Many times leaving a fundamentalist/separatist church is a heart issue. The heart of a Christian has never really been in tune with Biblical separation. Their heart is actually more in tune with secularism than sanctification. Proverbs 4:23 reminds us to “Keep (guard or protect) thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (it is the source that results in the way you live and conduct yourself). There is always a correlation between what a Christian believes and how he behaves, what a Christian internalizes in his heart and how he conducts himself in life. A transformed mind and heart should result in transformed living that is a reflection of God’s likeness (Rom. 12:2). When we think right, we will live right. When we are in tune with the absolute standard of truth regarding separation from the world (1 John 2:15-17), we will seek to align all of our actions, even our worship and music, with this truth. Psalm 119:5-6 “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes! Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.” INSIGHT: The secret of living a Christian life that honors God revolves around the issue of the heart. We need a Biblically informed heart, a prepared heart that is committed to do what is right, and heart that guards or protects itself from the invasion of worldly and wayward thinking. Have you let down your guard? Is your heart open to God’s standard of truth? Are you ready to do God’s will for your life? Once we internalize the truth in our hearts about separation and holiness, we will not waiver back and forth, cross over the line, and see how close we can get to the line (Ps. 119:11). Christians attend a church out of convenience but not conviction. Numbers 32:12 says that Caleb and Joshua “wholly followed the LORD.” Deuteronomy 1:36 also states that Caleb “wholly followed the LORD.” In Joshua 14:9 we read: “Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.”
Someone said: “If you have to do wrong to stay on the team, you are on the wrong team.” Throughout my 30 years as a pastor, I have seen how some people, whether naively or purposely, can adversely affect a committed Christian and have a corrupting influence upon their lives (1 Cor. 15:33). For example, men are pressured to follow their fiancé instead of being a leader in the family. Therefore, they attend a church that compromises God’s holy nature in relation to music and worship. Instead of men being leaders, they end up in New Evangelical churches to please their wife, or their children, while forgetting that they must please the Lord above all else (John 8:29). 2 Timothy 2:4 says, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” Instead of leading their families in the “paths of righteousness for his name sake” (Ps. 23:3), men capitulate to their wives and children. This is because they have not taught their children the commands and principles of Bible separation, nor are they willing to lead their families upstream and oppose the current of entertaining worship and other carnal diversions to living the Christian life. INSIGHT: We are called to stand in the gap and make the decision to do what is right. We must come to the conclusion that “for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15). Bob Jones Sr. used to say, “Do right!” We might add that we should do right for it’s the right thing to do. Christians are willing to compromise for the sake of meeting a false need in their life. Genesis 3:6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
and carnality, instead of following the Biblical path of Bible separation (Ps. 119:105). Jesus taught in John 7:24: “Judge not according to the appearance (surface or superficial judgments which have no significance, truth, or reality attached to them), but judge righteous judgment.” There is a right and proper judgment that every Christian is responsible to make. Living the Christian life is not a free-for-all,” “if-it-feels-good-do-it” and “judge-not-lest-ye-be-judged mentality.” There is a place for proper judgment and discernment that we must maintain, so we do not allow our Christian lives to become worldly and carnal. Generally speaking, “righteous judgment” involves a natural and constant assessment of what is right and wrong in daily living. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says that we are to “prove all things” or examine and discern everything, so we can approve it as being worthy and acceptable to God. As we go through life, we will, out of necessity, make assessments of what is right and pleasing to the Lord (Eph. 5:10 - “Proving what is acceptable to the Lord”). This kind of judgment pertains to areas such as doctrine and what is acceptable worship and the kind of music that honors God. It is a proper form of sound judgment (1 Cor. 2:15) that is able to detect forms of pagan and worldly compromise in relation to one’s life, corporate worship, and musical expressions. I have been in the Fundamentalist movement all of my life and have found out that most of the saints can take a militant and uncompromising Biblical stand on the doctrine of separation (2 Cor. 6:14-17), while at the same time possessing a spirit of love, humility, and kindness toward all people, even those that they might disagree with. INSIGHT: Do not follow the modern-day conclusions of progressive Christianity that convey Fundamentalism and conservative Christians as legalists, spiritual bigots, and unloving people. This is fake news! T: