Romans 12:2 “Don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your very being, and that will prove the good, acceptable and perfect will of God.”

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The church has been a large part of my life for over 50 years. The perfected sameness of three hymns, an offering, and forty minutes of Bible-centered preaching all concluding with an opportunity to find peace was the formula of the Church. But that idealistic church has changed.

The change in climate in the church has slowly and almost imperceptibly shifted itself into something different. Can you feel it? Much like a grand ship not going fast enough in a headwind, the church seems to be drifting. In response to the secular, the church is no longer a place of forgiveness for sinful people, but a place of feeling good about ourselves. Instead of being a place where grace and mercy were to be found, it has slowly, imperceptibly, and almost without notice, drifted by culture.  It has changed from changing people to meet God’s expectations to “can’t we just get along.” The church I knew was a place of commitment, resilience, and sacrifice. It was a place of finding the will of God and following that will.  It has become a place of social gathering in the hope some of the holy stuff may rub off on them. Social justice is not Biblical justice.

Then again it might be my age. Yet I find myself humming the song, “Give me that old-time religion.”