2 Timothy 3:5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Good Churches Are a Rare Breed

In these last days, good churches are becoming a rare breed.  Many have gotten so far away from the truths of the Word of God that they would not even recognize a good church when they saw it.  Many churches have just become forms or statues of godliness.  They are stone or hollow bronze with no life from the Holy Ghost.  They preach the word, they sing, they have services–they have the form; but then people go out of the church house and live however they want.  There is no holiness.  The problem is that they have lost the power.  They are no longer plugged into the Spirit of God.  They have denied His power in their life by their ungodly living.

A Form of Holiness – A Statue Christian

A form of holiness is not holiness.  A statue is a representation of a man, it is not that man.  It has no life, it just sits there and is a work of art.  It does not help people to live, talk, or pray.  It just sits there and looks good.  When there is no power of the Holy Ghost, causing people to live a consecrated life, we need to turn away from these Statue Christians.  Real Christianity knows where its power comes from to live a holy life.  The Pharisees had rules that they followed but they certainly did not have the power of God on their lives.

Churches Have Lost Spiritual Discernment

Many churches, when they have lost the power of God, have also lost the power to discern between good and evil.  They let all kinds of wickedness in and tolerate sin.  When that happens; godly, Holy Ghost-filled preaching will no longer be tolerated.  Hard preaching and the power of God go hand in hand.  When hard preaching is no longer desired, you can be sure that the form of godliness has set in.  Hard preaching will help someone who has the power of God on their life.  To someone who only has a form of godliness, hard preaching is like acid eating away at their fake exterior and tarnishing them.

Separate From the Statue Christian

We should not have anything to do with these Statue Christians.  They will eventually pull you down.  That is why Paul said you need to get away from them.  They will destroy a church if they are around.  They are the true Pharisees, not those that are trying to live holy lives.  A godly Christian lives holy because they love God.  When that happens, they will always have a spirit of charity, not a holier than thou attitude.  A Christian who is truly godly will have a Christ-like spirit and will love others like Christ loves the church.  A Statue Christian will just want to look good and does not care who he helps or hurts.  Let’s make sure we don’t become a church full of statue Christians or a church that becomes a monument to what it used to be.