away to get it ourselves. So it comes as no surprise that our “popular” churches have become entertainment based in worship, as well as lazy in devotion, zeal, and service. Our idea of The Great Commission is to now invite friends and colleagues to church. But not just any church. OUR church. What they will find upon entering is a concert where we adore the talents of The Praise Band, as we stand in awe at Guitar Player’s amazing guitar solo, and then a quick feel good message from the cool middle aged Pastor. Many times this message will tell you how to deal with life, and not how to deal with the Sin that has you bound to Death. How to not face the Darkness of The World as a warrior for The Kingdom of Christ. Church is now more of a fun social gathering. It is of no surprise that our Christian heroes have gone from Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, and Adrian Rogers, to Steven Furtick, Chris Pratt, and Jelly Roll.

And now we are here.

We were shocked to our core to see the mockery and celebration from The Demonic Left at the assassination of Charlie Kirk. We were in disbelief to see them laugh at his weeping wife and proclaim that his children will have a better life without him. We were stricken in fear that they called for the further assassinations of you and I. But can we truly be in utter disbelief? Our societies across the world have embraced mental illness and The Demonic. They have embraced The Alternative. They have embraced The Division. They have embraced The Blood of the Innocents. They worshipped at the feet of Authoritarianism during The Sickness. They have roamed the streets with blood on their hands. Unopposed. Because The Modern Christian Church has become too afraid for confrontation. Too afraid to confront Sin. Too afraid of persecution and discomfort. Too afraid to lose members. Too afraid to scare off potential members. Too weak and spineless to train up brave warriors that would roam the streets, opposing Evil with God’s Truth. So a majority of The Modern Christian Church has become seeker friendly. Sending Reverence and Holiness into its grave in order to attract the masses. Being of The World in order to keep them there. They have set aside that which is sacred in order to be more entertaining to The Flesh. This is why Charlie’s mission is so profound and controversial. Because while he was out there staring Evil in the eyes, The Church has been sitting in its comfort zone, coddling each other with a hippie Jesus. One that would never have enough zeal to flip over tables. And while we were sleeping, Evil permeated the veins of our society. Spreading like a cancer into our schools, media, politics, streets, and (in some instances) our pulpits. Many Christians have awakened, saying “I am Charlie”. But many, after counting the cost of being Charlie, will turn back into their comfort zones, under the darkened light of the auditorium as they dance to the latest worship song by The Praise Band before Pastor comes to tell them how to take life by the horns. It is astounding that there were politicians at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service preaching The Gospel better than most Pastors within the walls of The Modern Christian Church.

Because The Modern Christian has developed a Low view of God. Void of Justice. Void of Holiness. Void of Reverence. Void of Salvation from Sin. Only a salvation from Hell. A reverence that is outdated and beneath us. A discomforting holiness. A justice that cannot coincide with The Love of God. A god that is enshrined in shallow words and entertainment. Man once respected The Church because of its Reverence for Christ. Her passion for Holiness to glorify His name. Because he could see such in her on display. Even the heart of Sinful Man feared God enough to not approach The Cross. Because even he knew that he was too stained to stand in the shadow of a Holy God. But now Reverence is dead. And he sees that. It is no wonder that The World and The Demonic no longer see The Cross as a threat to their Dark Kingdom.

Low is the view of He as The Modern Christian exalts himself.

“Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

-Paul, to The Church in Corinth