RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-07-09	Mediocrity of Modern American Churches
		Tit 2:1  But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: Tit 2:2  that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; Tit 2:3  the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things In modern American Christianity we will not tolerate Biblical, theological, and spiritual maturity in men. Nothing above mediocrity. What do you mean? We want men in our local churches to be mature. Let's see if that is our pattern. In most modern American churches this is what happens. If you have a young man who is reading church history, theology, and he knows his Bible, what happens next? This young man has a passion for the things of God and the truths of God's Word. What happens in the average American church would say to him, “God must be calling you to preach.” Why? “Because you love the Bible, theology, and you are passionate about the things of God.” What we ought to say is, “That means he is a Christian.” Right? No. Not in the modern American church. And we know this is true. If somebody gets that serious about the things of God, immediately the mediocrity in modern churches pushes this young man into ministry. That is, he must go somewhere else, because they will not tolerate his passion. They direct him to go get a Seminary degree. He must become a pastor. They do this so they will not feel guilty about their own mediocrity pursuits. Because of this, modern American churches will tolerate its members from having too much zeal. Allow me to further explain, and give an example. We know people who have walked with God 30, 40, 50 years, and they admit they know nothing. In no other field is this acceptable. You name the field. Name the field where in our culture, even among unbelievers, where they can function in that field, and not know anything. For example, if you are a bricklayer who has been doing it for 20 or 30 years. And a new inexperienced person comes to the “experienced” bricklayer saying, “I know you have been doing this for a long time. Can I come alongside you to learn?” He says, “I really want to learn how to lay bricks well.” Our typical response is that we would expect the experienced bricklayer to be able to teach the younger one. What if the “experienced” bricklayer says, “I'm no master bricklayer.” There are those in the church who have been saved for decades. Can a younger person come alongside you to learn doctrine, theology, and Bible? What is the typical response? “I am not a preacher.” “I am a babe in Christ.” He may be a 40 year old baby, and he is not ashamed of it. This is the only place in America where we accept this kind of mediocrity. This is only acceptable in our modern American churches. Note that God gives the spiritual gifts to whoever He wants, including pastor. So becoming a pastor is a calling from God. But every believer can learn what a “Pastor” learns. Every believer should have the same zeal, and love for the Word of God. It seems the longer one is saved, the greater their zeal for the Lord should become. And that is probably true, but not so much in our modern American churches. The Bible says, one of the evidences of a man that belongs to God, is that he is sound in faith (Ti.1:13; 2:2). We are called to defend the faith that was once for all handled down to the saints (Jude 1:3). But we proclaim, because we do not have ordination papers, we are unable to do it. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

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