The Danger of World-Worship
The church's imitation of the world is a sign of its weakness, uncertainty, and lack of faith, leading to shame and the world's amusement.
The preacher delves into the concept of being a liar, emphasizing how speaking falsehood and attempting to deceive makes one unfaithful and breaks trust. Various Bible verses highlight the consequences of lying, such as being associated with the devil, denying Christ, and lacking love for others. The sermon underscores the importance of God's truthfulness, even if all mankind were to declare Him unfaithful, and how every man would be proven a liar in comparison. Through examples like David's confession in Psalms, the sermon explores the depth of sin against God and the justification of His judgments.
Text
A great deal can be learned about people by observing whom and what they imitate. The weak, for instance, imitate the strong; never the reverse. The poor imitate the rich. The self-assured are imitated by the timid and uncertain, the genuine is imitated by the counterfeit, and people all tend to imitate what they admire.
By this definition power today lies with the world, not with the church, for it is the world that initiates and the church that imitates what she has initiated. By this definition the church admires the world. The church is uncertain and looks to the world for assurance. A weak church is aping a strong world to the amusement of intelligent sinners and to her own everlasting shame.
Should any reader be inclined to dispute these conclusions, I ask him to take a look around. Look into almost any evangelical publication, browse through our bookstores, attend our youth gatherings, drop in on one of our summer conferences or glance at the church page of any of our big city newspapers. The page that looks most like the theatrical page is the one devoted to the churches, usually appearing on Saturday. And the similarity is not accidental, but organic.
This servile imitation of the world is for the most part practiced by those churches that claim for themselves a superior degree of spirituality and boldly declare their adherence to the letter of the Word. In fact, neither the old-line ritualistic churches nor those that are openly modernistic have been as guilty of such flagrant world-worship as the gospel churches have.
Sermon Outline
- The Dangers of World-Worship
- The Consequences of World-Worship
- The World's Influence on the Church
- The Church's Imitation of the World
- The Church's Shame and Weakness
- The World's Amusement and the Church's Shame
Key Quotes
“The weak, for instance, imitate the strong; never the reverse.” — A.W. Tozer
“The church is uncertain and looks to the world for assurance.” — A.W. Tozer
“A weak church is aping a strong world to the amusement of intelligent sinners and to her own everlasting shame.” — A.W. Tozer
Application Points
- We must be careful not to imitate the world's values and practices, but instead stay true to God's teachings.
- We must cultivate confidence in our faith and not seek assurance from worldly sources.
- A strong church is one that stands firm in its faith, unafraid to be different from the world.