What Has Happened to the Church?

Last Sunday in my sermon I mentioned some trends going on in the "church world" today and ask "what has happened to the church?" It seems as if the church is trying to become just like the world. A couple of people asked me since then if I was being serious or if I was exaggerating.  I was completely serious and not a bit of exaggeration. I'll provide some links to back up some of what I said, in particular, the topics which people had a hard to believing that it was true. 

First, one trend is drinking beer in the "worship" service. They call them "Beer and Hymns" nights. Here is one link, but if you google it you'll find more. Beer and Hymns 

The second thing was smoking pot as a part of worship: There are numerous of these, and I could not decide which to post, so just use google and search, "churches using pot in worship."

Then there's "Naked Church." Yes, I'm serious. Don't believe me? Click here.
There are churches having casino nights, and we could go on and on, but the point is that the church is becoming more and more like the world all the time, leaving me to ask, "when did we lose our collective minds?" God's Word tells us to come out from among them and be separate. We are called to be holy and peculiar people. No, that does not mean we have to be "freaks" but we should stand out, not blend in with the world. It's not so much about how you dress, but in what we do, where we go, who we hang with and the light of Jesus shining through us. 

Just today I was discussing this with one of my church members who also is a former alcoholic/addict. We were talking about "dry drunks" who although they are no longer drinking, their behavior and habits have not changed. That is a picture of so much of the church world today as people profess Christ but do not LIVE Christ.  This modern teaching and preaching of grace has caused a lot of serious damage to the church. When I was younger, I often wondered about the scripture where Jesus is separating the sheep and the goats and there are those who say they called him Lord, spoke in his name, prophesied and so on, but he says, "depart from me... I never knew you".  Now that I'm older, I get it. We are living in a generation where so many go to church, do good works and such, but they have never been to the foot of the cross and had the blood of Jesus applied to their lives. They are not saved. They THINK they are saved, but they are not... and this is exactly who Jesus is talking about in Matthew 7:21-23. The church needs to wake up... and fast.