Assimilation

I Cor.I:18 - For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

There was a day that Spirit-filled men of God preached, not just believed, the message of the cross. Not many would have been invited to appear on TV talk shows, their message would have been considered foolishness. Can you imagine John the Baptist on Larry King? Peter? John? Luther? Calvin? Jonathan Edwards? Finney? Wesley? Moody? Any of the martyrs? Stephen? Jeremiah? In the midst of the worst abortion filled, homosexual condoning, pornography producing, pleasure seeking, divorce laden, money hungry, humanistic society in history, God's prophets are respected by the culture. Why?
How come Paul was martyred but we're respected? We love to read John Bunyan's writings but we wouldn't change places with him. How come Herod sought the "young Child's life" while today Herod feels comfortable in our church services seeking votes, not Jesus? Why did the pilgrims uproot their whole way of life to follow Christ while we have embraced the exact lifestyle they sought to escape? We have been assimilated
In the TV show Star Trek - The Next Generation, an alien species called "The Borg" was introduced. They go throughout the universe searching out all other life forms which they defeat by assimilation. Usually the first several waves of The Borg are destroyed as they attempt to gain information about the life forms they have encountered. As they are destroyed they relay the information they have detected about the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy to "The Collective", which is the central intelligence of The Borg. This information is continually analyzed and each successive wave of Borg attackers adapts according to the information given by The Collective. The goal of The Borg is not annihilation, it is assimilation. They have at their disposal all the information collected from all the species they have already assimilated. Once the species is assimilated they forget their former lives and they are given new names. They behave as The Collective directs them. Their mantra is simple but powerful - RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.
Imagine sitting on a dock watching the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. You look to your left and see a giant ship sailing from your left to your right. At the back of the ship is a 200' mariner's rope that is connected to a little dinghy being pulled by this massive ship. Now as this large ship passes in front of the setting sun you notice thousands of people in the ship having a great party. One minute later the little dinghy passes across the sun with just a handful of people. The large ship represents the world, partying its way to hell. But the dinghy is the church, always following the world at the same distance, and sailing always in a place the world just left. Which means the church was at the same place the world was a few years ago, and in today's world the church is hoping to catch up to the world's ship and board her - oh, to win them to Christ, of course.
Yes, we are being assimilated. The devil realized that even though he had essentially removed the gospel from the earth during the dark ages, God could still rebirth it with just a few men seeking God. So, like the Borg, he adapted his strategy to let the gospel remain in the theology of the church while removing the efficacious power, so now we spend most of our time and effort tinkering with this earthly life and infrequently referring to the eternal. And like Samson, we don't even realize it. What would have happened if the early apostles had done what we do? What if they had concentrated on marriage, dating, teens, finances, and all the things we do? What if they prayed like we do? What if they borrowed from Caesar like we do? What if they had searched the Scriptures(the OT no less) like we do? What in the world would Paul have preached to remain fresh and relevant as he went from culture to culture? What would he have preached without the ability to purchase his sermon material over the internet? The further into the world the devil assimilates us, the more outrageous, outdated, and critical it now seems for anyone to observe our wayward course. Let me, a certifiable and ecclesiastical nobody, observe just a few waterways we now sail that contain the world's wake.

Most evangelical churches have no worship gathering on Sunday nights that churches had several decades ago. Why? People don't come and because it is now too inconvenient and there must be a numerical threshold that legitimizes such an "activity". One church gathering a week to worship our Savior is plenty! The church has become a convenience store.

Most evangelical churches had at least one prayer service weekly. We are now too busy with activities and we now believe in activities rather than prayer. There are more aerobics than prayer!

I remember twenty years ago when I sat in a finance committee meeting as they decided the salaries of the staff(of which I was a part). The chairman said they should be paid according to what they could make in the world. That was the first time I had heard that reasoning. It is today the gold(!) standard.

A pastor can divorce his wife, marry his mistress, and start a new church, and people will come!
Because of the industrial revolution, 80% of believers have no devotional time and 80% of the 20% that do is minimal. Maybe Ted Kuzcinski was partially right!

The virginity rate of Christian marriages is only slightly higher than that of unbelievers. More seminars, that's the ticket!

Most Christians fifty years ago would never have thought about stepping foot into a movie theatre. Today we have Christian reviews of the latest offering of Hollywood flesh. Would you buy a children's book from Hugh Hefner? That's what we do when we support Hollywood. By the way, the two hours a Christian will spend mesmerized in a movie house will be more time he will spend mesmerized in prayer for a month.

We stand in protest over certain sexual establishments without even realizing that the interest that churches pay on their loans help to finance adult book stores, strip clubs, bars, clubs, bikini bars, and all other kinds of sinful establishments. The answer? Never borrow from the world. This is a recent phenomenon that our predecessors would have never dreamed of doing. Good stewards? Remember, we just preach "all things are possible with God" we don't really believe it.

We have to beg, cajole, encourage, and try and shame people into spending quality time with Jesus praying and reading His Word. You don't have to beg people to spend quality time in front of the TV, and yet most Christians will meander through their lives with little or no serious devotional life. And it's not addressed as THE crisis in the body of Christ!

One man's opinion without tears. These are just a few of the astounding assimilations of God's bride. Why do we continue to be assimilated? It is because most of the church doesn't even realize we need a assimilation-breaking revival. One glimpse of the Savior would free us from this world, but so little seek Him today and in such unexplainable neglect they continue to be carried culturally downstream until hearing anything about separation from the world seems like some teaching that has long since passed. Today's brand of Christian can gamble, watch cable, go to wicked movies, curse from time to time, drink, be a fashion plate, read gossip magazines, and hardly ever pray or study the Word, never fast, never witness, never weep for the lost, and never sacrificially seek the heart of the Savior just to please Him. No...the church continues to be assimilated and lovin' every minute of it.

It is so sad too, because, resistance is not futile!!