077. What should an earnest Christian do in a day when the churches are so full of worldline...

What should an earnest Christian do in a day when the churches are so full of worldliness and error as they are today? Should he join the church?

Yes. I fully recognize the worldliness that there is in many churches today, and the error that is taught from many a pulpit; but after all is said, the church is the best organization there is in the world. What would the world be today if it were not for the churches which are in it? The churches even with all their present imperfections are the institutions that are saving society from utter corruption.

Any Christian can accomplish more for the salvation of souls and the upbuilding of Christian character and the good of the community by uniting with some church than he can by trying to live a Christian life all alone by himself.

There may be times when one has to utter his protest against sins of a glaring character in some individual church, and when that protest will not be heard, and when it may be necessary for him to withdraw as a testimony against the church. But these occasions are comparatively rare.

Great corruption—unspeakable immorality, in fact—had crept into the church in Corinth, and yet Paul did not hint for a moment to any of the members of that church that they should withdraw from it. He did write them to judge the evil and put it away, but not a suggestion that they should withdraw. Even Jesus did not withdraw from the synagogues of His day until He was put out. Synagogue worship had become full of formality and error, and yet it was the custom of our Lord to attend the synagogue on the sabbath day (Luke 4:16). The apostle Paul followed His example in this matter (Acts 17:2).

There are many earnest Christian men and women today who have lost all power and influence for God and good in the community by coming out of their fellowship with other believers who were not as well instructed as they, and by giving themselves up to harsh and censorious criticism. Of course, if the pastor of a church persistently preaches glaring and pernicious error, one should enter his protest against it and should not allow his children to sit under that kind of false doctrine.

It is true that in the Book of Revelation men are bidden to come out of Babylon, but Babylon is not yet formed. Everything in the Book of Revelation after the fourth chapter and first verse describes the time after the rapture of the church, not the present time, and it is handling the Word of God deceitfully and not rightly dividing the Word of truth to apply this command to come out of Babylon to the present time and the present state of the churches.