Abandoning a Previous Loyalty

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5 ESV). I’m always amazed when people tell me that they “really aren’t into organized religion.” In fact, when you put it that way, it doesn’t sound very good, does it? Usually such a statement is accompanied by other statements like, “I’m into spirituality.” I still get the occasional “I like to worship the God of nature. I can find God anywhere, not just in a building.” Truthfully that’s usually an indicator that they really don’t have a Scriptural understanding of worship or religion. In our reading today, the apostle tells Timothy that one of the signs of the end of times is an apostasy, or falling away. Apostasy is an interesting word. According to Merriam-Webster, it may be defined as “a renunciation of a religious faith; or an abandonment of a previous loyalty. The apostasy that is coming (and is now present) in the church certainly fits that definition in some cases. What we find in some churches today are people who say, "Give me a Christianity that caters to me. Don't bore me with Bible doctrine. Keep it lively. Keep it interesting. Keep it exciting. Keep it motivating. Don't judge me. Don't tell me to change my lifestyle. That is the kind of religion I want." Timothy is the pastor in Ephesus as Paul's tells him to "preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." When we go forward in history about thirty years from this letter, we see a different church has evolved at Ephesus. The Apostle John writes: To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: “The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:1-4 ESV). They had certainly “abandoned a previous loyalty.” There is only one God, and that is the God who is revealed in the Bible. He is the God who loved us so much that He sent us His Son Jesus Christ. So we should not focus on being the largest; we should focus on being strong; and more importantly, on being a people that honor God.