In name and confession, we of the Protestant Reformed Church are very Christian. Our confessions are wholly Reformed and as a denomination we subscribe to beautiful declarations of faith. Even our name, Protestant Reformed, is antithetical.

But as a young member of our church, I see the illness in it. What we say we believe is not borne out by our conversation and actions. I am reminded of Rev. Van Overloop’s article on dead Orthodoxy. We all can regurgitate Bible passages and stories and principles we learned in catechism, but do we live them? If we live to the glory of God, how can we justify skipping a night church service or “not feel like” attending a Singspiration? Both are golden opportunities to give the glory where it belongs, to God. Yet how many of us had to check the score of Super Bowl XIV?

There are many more examples of the illness in our church. When collection plates are passed, young men and women of high school age and older who have sometimes substantial incomes of their own, drop in some small change or are even handed a few dollars by their parents to put in. Is this a proper way to thank God for all his blessings, material as well as spiritual? We profess that the Lord loves a Cheerful Giver but do we give freely and cheerfully of our material gain?

Another evidence of our sickness is the amount of TV watching that goes on in our churches. Ten years ago, if someone had said they had watched the late movie the night previous, most of those listening would have been shocked. Today it seems to be a good subject for everyday conversation. We spend countless hours a year watching what the world wants us to see, and tragically we have become numb to it. Most time spent in front of a TV is time wasted, never to be recovered.

While on the subject of wasting time another evidence of our disease comes to mind. It becomes harder and harder to get people to lead societies, to teach Sunday School, participate in church activities, and even to show up to important meetings. We often use the excuse that we don’t have enough time. What should demand more of our time than the work of our Church? When more than 50% of a young peoples’ society can’t find the time to attend a meeting, one has to wonder if maybe that two-hour nap is more important to them. But consider, when these same people are chosen as leaders of the church, elders and deacons, will the same attitude prevail? We are put to shame by the young people of the GLTS in Singapore. They are so enthusiastic about belonging to Christ that if they could they would meet every night of the week!

Our enthusiasm rarely matches the joy of the saint who knows he is saved. Yet that is what we profess to believe; that in life and in death we belong to our faithful Savior, Jesus Christ! What could be more exciting?

One last and glaring evidence of the erosion of Godliness in our churches is the blatant materialism. We have many families where mother and father both work (ostensibly to pay for tuition) where children are left to fend for themselves. Some justify this arrangement because they feel it necessary, but really the refusal to do without any of the amenities of our prosperous modern-day lifestyle is to blame. Because we live in such prosperous times, it seems that everyone is scrambling to get his piece of the pie. Newer cars and newer houses in better neighborhoods are they very really the goals we are striving for? Have we in fact become the people of II Timothy 3:4 – Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God?

I fear for the generations to come if our example of worldliness and materialism is further developed and enlarged upon within the church of tomorrow. We live in the last days and we must prayerfully live in anticipation of Christ’s second coming. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.” II Timothy 4:3 and 4