“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but, after their own lists, shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3).
In this diet, fitness-crazed world especially found in America, there are many conversations when it comes to good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, fat, fiber, calories and carbohydrates. The wellness teams are coming up with all kinds of programs to help us lead better and healthier lifestyles. They want us to live a long time.
I read about two elderly ladies who died and went to heaven. As they walked the streets of gold, one said to the other, “Just think, if we hadn’t eaten all that bran, we could have been here years ago.” We are in a fitness craze today. We live longer and we enjoy it less.
I only wish that the Christian community was as into a rigorous spiritual exercise as they are with their physical exercise. We are so focused on the temporal more than the eternal. We worship dust when we are more concerned about our temporal bodies than the eternal body.
Firm faith is better than firm bodies. We have promoted buns of steel and brains of silly putty. This is a scandal and a sin. We have dumbed down our minds. Although there are more Christian Bookstores today, only 10-12% of American Christians ever visit them.
The majority of the Christian world would rather be ignorant than learn. People no longer read, or think. And because of that fact we have raised a generation that cannot endure sound doctrine. There are many in our church pews today who desire not to be taught or to teach. And when we watch the news we see the Philistine mindset which promotes untruth.
There needs to be a return to seeking the face of God and the mind of Christ. We must call people to discipline their minds as well as their bodies. God expects us to take care of our physical bodies but not at the expense of not exercising our spiritual minds for the glory of God. There needs to be a real turn to Christ and His Word.
