The laxity of our culture has come into the church so that things that should have brought conviction, and should have made us blush, and should have made us ashamed, it's like we don't notice it. I'll tell you who notices it: the Holy Spirit notices it. He is holy. He wants His church to be holy. God says, "Be holy as I am holy." We've got to be God's people on earth, otherwise Jesus says, "If your salt has lost it's saltiness, what is it good for? It's not good for anything." Salt that has dirt in it is not something you put on your food, at least I don't. It's so important that the light of Jesus Christ not be diluted by the darkness of the world as the standards of our world are diminished, the standards of God's word. I've been told, "Well, Clay you have strict standards, and the world has changed." Well, the world has changed, but I'll tell you what has not changed: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever. And God's word is the living word of God now and forever. We need to stop being intimidated by the moral relativism of our culture. We don't want to approach our culture of spiritual darkness in a way that's holier than thou, in a way that's judgmental, in a way that's harsh. There are plenty that do that. That's not what we want. We want to live out and proclaim the wonderful Word of God. And we want to live out lives of holiness, and integrity, and sexual purity, and love, and a culture of honor. We want to be different. We are a colony of heaven sent down here . . . We are to reflect the kingdom of God here on the earth.

BACK