Daniel 11:37 He
will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the one desired by
women, nor will he regard any god, but will exalt himself above them all.
In Britain, the Girl Guides association,
which is the equivalent of the Girl Scouts in America, has just changed the
standard promise that each girl makes when joining the association. Instead of promising
to do their best, by loving God, serving the Queen and country, and helping
other people, the new oath of allegiance to the association’s guidelines is
contained in the following words:
“I promise that I will do my
best:
To be true to myself and develop
my beliefs,
To serve the Queen and my
community,
To help other people…”
God is excluded from the whole
process and instead a secular sanctification of self is emphasized. This means
that a whole new generation of young girls in Britain is being raised to
worship and idolize themselves from an early age. This is a pity because
churches are the main sponsors and supporters of Brownie packs and Guide troops
across the United Kingdom.
I guess it’s just another nail in
the coffin of Western Christianity. By itself, it doesn’t amount to much, but
when added together with the whole secularization/humanistic process that’s going
on in Britain, churches will diminish drastically once the World War 2 generation
passes on into glory. Unless someone takes mission seriously in Britain, and brings
the Gospel light to a largely unchurched people, a spiritual darkness will
overtake UK society and people will end up believing in and doing anything.
The main work of the Church in the
West is to be counter-cultural. The old sin of self-exaltation, of claiming
equality with God, and the idolizing of the individual is rearing its ugly head
again. History is replete with societies and civilizations which have built
their sophisticated Babels of self-importance, only to have them fall and be dashed
to pieces. If the voice of the Church in proclaiming the existence of the One,
Triune, and Living God is no longer influential or acceptable, then we will
only have ourselves to blame for not recognizing that we are sinful creatures
who, without God’s guidance, are prone to self-destructive and inhumane ways.
Questions
for personal reflection
Is God actually important to me?
Is church a major current influence over my life?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, You told us that we were meant to
love God with all of our heart and mind, soul and strength. These days we appear
to be more into loving ourselves and displacing service to God for the fulfillment
of own desires. Forgive us for diminishing our faith and prevent us from
depleting Your influence over our choices and our ways. In Your Holy Name, we
humbly confess and seriously pray. Amen.
John Stuart
is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian
Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message,
please send him an email to traqair@aol.com.
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