Last Week My Wife Christina And I Were In Florida ...

Last week my wife Christina and I were in Florida visiting her father who has been ill. Besides the pollen wreaking havoc on our sinuses, and the Florida humidity reminding us of yet another reason we are so happy not to live there any longer, there was something that I saw which I must say, I am glad to have seen.

As we drove along Highway 54 near Zephyrhills, Florida I saw a sign advertising a local church. The sign had an overdone depiction of the stereotype of a grandma. She had blue curled hair, too much makeup, and a very loudly colored housedress. Next to the picture of the grandma was the words “Not Your Grandma’s Church!”

My wife Christina remarked, “Well, they’ve sure gone and offended Grandma!” Besides being merely offensive, however, I think the sign is indicative of so much more. The sign causes me to first ask myself the question, “If it is not my Grandma’s Church then why not? What is wrong with Grandma’s Church?”

Perhaps they are merely saying that this is a church for young people because we have things that many young people like. We have a good nursery program, we have contemporary music, and we have a young Pastor whom you can relate to. Perhaps that is all they meant with the sign but I am inclined to think that this sign speaks to a deeper and much more disturbing trend in our culture and indeed even within the Church itself.

It is not merely Grandma’s worship style which churches like this have rejected; it is Grandma’s truth which has been rejected. Grandma is rigid and believes that there is only one way to get to Heaven. We don’t teach that here, they say, only God can be the judge of that!

Grandma’s truth is absolute and confining. We don’t teach that here, they say, we don’t want to limit anyone’s creativity. Each person should live and do whatever pleases them! Folks, in the name of new methods they have introduced new means. In the name of church growth, they have abandoned the very foundations of the Church itself; namely, the word of truth.

In the name of making the Gospel more palatable – making it tastier – they have created a lie-filled-pill which threatens to poison you and me.

Truth no knows expiration date. Truth is not like a gallon of milk which one must replace when it grows old and out of fashion. Truth is by definition unchanging because truth is by definition that which proceeds from the mind of God Himself.

Truth is always true because it is true, not because it is comfortable. When I came to Christ as a teenager it was after a long journey of looking for truth. I had looked in the world around me for truth and it was not to be found. I had looked in the knowledge of the people in my life and truth was not to be found.

The modern worldview, the one which is not fond of Grandma or her Church or her truth, had told me in no uncertain terms that truth is relative and changing. I had taken their lie-filled-pill just inside my mouth and as it rested on the tip of my tongue it was as though I threatened to consume it, when in fact, it was it which threatened to consume me.

I, probably like many of you, came to Christ not so much looking for religion or even God as such, but in search of truth. And that is exactly what I found! John 1:17 says, concerning Jesus, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (NKJV)

This is the truth that we must learn. We must not swallow the lie-filled-pill that the modern worldview would have to consume us. We must learn the truth that truth is unchanging because God is unchanging and truth is that which proceeds from the very mind of God. Truth is not dependant on popularity, modern trends, opinions of man, or any other such trite and fleeting thing. Truth is radically unchanging because God is radically unchanging.