We are told- “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence - continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” ( Philippians 2:12.)  

 “WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING”! 

If we are truly repentant and we are being taught, corrected, rebuked and trained in righteousness, it is not always a comfortable process.  We should constantly be challenged if we are being purified.  And so should the leaders of these ‘churches’.  Yet they are the ones who set the worst examples, by refusing to be corrected by scripture, and clinging to their denominational traditions and theology instead.  Pride and tradition will not save anyone. Observing church regulations and rituals will not make anyone righteous.  The Lord has warned us, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!  For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father and mother must be put to death’.  But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything to help his father or mother.  Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.  And you do many things like that.” (Mark 7:9-13).  The Lord’s comment is obviously not limited to a single example because he said, “And you do many things like that.”

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Is it enough then, to simply join a church and ‘go with the flow’?  

Did Jesus ‘go with the flow’?  Did John the Baptist ‘go with the flow’?  Did the apostles ‘go with the flow’?  Was Timothy encouraged to ‘go with the flow’?  If any of them had simply ‘gone with the flow’, they could have lived comfortable lives and avoided persecution.  But Paul wrote to Timothy saying-  “In fact, everyone who wants to lead a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Tim. 3:12,13)

  

In the entire history of mankind, has anyone of any significance, simply gone with the flow?

 

We have already been warned about what is happening now - “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3)

 

 “All men are like grass and their glory is like the flowers of the field;  The grass withers and the flowers fall but the word of the Lord stands forever”.  (1Peter.1:24-25)

Once again, “Let God be true and every man a liar”. (Rom. 3:4)

With this in mind, what should our attitude be?   Firstly; with so many ‘churches’ teaching  ‘slightly different things’, we should constantly be on our guard against false teaching. 

The apostles’ teachings should be the reference point for our lives.  The apostles were the ones whom Christ charged with the duty of teaching us to obey.  God’s word should be the measure for everything that we hear, everything that we preach and everything that we do. It is according to this Word that we will be judged. “For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.  Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.  Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” (Heb. 5:12-13)

 “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.” (James 1:22). 

Those who are preaching tradition and church membership rather than the truth, will try to make us fear isolation or ‘excommunication’ in an effort to control us.  When the apostles were faced with the same situation they declared, “We must obey God, rather than men!” (Acts 5:29)