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Are the World’s Religions Giving the Right Lead?True Peace and Security—How Can You Find It?
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13-15. (a) What questions about morality need to be asked concerning the members of one’s own church? (b) What does the Bible say should be done about a congregation member who persists in breaking God’s laws? (c) Is this done in the churches?
13 Do Christendom’s churches, especially, uphold God’s standards of morality and so set a lead for the rest of the world? What do the lives of many who belong to those churches reveal? Do you belong to a church? Then ask yourself: ‘If everyone on earth lived like the members of my religion do, would that put an end to crime, dishonest business practices, strife, and sexual immorality?’
14 The Bible warns that “a little leaven ferments the whole lump” and that “bad associations spoil useful habits.” (Galatians 5:9; 1 Corinthians 15:33) For this reason it also commands Christians to “quit mixing in company with anyone called a brother that is a fornicator or a greedy person or an idolater or a reviler or a drunkard or an extortioner, not even eating with such a man. . . . ‘Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.’”—1 Corinthians 5:11-13.
15 True, a person may make a misstep and then recover. But what of those who make a practice of such things? If these persons claim to be serving God, they are hypocrites. Surely you detest hypocrisy, and the Bible shows that God also hates it and those who practice it. (Matthew 23:27, 28; Romans 12:9) What, then, of your religion? Does it follow the Bible’s command to “remove” those who persist in breaking God’s laws and who show no genuine repentance? Or does it allow such ones to remain in good standing, thus endangering others? Does it render mere lip service to morality while actually winking at wrongdoing, or even condoning it?—Matthew 15:7, 8.
16. (a) What are many clergymen now saying about sexual conduct? (b) What does the Bible say about such conduct?
16 More and more clergymen say that fornication, adultery, and homosexuality are not necessarily wrong. But they are not in harmony with God’s thinking. His Word clearly states: “Do not be misled. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men kept for unnatural purposes, nor men who lie with men, nor thieves, nor greedy persons, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit God’s kingdom.”—1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.
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Are the World’s Religions Giving the Right Lead?True Peace and Security—How Can You Find It?
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[Box on page 29]
More and more clergymen accept what the Bible condemns as sexual immorality, as these sample headlines and news items show:
“When What’s Bad Becomes Good the Clergy Will Tell Us.” “[The Church of England] is now shedding its old-fashioned authoritarian image. Sex before marriage, with one or more partners, . . . will henceforth be considered morally acceptable.”—Alberta Report.33
“Pastors Silent on Premarital Sex.” “The pastors of America have been sinfully silent in preaching on premarital sex . . . They are afraid they will lose some of their parishioners. Isaiah knew of such priests. In Chapter 1 of his book, he quotes the Lord as saying about them, ‘I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.’”—Telegraph, North Platte, Nebraska.34
“Adultery in Softer Light.” “The English cleric . . . raised eyebrows when he aired the Church’s tempered view towards the Seventh Commandment. . . . ‘Our attitude is to be caring rather than judgmental,’ he said.”—The Sunday Times, Perth, Australia.35
“Unitarians Endorse Homosexual Marriages.”—The New York Times.36
“A task force of the United Church of Canada has supported the ordination of active homosexuals as ministers.”—The Toronto Star.37
“Legalize Prostitution—It’s the Saintly Solution.”—Editorial by a Catholic monsignor in the Philadelphia Daily News.38
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