13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ESV)
The total lack of the fear of God is what marks the ungodly. (Romans 3:18) On the other hand, genuine believers in scripture are described as those who do fear Him. Tragically, when moral issues between professing Christians and the unchurched are compared there is very little difference. There is the same level of divorce, adultery, pornography, dishonesty, etc.; in both groups. This evening on Facebook I was notified of a post by a friend that contained the following statement:
“..attending Church feels like returning to the scene of a crime.” ~ comment on a blog
What was my response? I simply said, “???” Then I began reading the discussion which had to do with the experience so many of the commenters had had with pastors, “…holding the people in bondage, or lying to them, or saying things that are just NOT from the Spirit of Jesus.” There were also examples of pastors manipulating their flocks with messages designed to instill fear in attempts to get them to support some sort of political agenda. My brethren, these sorts of things should not be happening within the Body of Christ.