TBC Notes - Ephesians 4:17-18

December 1, 2005

McMahon, T.A.

As I’ve been editing our long-overdue video production (available early next year) titled Psychology & The Church: Critical Questions...Crucial Answers, it has grieved me greatly to see how far the evangelical church has drifted away from the Word of God in attempting to remedy everyday problems of living. Actually, in the last couple of years, the “drift” has turned into a torrent. The way the world thinks and does things has captured the hearts of growing numbers of the shepherds as well as their sheep. Seemingly, most of it has been to the delight of the majority of Christendom.

Psychological counseling is only one of the world’s attractions for which the church has readily queued up. There’s also marketing, church-growth strategies, and entertainment—most of it Christianized enough to convince the evangelical flock that the straw offering has spiritually nutritious value. The reality is, however, much of it is salmonella to a believer’s growth in Christ.

The test of this is rather simple. Just as the health-conscious read the ingredients of the food products before they buy, biblical believers only need to thoughtfully and prayerfully check the ingredients of what is being offered to them against God’s Word.

The Apostle Paul and other inspired writers of the Scriptures warn us against what the world is “cooking up.” He exhorted the Ephesians to “walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart” (Eph:4:17-18).

Pray that the Lord will turn back his true sheep who are drifting from His Word!

T. A. McMahon
Executive Director

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