Dear editor:
There has been a dark cloud forming over this nation for many years and it is growing darker by the day. We see the results of this darkness daily as one heinous act after another is reported in the news.
This week Mike Huckabee (a former pastor) commented on his TV show that "America doesn't have a gun problem or a crime problem, but a sin problem." To qualify his statement most of us that are 55 to 60 years old or above have witnessed first hand a decaying/decline of the moral, ethical and spiritual standards this nation was founded on.
As a Christian I can't help but wonder, does the church have a share in, part of or responsibility for/in this decaying/decline of the moral, ethical or spiritual standards of this nation? Jesus Christ call on his followers (the church) to be the "salt of the Earth" and "Light of the world", but has our salt lost its savor and have we allowed our light to be covered by a basket? Are we floundering about in the same darkness as non-believers yet failing to recognize it because we are superficially blinded to the reality of the world?
Looking at statistics there is not much difference from those in the world to those in the church. More singles are living together out of wedlock, more babies being born to single mothers; divorce rates are even to or in some areas greater in the church. Looking at these and many more statistics I can't help but wonder, what does the church have to offer the world? I'm desperately trying to understand why the church is not having a greater impact on our own members.
Have we reached the day that Paul warned Timothy about? Do we (the church) have a "form of Godliness but are denying the power there of?" Has the time come "when we will not endure sound doctrine, but according to our own desires, because we have itching ears, we will heap up for ourselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth?" Are we hearing a gospel of "Accommodation" that is meant to appease and please rather than bring conviction?
A closing thought I have is, the church (as a whole) being the "salt and light we are call to be?" or are we being the "hypocrites" many non-believers accuse us of being?
James A Gillette Jr.
Clarendon