by Micky Galloway<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/backbone-300x225.jpg\")
In referring to the backbone of the church, I have in mind the firmness, the moral courage, the stand for truth, the spine of the church itself. There are certain “straws” that we should be alarmed about because they are breaking the church’s back. What are some of these “straws”?<\/p>\n
Worldliness is not rebuked, and lukewarmness is prevalent. In I Corinthians 5, Paul rebuked the Corinthians because fornication was among them, and they were not alarmed. The apostle Paul tells them, “And ye are puffed up and did not rather mourn, that he that had done this deed might be taken away from among you<\/em>” (I Corinthians 5:2). Lukewarmness is not to be tolerated. God certainly will not tolerate it. Revelation 3:16 says concerning the church at Laodicea, “So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold I will spew thee out of my mouth<\/em>.”<\/p>\n Men either act from conviction, because they believe a thing with all their heart, or from convenience, because a thing is as easy to do as not to do, and there is an advantage to be gained from doing it. Why do you attend the assemblies? Is it because you want to worship God (cf. John 4:24)? Is it a matter of conviction (cf. Hebrews 10:24-25), or are other things more appealing because they are more convenient? Have you obeyed the gospel from the heart (Romans 6:17) or have you not found a convenient time?<\/p>\n Conviction is illustrated in the decision of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as they spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar. When asked if “is it of purpose … that ye serve not my god nor worship the golden image which I have set up?<\/em>” These brave young men responded, “… be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up<\/em>” (Daniel 3:16-18). These people were determined to do what was right regardless of the consequences. May the Lord increase their kind.<\/p>\n Efforts are being made to change our preaching, remodel the gospel, and modernize the church. I was in the audience when a young man spoke disparagingly of those who would preach on such things as “adultery, instrumental music, and institutionalism.” This young man stated that “these things are not relevant to salvation anyway.” Others have stated, “God does not expect us to be completely doctrinally correct.” Statements such as these emphatically illustrate the truthfulness of the apostle Paul’s statement to Timothy, “Preach the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but, having itching ears, will heap to themselves teachers after their own lust; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables<\/em>” (I Timothy 4:2-4).<\/p>\n Possibly, it is success that makes it easy to outgrow our plea for simple New Testament Christianity. Maybe it is that we have less opposition. Once, it was hard to be a Christian because of great hardships and persecutions, which apparently strengthened the early church (Romans 5:3-5). There is little indoctrination that is certain to result in tragic consequences. The church is filled with people who know little about the doctrine of Christ and thus fail to abide in His doctrine (II John 9). Maybe compromise with our religious neighbors in terms of doctrine and morality has contributed to these modern trends within the church.<\/p>\n The solution lies in greater respect for the authority of the scriptures and firmer adherence to New Testament Christianity. Consider: Jude 3; Ephesians 4:14-15; Titus 1:13-14; Galatians 1:6-9. From these, it is evident that truth is fixed, unaltered, and unchangeable. Preaching truth may disturb some. Yet Paul told Timothy to preach the word (II Timothy 4:2). Paul commanded the Ephesians to “stand” (Ephesians 6:13-14). One cannot stand for something and not stand against something, for truth stands against error.<\/p>\n There is a valuable lesson to be learned from the past. Apostasy soon emerged in the first-century church, as prophesied (I Timothy 4:1-3; II Thessalonians 2:3-4). What has happened can happen again if we allow too many worldly straws to collect on the backbone of the church.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Micky Galloway In referring to the backbone of the church, I have in mind the firmness, the moral courage, the stand for truth, the spine of the church itself. There are certain “straws” that we should be alarmed about because they are breaking the church’s back. What are some of these “straws”? Sin is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[448,1126,1288],"class_list":["post-91663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-church","tag-courage","tag-steadfastness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55637,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-found-out-there-is-a-lot-of-sexual-misconduct-happening-among-the-leaders-of-the-church-i-attend\/","url_meta":{"origin":91663,"position":0},"title":"I found out there is a lot of sexual misconduct happening among the leaders of the church I attend","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, Jeffrey, I hope you're doing well. There is a lot going on in my congregation which is given me cause for concern. My elder brother is cohabiting with a lady who he intends to marry and the lady is not a Christian. My sister told the minister privately\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70896,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-paul-contradict-himself-regarding-division-in-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":91663,"position":1},"title":"Did Paul contradict himself regarding division in the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi. I'm seeking clarification on why, in I Corinthians 1:10, Paul condemns division and pleads them to \"speak the same thing\" and be of the \"same mind and the same judgment.\" But ten chapters later, in I Corinthians 11:18-19, Paul seems to say that divisions are a \"must\" since\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58382,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-question-about-the-lords-supper\/","url_meta":{"origin":91663,"position":2},"title":"A Question about the Lord\u2019s Supper","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Greg Gwin [edited] We have received a question about the weekly observance of the Lord's Supper. Our questioner suggested that we ought to only take the Lord's Supper once each year, at the time of the Jewish Passover, because this was the time when Jesus instituted the memorial. He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55319,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/lukewarmness\/","url_meta":{"origin":91663,"position":3},"title":"Lukewarmness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Lukewarmness among the people of God is hardly a new problem. Malachi warned against apathy explicitly, and signs of apathy are evident as far back as the Exodus. Unsurprisingly, preachers today also often warn their hearers about the dangers of indifference. I read one such warning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55775,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dealing-with-difficult-brethren\/","url_meta":{"origin":91663,"position":4},"title":"Dealing with Difficult Brethren","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by W. Frank Walton This is a chapter from an upcoming book, \"Behind the Preacher's Door.\" The book deals with challenges that preachers face, with practical, scriptural solutions in doing the work of an evangelist. \"I have been\u2026in danger of false brethren\" (II Corinthians 11:26).\u00a0The apostle Paul faced some difficult\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5767,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-preacher-kick-members-out-of-a-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":91663,"position":5},"title":"Can a preacher kick members out of a church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a preacher kick members out of the church? Answer: The primary job of a preacher, as described in the Bible, is to be a herald of God's good news. He teaches those outside the church how to become a part of the church. He teaches those inside and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91663\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Lack of Conviction<\/h2>\n
Changes in Preaching<\/h2>\n
What is the Cause of Such Dangerous Tendencies?<\/h2>\n
What is the Solution?<\/h2>\n