The Foolishness of Modern Christianity

Amos 5:23 "Take away from me the noise of your songs;
to the melody of your harps I will not listen."

Matthew 6:6-8 "…6 But when you pray, go into your inner room, shut your door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. 7 And when you pray, do not babble on like pagans, for they think that by their many words they will be heard. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.…"

Ecclesiastes 5:2
"Do not be quick to speak, and do not be hasty in your heart to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven and you are on earth. So let your words be few."

Notice the pagans use mantras and vain repetition in their worship of false gods. We are not to do as the pagans do.

 
Matthew 6:7
7 “And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words."

Songs are a form of prayer, repeating the same words over and over again, while creating a state of euphoria that is fleshly and not pleasing to God. This focuses on the flesh and the feelings, not on Christ.

 
The goal of the modern church service is to keep the people
manipulated and entertained so they will come back.

 
When is the last time you saw the following expression happen in a church gathering?

 
James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail."
The element of worshipful repentance and surrender to Christ is absent from gatherings where the music is the central theme.

 
The result of this focus on entertainment is elevated levels of pride, a sort of showing off to those around you, and attempts to fit in rather than focusing on Christ.

 
These displays of entertainment focus on mantras without depth and are absent of the the Word of God.

 
Nowhere in scripture are we told that a "leader" is to determine what we pray or sing. In God's gathering, each person, as led by the Holy Spirit, in spontaneity calls for a song or prayer, and others join in.

 
We are a culture that wants everything to be planned and manipulated by men so that it all turns out the way we wish to see it; it has nothing to do with the leading of the Holy Spirit.

 
The services in our day are man-made and man-centered. The people in the pews focus on and obey the leader up front, never once hearing from the Holy Spirit because of the noise of those who expect obedience to them.

 
It is astounding to me that so many Christians have a wrong view of the gathering of believers. God intended all members to participate in sharing the Word, prayer, and song. No one sits facing forward, unresponsive to what others are saying.

 
When we participate, we have to think, ponder, and come to the gathering prepared with Bible truth to be able to engage with others as we edify one another, pointing all to Christ. Those who practice this form of gathering read and study their Bibles regularly at home before they enter the gathering. When we are filled with the Spirit of God and know His Word we will always have something from Him to share.

 
I remember many years ago my mother telling me she attended a particular church because she liked the music. I never once heard the name of Jesus Christ roll from her tongue. This was and is the state of modern Christianity.

 
I once heard a "pastor" tell his congregation that he was raised that "going to church" was the decent thing to do, nothing about Christ, everything about being a responsible citizen in society. I grieved when I heard it, but he didn't even know what he said was not Christ-centered but society-centered.

I have been asked "which church I attend", never "have you been changed by Christ into a new creation?" or something equivalent to "are you born-again?"
I have asked people if they were born again, and their answer came back, which church they were a member of, and they didn't even know what I was talking about, or worse, acted embarrassed at the term "born-again" because it seemed radical to them.

 
Is it any wonder why our country has been declining in everything in recent years? I don't mean finances or safety, I mean morally and spiritually. Our generation does not know what respect looks like, even though they were more respectful than their children have been; they still tolerate the disrespect from their children as though it is normal communication.

 
I am in my 70s now and can look back at the superficial cultural Christianity that I was raised in, but thought it was Christianity when I was too young to know better.
My admonition to all believers is to ask God to show them from His Word what God's Christianity looks like, with the willingness to discard everything they were taught that was wrong and begin again afresh learning the Way of Christ.