"Degradation.................."

Wednesday’s mid-week class was the third in a series under the theme of “Fan or Follower”, a fifteen minute video clip with each session. The teacher, however, is a fellow with a great gift for drawing others into discussion and most of the ninety minutes we possess is a matter of sharing opinions, the “movie” an after-thought. In such manner, last night began with our considering the present state of America in so far as this society’s somewhat obvious loss of morality, he stating how, even though this country’s beginnings were founded in Biblical, it is easy enough to conclude the Scopes Monkey Trial the one historical event responsible for an ever-increasing erosion creating the cesspool we know today. If, initially, it only opened the way for the introduction of evolution to be taught in our public school system, such blow led to a complete restructuring therein, eventually the Ten Commandments forbidden to be displayed, prayer restricted and removed as well. As one might expect, there were plenty of “amen!”s, everyone in agreement that “the world” was guilty as charged… When somewhere along the way, though, a certain seminary, denominationally known for its Scriptural rigidity, was noted as recently having quizzed its incoming freshmen on whether they really believed Jesus to be “the only way by which a man might enter into heaven” and receiving a negative reply from eighty-six percent of those polled, this old man could no longer sit quietly minding his own business. “If that’s so,” I asked, “should we be pointing our fingers at the world, or at the Church? Doesn't the Word say that "greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world? Maybe the problem has more to do with us ritually demanding others to swallow our Christianity rather than sharing with them any evidence of Christ in us?”… Discussion was over. It was time to ponder it all while watching the next segment of the presentation.