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Many people live through each day in a state of physical tiredness due to insufficient rest, over-exertion, illness, anxiety, or other factors. There is another sort of tiredness that we all experience, also. It is a weariness of mind or spirit with unsatisfactory situations in which we live. When one is “tired” of hot weather, he may take a vacation to a cooler climate.
People can become tired of unsatisfactory religious conditions. In fact, it is obvious that large numbers of people have grown tired of certain religious conditions, as seen in the loss of members both by the Roman Catholic Church and by some “main-line” Protestant groups in recent decades. Some have grown so tired of the unscriptural and objectionable burdens forced upon them that they have totally severed themselves from “organized” religion. Others have kept their names on a church roll, but they don’t really function as church members anymore because their sincere objections have fallen on deaf ears. In some cases, entire local congregations have pulled away from their parent body. Are you, like some others, tired of the following conditions?
- Hearing the Bible criticized and ridiculed instead of being preached as God’s Word. It is a documented fact that the churches that are growing are those whose leaders and preachers still believe the Bible to be the Word of God. It is likewise documented that the churches that have fallen prey to theological liberalism and have lost their faith in the Bible are dying. Obviously, many people are “fed up” with preachers and churches that have abandoned the infallibility of the Bible as God’s inspired Word. They should be. It is a basic hypocrisy to claim to be followers of Christ, while rejecting the Bible. There is no way to explain the Bible’s harmony, content, insight, prophetic declarations, and fulfillments, and the like, apart from its claim of being verbally inspired of God (2 Tim. 3:16; 1 Cor. 2:9–13; 2 Pet. 1:21, et al.). Many present-day preachers give Shakespeare or Time magazine more reverence than they do Christ and His apostles. They somehow think it is “smart” and “sophisticated” to spread their own skepticism and doubt. In the process of debunking the Bible as God’s Word, such are tearing down what God wants built up. Lamentably, many poor souls who are victims of such pulpiteers have their faith (and their souls) wrecked beyond repair. Are you tired of such nonsense in the name of religion? Let preachers preach the Bible or get out of the pulpit!
- Religious division. If men are not tired of it, they should be. God certainly is, for it is completely opposed to His Will (John 17:20–21; 1 Cor. 1:10–13; Gal. 5:20–21; Eph. 4:3–6 et al.). Religious division does not come from following the Bible, but from a failure to do so. Those who see an advantage in a multiplicity of doctrines, names, and religious orders, all differing from one another, see something that God does not see and that the Bible does not teach. Those who think they find “unity in diversity” in all this religious chaos have vivid imaginations that ignore the obvious. The only hope of overcoming this ungodly state is for all men to take the Bible as their sole standard of religious authority (1 The. 2:13; 1 Pet. 4:11; et al.).
- Creeds and traditions of men. These are responsible for perpetuating the tragic state of division among those who claim to follow Christ. If men follow only Christ, they will not be divided (1 Cor. 1:13). However, when human traditions and doctrines of men are crystallized into creedal statements, they “make void the Word of God” (Mat. 15:6–9). The religious systems that are so rooted in fallible human doctrines are not of God and He will eventually uproot them (v. 13).
- Denominational headquarters issuing orders which must be observed. The Lord made no provision for His church to have either a head or headquarters on earth. Christ is the head of His church (Eph. 1:22–23), and He is in Heaven (Col. 3:1–2). The headquarters are in Heaven, therefore. Jesus alone has the right to legislate for His church (Mat. 28:18), and He has given His perfect and complete legislation in His inspired Word (2 Tim. 3:16–17). His churches are independent of each other, self-governing entities, answerable to no conference, council, or synod, but only to the New Testament itself.
May the day soon come when enough good people will become so tired of these and other abuses of the religion of Christ that they will turn back to His word and His way in great numbers.
[Note: I wrote this article for and it was published in the August 20, 1980 edition of Light of Life, of which I was editor. This monthly paper was published and mailed to every address county-wide by Granbury Church of Christ, Granbury, TX.]
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
