The Church of the Comfortable and Tolerant
By Jesse Morrell:
Once upon a time in the land called Feel Good there was a Church.
This new Church was called "The Church of the Comfortable and
Tolerant". Very recently this Church hired a new Pastor, Pastor
Peace Keeper, who just graduated from the Seminary of Smooth
Talking.
The congregation "of the Comfortable and Tolerant" loved the new
Pastor's sermons. Some of their favorites were "God is happy with
everyone", "Everything is fine and dandy", and "There is nothing
but good times ahead".
Pastor Peace Keeper once made a terrible mistake. He wrongfully
allowed Mr. Conscience into the pulpit. Mr. Conscience did nothing
but call human mistakes "sins" and called the good folks of the
congregation to "repent". Mr. Conscience had never been to the
Seminary of Smooth Talking, and maybe he should have before
attempting to preach. The congregation of the Comfortable and
Tolerant were shocked at Mr. Consciences audacity and arrogance.
They said things among themselves like "who does this
self-righteous legalist think he is coming and talking to us like
that! Why should we allow this false preacher among us any longer
to continue to persecute us?"
Pastor Peace Keeper terribly regretted letting Mr. Conscience into
the pulpit. Mr. Conscience has betrayed the trust he had with the
Pastor. So Pastor Peace Keeper asked Mr. Conscience to please leave
the church, he was not welcome there any longer. Everyone was happy
that Mr. Conscience was asked to leave, except one member called
Holy Spirit. So Holy Spirit and Mr. Conscience left together and
after awhile nobody even noticed that they were gone.
Once things were back to normal, the way they had always been,
everyone was happy once again in the land called Feel Good. Pastor
Peace Keeper continued to sugar coat sweet and wonderful lies that
made everyone comfortable in their sins and heavily guarded his
pulpit from abrasive truths. Who could blame him? You see, the
Pastor loved his new home, his new church, and of course he loved
his new income. He couldn't put such precious things on the line!
So he absolutely guaranteed that "The Church of the Comfortable and
Tolerant" were as satisfied and as happy as they possibly could be
while they sat in their complacency.
They lived the rest of their days happily ever after, that is,
until they were finally cast into hell.
The point: Rather then preparing the way of the Lord and making His
paths straight, preachers are removing the bumps in the road to
hell to make it as comfortable as possible for those who travel on
them. The backslidden church utterly refused to remove the log out
of her own eye and therefore also utterly refuses to remove
anything from anyone else's eye. She vehemently opposes those who
try to do so also. God help those who attempt to clean up the
church and the world! Joseph Parks said it best: "The man whose
little sermon is 'repent' sets himself against his age, and will...
be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges.
There is but one end for such a man. 'Off with his head!" You had
better not try to preach repentance until you have pledged your
head to heaven."
