PROF. BEN ONYEUKWU (REV)
NCE(Eng.) ND/HD (Journalism); BA
(Hons) MA, PhD.
THE CHURCH AND
FALLING STANDARDS IN CHRISTIAN VALUES
INTRODUCTION/GENERAL
OVERVIEW
In
the words of Chinedu Oguzie (2005:4) disobedience is a mark of falling
standards in the Christian Church. He opines that disobedience comes where
there are clashes of interest. And, that the sin is one of the factors that manifest
the said falling standards in Church. He further notes that, since there are
some enemies of Christian fellowship in the age, Satan, therefore take
advantages of this, as he uses worldly ideas, philosophies, psychology,
desires, government, culture, education, science, art, medicine, music,
economic system, entertainments, fashion, and more, to undermine biblical moral
standard and values.
Based on the foregoing, Oguzie equally
observes that, Christian who are always in constant fellowship with God must be
aware that behind all human enterprises, there is a spirit or power that moves
against God and His Word to wreck havoc, bring doom and hooliganism. And, it is
on this note that God’s word says, ‘‘do not love the world or anything in the
world. If anyone lives the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
everything in the world, the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and
the boasting of what he has and does comes not from the Father, but from the
world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of
God lives forever, (1John 2:15-17).
In furtherance, a note from Google
search.com, remarks that,
‘‘The
Word of God shines as the bright sun of grace unto the heart of a believer. The
heavenly father, by His grace and through the Holy Spirit teaches and guides us
on the way of faith. Thus, the Apostle
in a letter to Titus writes, ‘‘ For the grace of God that brings salvation hath
appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we
should live soberly, righteously and godly, in this present world, looking for
that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself
a people, zealous of good works’’, (Titus 2:11-14).
DEFINITION
OF TERMS (CHURCH, VALUE AND STANDARD)
According Louis Berkhof (1958:555), the
Old Testament employs two words to designate the church, namely ‘‘gahal’’ (or
kahal), derived from an absolute root ‘‘gal’’ (or kal), meaning ‘‘to call’’ ;
and ‘‘edhah’’, from ‘‘ya’ adh’’, ‘‘to
appoint’’ or ‘‘to meet or come together at an appointed place’’. These two
words are sometimes used indiscriminately, but were not, at first, strictly
synonymous. ‘‘Edhah’’ is properly a gathering by appointment, and when applied
to Israel, denotes the society itself formed by the children of Israel or their
representative heads, whether assembled or not assembled. ‘‘Qahal’’, on the
other hand properly denotes the actual meeting together of the people.
Consequently, we find occasionally the expression, ‘‘gahal’’, ‘‘edhah’’, that is, ‘‘the assembly of the
congregation’’, Ex. 12:6. Num. 14:5; Jer. 26:17.
The New Testament, also, has two words,
derived from the Septuagint, namely, ‘‘ekkesia’’ from ‘‘-ek’’ and kaleo, ‘‘to
call out’’ and ‘‘sunagoge’’, from ‘‘sun’’ and ‘‘ago’’, meaning, ‘‘to come or to
bring together’’. The later is used exclusively to denote either the religious
gathering of the Jews or the building in which they assembled for public
worship, Matt. 4:23; Act 13:”43; Rev. 2:9; 3:9. The term ‘‘ekkesia’’, however,
generally designate the church of the New Testament, though in a few places, it
denote common civil assembles; Act 19:32, 39, 41. The preposition ‘‘ek’’ in
‘‘ekkesia’’ (ekkaleo) is often interpreted to mean, “out from among the common
mass of the people”, and to indicate in connection with the scriptural use of
‘‘ekkesia’’ that the church consists of the elect, called out of the world of
humanity.
Having defined the term ‘‘Church’’, it
becomes proper to stress what constitute the ‘‘value’’ and ‘‘standard’’ of the
Christian church. In this connection, the EN English Dictionary defines
‘‘value’’ as the quality (positive or negative) that renders something
desirable or valuable. It could also be the degree of importance you give to
something. Therefore, the Christian value can be defined as the quality of
life, attitude or conduct which is biblically desirable for the Christian
faith, as well as the degree of importance attached to it. Also, the term
‘‘standard’’, according to the same dictionary, ‘‘is a level of quality or
attainment or something used as a measure for comparative evaluations. And
here, the stipulations of the Holy Scripture which are indicative of the Holy
nature and character of God stand out as the yardstick for evaluation’’.
