I have friends who attend United Methodist churches that are embroiled in the process of disengaging from that denomination because of their radical views regarding LGBTQIA+. (The list of letters gets longer as time goes by.) One has to admire the courage and passion that Charles Wesley, the founder of Methodism, possessed. I believe he would be appalled at what has happened to those who claim the name of Methodist today. Where did this once powerful force for the gospel of Jesus Christ go wrong?

The Babel principle is that every man-made organization always slides toward centralization, self-rule, and self-glorification.

This is true of denominations, individual churches, governments, businesses, clubs, etc. It is a human problem that is generated from the sin nature we receive from Adam at conception, which, by default, leads us to abandon God's leadership and establish our own kingdom. Christ died and rose again to bring us back into the kingdom of God, but, until the resurrection from the dead, even we Christians still have conflicted souls and are plagued by tendencies to rebel against God. Therefore it should not surprise us at all that the Methodist denomination has corrupted itself and abandoned the truth.

How did it happen?

I believe the slide into deception begins for any group or individual when we abandon our faith and conviction that God's Word is inspired and the gold standard for truth.

When I became a born again Christian in 1971, I began to talk with other believers who regarded the Bible as infallible and the highest authority in their lives. As you can imagine, I struggled a bit with this for a while, but I finally reasoned that if Jesus rose from the dead and believed the Bible was infallible (John 10:35); so should I. I have never looked back.

When we accept the Bible as the gold standard for faith and practice, it impacts our lives tremendously. If we refuse to let God's Word change us where needed, we experience a certain internal tension between what we want to do and what God says. If the tension is great enough, it begs for us to do something about it - either repent (change our minds) and align with the Bible's teaching or deny that the Bible is true and authoritative.

We are in great danger of deception when we choose to believe some parts of the Bible and reject others that do not agree with what we think is right or desirable.

Let us look at a couple of current day examples.

• Evolution. The Bible clearly teaches that the earth was created in six days and is "young" by geologic standards. Since unregenerate man automatically rejects the idea of a Creator, to whom we would be accountable by default, alternate explanations are required, no matter how nonsensical or self-contradictory. Children are taught to believe in the Big Bang theory, without giving thought to where the original matter and energy came from. We are taught that highly complex life self-generated from chaos, which contradicts the second law of thermodynamics. We are taught that humans have been on the planet for millions of years, despite the fact that genetic entropy does not allow for this kind of time line. Once we abandon what God says, we go careening off course into wilder and wilder levels of error and deception. It is unavoidable and tragic. Professing ourselves to be wise, we become fools. (Romans 1:22)
• Transgenderism. The Bible clearly teaches that God created humans as male and female. (Genesis 1:27) I have lived for seventy years, and it is only very recently that people have been confused about this order of things. It should not surprise us, however, that people would adopt such nonsensical thinking. When we abandon God's Word, we have nothing upon which to base anything when it comes to the truth. Truth becomes subjective. No matter what chromosomes and genitalia I may have, I can be whatever I deem myself to be, which is deception pure and simple. It remains to be seen what kind of destruction results from this sort of thinking. Those who encourage children to abandon their God-given understanding of gender and embrace something different are engaging in child abuse. The rejection of our God-given gender is simply another form of rebellion against the Creator.
• Judgment. It is currently fashionable to believe that since God is love, he will not condemn anyone to hell. This sort of universalism contradicts Christ's clear teaching and negates God's justice. It also denies the necessity of Christ's death for our sins. If God does not condemn, why did Jesus have to die? Why did Jesus tell the Pharisees that they would die in their sins, if they did not believe in him? (John 8:24) Why did he say that we should fear him who will cast people into hell? (Luke 12:5) The desire to escape God's judgment against sin cannot and will not negate his judgment against sin. It is deception. Those who teach such things misrepresent God and deny the truth.

Jesus said that his disciples would be lovers of truth who would be liberated by adherence to his words.

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (NLT) The opposite is also true. If we reject God's Word, we will descend into deception and bondage. In fact, we cannot even be saved without having a love of the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)

The choice is ours. What will we decide? If you are struggling whether or not to surrender your life to Jesus and be governed by the Bible, you are not alone.

The Holy Spirit was given to us to help us on our spiritual journey. You can turn to him and ask him to guide you into truth.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. John 16:13a (NLT) You can trust him to show you the way. He did so for me.

Prayer Holy Spirit, I am at a crossroads in my life. I can live according to the Bible's teachings or continue to try to figure things out on my own. I do not want to make a mistake on something this big. I am struggling to know if I can really trust that the Bible, in its entirety, can be fully trusted to guide me in life. Please help me in my search for truth. Open my eyes and understanding. Help me to believe more fully. Amen.