There is a disease going around today. It is taking over the world. It's ultimate design is eternal death. A great majority of the world has caught it, and it is rapidly spreading. You can hear about it on the news, read about it in the papers, our presidents have spoken about it.

You may believe the disease I'm talking about is AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) or the Ebola Virus, or some other kind of physical sickness. It is NOT. You may believe it is something like homosexuality, abortion, or divorce. Although these are terrible problems and are running rampant, and they do have something to do with it, they themselves are not what I am referring to.

What I am referring to is killing this once great nation we live in. It is also killing what has long been thought of as conservative congregations. The problem is that we are no longer concerned with teaching the Bible itself, instead we teach Bible Stories, and leave them at that. We have found that a greater number will attend if we tell interesting stories instead of preaching the gospel. We have become more concerned with physical growth that raising up spiritual Christians. We haven't gone so far as to offer hot dogs and pizza suppers. But we are starting to put on plays and skits, watch movies in Bible Class. Our lesson books tell the stories, and the questions can easily be answered without ever once opening a Bible. Our young people are not encouraged to attend Bible classes, or to come prepared. In fact they are being discouraged by members who constantly are absent from the bible classes, or by teachers who themselves are unprepared.

What are we teaching our young? Are we teaching them to go into the world and teach all nations, or are we teaching them to sit in front of their televisions and soak up all that the world has to offer. Are we teaching them that we should be concerned about all of the souls in the world that are being lost daily because no one is teaching them from the Bible. Or are we teaching them that all we have to be concerned with is our own salvation. What are we teaching our young? What kind of example are we showing in evangelizing the world? What kind of example do they see in us in the worship of our Lord? Do they see joy to serve, or duty bound?


Timothy R. Henderson