FOUNDATION
FOR STANDARD IN CHRISTIAN VALUES
No
doubt, God’s love is the foundation for standard in Christian values. As a
follow-up, a part of the already cited note from goggle search.com renders
that, ‘‘Jesus Christ revealed the depth of God’s love when he gave himself for
us’’. Therefore, in the heart of a child of God has been born a love for him
who has first loved us. To this end, the Apostle Paul opines that his life of
piety was informed by the love of Christ, when he says, ‘‘The life which I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and
gave Himself for me’’, (Gal 2:20).
In this way, God’s love and grace work
in the believer’s heart to affect an inward personal humility and a desire to
walk in obedience of faith, as well as compels him not want to lose this great
treasure that he has received. Because of this, also, the believer chooses to
avoid those things that war against faith and good conscience. Furthermore, he
does not wish to go to the dance halls, theatre, drinking places and sports
arenas of this world, as well as wants to avoid the music and literature that
appeals to the flesh and its lusts. In fact, the believer, equally, on this
note, does not wants to allow dirty
television programmes on his television screen, as he endeavours to keep the
sanctity and permanence of marriage (if
married), and also avoids intimate relationship outside marriage, and in turn
keeps the right priorities in his home in the care and upbringing of his
children.
Similarly, at the work place, the
believer endeavours to do his duties honestly and diligently. At school, he
wants to be diligent in his work and obedient to his teachers, and equally
wants to be content and equally wants to be content and thankful for the school
and work opportunities that God has given him and not join with those who
complain and resist the people placed in positions of authority, as he will
always want to conduct himself in the manner that shows respect for other
people and their belonging--- the believer who walks in tandem with the above
cited standards in Christian –values would always want to ‘‘abstain from all
appearances of evil’’, (1 Thess. 5:22).
DECLINE
OF STANDARD IN CHRISTIAN VALUES
Perry
Noble (2011), identifies five cores values of a church in decline, as;
laziness, fear of man, pride, staff abuse and loss of focus, as he writes on
each of them as follows;
i) Laziness: Here, Perry Noble narrates
that, ‘‘most people/churches are in decline because they do not know or
understand what the Lord wants them to do ---- God speaks very clearly in His
Word and through His Spirit. It’s just that God’s work always requires people
to take a step of faith! Remember, God promised the Israelites the ‘‘Promised
Land’’, but they actually had to go in and fight the battles. A church that
refuses to do whatever it takes and embraces laziness will eventually settle in
the desert until that generation dies off. Giving credence to what Perry said,
it becomes obvious that moral or many other forms of decline take place in the
Christian church simply because most church operatives are not up and doing.
ii) Fear of man: According to Perry Noble,
‘‘God has called His people to set the world on fire; unfortunately, too many
church leaders today waste their trying to put fires out and make people happy.
The Scripture pretty much sums it up in Proverbs 29:25. If your first question
is always, ‘‘what does our biggest giver want’’ and not what does God want’’,
your church is stepping into the casket’’. The observation of Perry in this
section of his work simply shows that moral decline in the church occurs when
church leaders try to please men, and not God, in want of their offerings and
gifts.
iii) Pride: At this point, Perry Noble
remarks that, when a church and/or its leaders are not willing to admit a
mistake or that a method that used to work just doesn’t work anyone--- it’s
over. This means that unwillingness of church membership and operatives to
admit when things are biblically wrong, eventually leads to moral or some sort
of decline of standard in Christian values.
iv) Staff Abuse: ---- Here Perry notes that
----, when a leader cares more about what his staff does than who they are
becoming, then he will begin to push them to put in 70-80 hour weeks on a
consistent basis ---- and when they begin to show signs of being pushed too
hard, he will accuse them of being ‘‘disloyal’’ or ‘‘not bought in enough to
make things happen’’. When a leader
beings to do this (and other ‘‘leaders’’ sit by passively and watch it happen),
then the quality of staff members the church is about to attract and keep will
decrease significantly’’. In other words, when the moral of staff of a church
(and other categories of membership) goes down, there is bound to be all sorts
of evil works, informing decline in standard of Christian values.
