There is a disease growing in the Church. It is complacency combined with irreverence which together form an overall lack of seriousness regarding religion.
The Church has become a social club where individuals focus primarily on their own enjoyment with little thought for anything else. Young men show up to Church dressed for a backyard barbecue while young women show up dressed like they are going out clubbing.
What happened? Parents thought that simply being Christians and bringing their kids to church a couple of times per week would be enough to keep them on the path of spiritual discipline.
This is not the case anymore. The young see the lack of seriousness from their parents and carry on the tradition of lackadaisical faith in their own lives. The older generations enjoy pointing fingers at the younger generations and complaining about them.
The older generation forgets that they are responsible for raising the younger generation.
They have three fingers pointing back at themselves.
When a young child behaves poorly, it is a reflection primarily on the parent, not on the child. We all know and understand that children are born uncivilized. It is the responsibility of the parents the teach them how to behave in a civilized society.
Thus when we see a lack of seriousness in the Church, we need to look at the parents who did not firmly instill values into their children to determine the root cause of the problem.
The lack of seriousness we see in the Church is the result of poor parenting. It is evident that our perception of God and the Church is a reflection of our perception of our parents, primarily our fathers when it comes to how we view God.
If the father is a strict disciplinarian, the child views God as the Punisher of evil who gives no grace or mercy to anyone, and who is viewing earth from heaven just waiting for someone to sin so that He can destroy them.
If the father is too merciful, turning a blind eye to a child’s poor behavior, the child views God as handing out never-ending grace and mercy no matter how evil an individual is. The child will then convince himself that everyone is saved because God is all love.
If the father is absent, either because of work or because he is literally gone, the child views God as absent and distant and will likely end up as an atheist.
Our idea of the Church reflects our mothers and their relationships with our fathers.
If marriage is to reflect Christ (the husband) and His Church (the wife) then we can see how seriousness has faded over the years. Children have less respect for their parents and in turn, they have less respect for the Church. They speak to their mothers however they please, and thus view the Church as something not to be respected.
Marriage itself has become less respected and revered and is seen as an empty contract that can be cast aside at a moment’s notice for any reason.
Therefore, the relationship between Christ and the Church has become less respectful as well. This respect must be restored to the Church.
We forget that we are coming to a memorial service for Christ.
No one would show up to the funeral of their father or mother in shorts and a t-shirt.
Then why do we feel free to show up to the memorial service for God the Son dressed like we are headed to a birthday party?
Unacceptable.
We need to reverse this lack of respect and seriousness in the church by instructing our children about the seriousness of the faith we hold. They need to understand that a lackadaisical approach to faith and Christianity is no better than having no faith at all.
The lukewarm church is spewed from the mouth of God. Education begins at home. “Raise your children in the way that they should go so that when they are grown, they may not depart from it” ~ Proverbs 22:6.
Treat your faith with seriousness and respect. Worship God with reverence and Godly fear, for He is “a consuming fire” – Hebrews 12:28-29
