Is Evolution Real?

This question has been the subject of debate for eons.  The Scopes Trial was a legal case in Tennessee in 1925 in which John Scopes was tried for violating a Tennessee law (the Butler Act) which made it against the law  for teachers to discuss or profess evolution in any state-funded school.  Creationists believe that God made the world and all that is in it in six days as reported in Genesis, adhering to the reference “and there was evening and there was morning, one day…”(Genesis chapter 1).  Evolutionists believe we are descended from monkeys and merely evolved to our present state over time.  Somewhere in between are those who believe God created everything but has allowed for a certain amount of evolution in plant and animal life.  Thus, a rousing debate is always a possibility when the subject comes up as each side seems passionate about his/her views.  Let’s face it:  God, being God, can do it anyway He wants.

I don’t personally want to get into the thick of that argument as it pertains to Creation.  However, I will say that I do believe in evolution in a certain area and that is the church.  Over the millennia, the church has definitely evolved.  Just look at it.  The question is: has it improved?  The disciples were told to “go and make disciples (followers) of all nations”  (Matthew 28:19).  He said to “preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).  He said to “love one another as I have loved you”  (John 13:34).  But, He also warned, “See to it that no one misleads you, for many will come in My name” (Mathew 24:4-5).

After the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the disciples dispersed and went out to share the truth.  Many churches sprang up in homes where people came together to worship, praise and discover more of the Lord who had died for them.  In spite of opposition on several fronts, it grew and flourished.  But, the New Testament contains warnings about those who would attack.  Paul writes in Acts 20:29  “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them.  Therefore, be on the alert.”  Jude writes in verse 4 of his book:  “For certain persons have crept in unnoticed…ungodly persons who turn the grace of God into licentiousness and deny our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”  His book was written in the first century, yet how valid it is now!

The church has certainly evolved.  It went through a period of running the show:  culture, politics, and rulers, to becoming not a tyrant but a teacher and helper.  As recently as the 1950s and 1960s, families attended dressed in their “Sunday best”, coming together to fellowship and uphold each other in prayer, to worship.  But, ancient Rome was not attacked and defeated from the outside.  It crumbled from the inside.  It literally imploded.  Aren’t we seeing this in the organized church today?  Yes, there are still a few that hang on, still preach the Word and want to live by it, and if you have found one of them, you are blessed!  But, they are becoming fewer and fewer as society moves in and takes over.  There are so many options for how to spend one’s time today that churches have fallen into the need to compete.  Thus, they pander to the masses (as was said in the movie Sister Act) to  “put butts in the seats”.  After all, buildings and state-of the-art sound systems have to be paid for.

Church was meant to be a haven where truth was preached and people were loved and where people cared for one another.  But, when truth is re-written (or ignored) to accommodate society, it is no longer the truth.

This is not the church Jesus founded.  He said, “On this Rock I will build My church”  (Matthew 16:18), not “on this shifting sand”.

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6).  We are to be IN the world, not OF the world.  So, the questions is:  does the church look any different?  And, what about me personally?   Do I look any different or have I, too, just blended in?

(Jesus’ prayer to the Father) “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”   (John 17:15-16)