SWIMMING IN THE SEWER

Born and raised in the fifties into a poor family in Oklahoma, we took advantage of every form of entertainment when it came available. One of my favorite distractions was summer rain storms. I always looked forward to heavy rain storms. Not only did they bring welcome relief in the hot Oklahoma summers but they also provided a natural water park for me to play in.

As soon as the storm passed, and my mother would allow, we would run out and play in the borrow ditches that were flooded with run-off rain water. As a child, we called them "bar ditches". It would be many years later that I would learn these ditches were called "borrow ditches." The name "borrow ditches" was given by the road engineers. When building up the road base dirt would be “borrowed” from the sides of the roads creating ditches that the water run off would be collected and directed away from the roads.

One summer a storm came with a torrential downpour and filled the ditches full and overflowing the roads. Seizing the moment out in the ditches that were overflowing with water all the neighborhood children rushed wading even swimming and diving into the ditches. This summertime ritual came to a screeching halt as mothers begin to run out of their homes yelling at the children to get out of the water and come home.

The heavy rains had caused the city sewer to overflow and was the reason the ditches were so full after this rainstorm. Rub-a-dub-dub and into the tub to be scrubbed with soap and bleach to ward off the feared typhoid that accompanies water contaminated with sewage.

No one in sound mind would knowingly swim in the sewer but as a child, I was not aware or capable of understanding the dangers of sewage contaminated water and rather than thank my mother, I complained about the bath in the middle of the week. 

Just as the sewage of the city invaded the borrow ditch “water park” the sewage of the world seeps out of the world and into the church. The spiritual mature followers of Jesus need to provide oversite for the fellowship to guard against the contamination of the world.

God makes it clear; there is nothing in the world that is not contaminated with sin:

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1Jn 2:16)

Church groups and pastors are inviting worldly activities and behaviors in the church in the name of evangelism.

The Gatekeeper

The Pastor of the church has the God-given role as the gate keeper to keep the world out of the Lord’s church, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls.” (Heb 13:17) When the pastor fails to keep the sewage of the world out of the church, the body will be contaminated with sin and sickness.

The Apostle Paul, addressing the church in Corinth about the sewage of the world that had contaminated the church, observed, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” (1 Co 11:30)

When the sewage of the world is not just seeping in but is welcomed in by the “watcher” of the church, the outcome will be spiritually sick and broken lives of souls he is to guard.

Take Action NOW!

What action should you take if your fellowship has become contaminated with the sewage of the world? The word of God tells you first; examine yourself to see if you have been contaminated by the sewage of the world:

“But let a man examine himself…” (1 Co 11:28)  

When we examine our spiritual condition and repent, we can stop God’s intervention and judgment of the worldly sewage in which we have been playing, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.” (1Co 11:31)

After cleansing yourself of the sewage, don’t get back in the sewer. If your pastor and church group has engaged in the world’s sewage and have welcomed the lost and their sewage into the assembly of the believers and will not repent, leave!

God’s word is clear:

 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” (2 Co 6:17)