v) Loss of Focus: In summary Perry Noble
opines that, ‘‘ when a pastor/leader (or group of leaders) become more observed
with their ‘‘ministry platform’’ and begin to drive into other ‘‘ministry
opportunities’’ and do so with such frequency that they cease to love the
people that Jesus has called them to minister to ---- disaster is right around
the corner, because the church will become nothing more than a resource for the
pastor to promote himself rather than a group of people whom God has brought
together and given him responsibility to love and lead’’. To sum it up here,
the neglect of a pastor/leader to feed the flock, in pursuance of material
things definitely will lead to decline of Christian values in church or
organisation
RESTORATION
OF CHRISTIAN VALUES
IN
CHRISTIAN CHURCH
An anonymous writer, at goggle search.com in
an article titled, the Church and Falling Standard in Christian Values throws
light on steps necessary for the restoration of Christian values in the
Christian church, and here, he brings to the fore that, ‘‘the cure for a backslider
state is not letting go and letting God’’ nor is it found in our own
recommitment to the Lord. The cure for our conditions is the Lord Jesus
himself. He is the Good Shepherd who restores the soul. He pursues and rescues
the one who has left the fold. He holds the believer in His hands and will not
lose His grip. He will finish the good work He has begun in us. Our Greet
Saviour does what His title implies: He saves. He saves us from our
condemnation, as well as from our wanderings.
But the cure must be embraced and returned
to. If we are going to find safety in Him from the power of sin, then we must
look to Him. If you find yourself to be drifting away from Jesus and into empty
religion, immorality, and unchecked pride- a life lived apart from the Saviour
– then I encourage you to look again to Jesus. Having said this, here are five
brief words on what this means:
a) Identify
your Current Conditions
According to the writer, ‘you cannot return if you do
not know you have lost your way’ years ago,as he continues to say, while I was
reading plumbers treatise on Experimental And Practical Piety, God made
it very plain to me that I had walked into a kind of spiritual darkness and
needed to return to Him. God used that book, a few select sermons, and Revelation to guide me back. For a long time, though, I
was unaware that I was even in such a bad state, and until I saw that, there
would be no returning. ‘‘Remember, therefore from where you have fallen’’ (Rev.
2:5).
b) Mediate
on Christ and His Work
If
we are to be captured by the Glory of Jesus and led to worship Him for all He
is and all He has done for sinners, then we must see these things again and
again. There is never a returning to Jesus apart from the responding to His
Word. We find ourselves in a backslidden state because, in part, we lost sight
of the Glory of Christ. So, we must see it again. ‘‘seek the things that are
above, where Christ is seated at the
Right Hand of God, set your minds on things that are above, not things that are on earth’’, (Colossians 3:2).
c) Pray
to God for the Grace You Need
The
fact that we can return is grace. That we will return is a promise made by God!
Are you aware of your condition? Do you want to be revived? Perhaps, you’ve so
cold that you don’t even know if you really want it. Pray that God will do what
He Has promised and heal your backsliding. ‘‘I will heal their apostasy; I will
love them freely, for my anger has turned from them ----- They shall return and
dwell beneath my shadow’ they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom
like the vine’’, (Hos. 14:4-7).
d) Repent
of all known Sins
As
Martin Luther famously penned in his first of the 95 theses,
‘‘When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said
Repent, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of
repentance’’. Our trouble often begins when we forget this aspect of gospel
living. The backslider is one who has forgotten the grace of repentance. His
heart has become insensitive to his sin and he has lost sight of his desperate
and immediate need for Jesus. Returning to Jesus necessitates the painful
awareness of, and the turning from our sins, ‘‘Repent, and do the works you did
at first’’ (Rev. 2:5).
e) Return
to Christ in Fresh Dependency
Those
who know Jesus know a trustworthy Saviour. Those who have wandered from
communion with Him have lost a sense of dependency on Him for sustaining grace.
We often lose sight of how much we need His grace; grace to come to Christ,
grace to keep us with Christ and grace to return to Christ. It is as we
recognise our current conditions, see the Glories of Jesus, seek the Lord for
grace and repent of our sin that we return to our first love. ‘‘Return to me,
says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you. Says the Lord of hosts’’
(Zeph. 1:3).
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