The Lord Changes Not

by Dr. Ken Matto

(Mal 3:6 KJV) For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

We live in a society where everything seems to change very rapidly, such as clothing, electronics, cars, airplanes, etc. You name it and it probably has been changed with the idea of improvement. I remember years ago watching All in the Family and Mike and Gloria came in from shopping, and as they were unpacking the bags, Mike took a bottle of laundry detergent and read the label and said, “New and Improved, what was the other stuff old and lousy?” That always stuck with me because as I see so many different things being improved, I wonder too, were everything these improvements replaced old and lousy?

The next question I have is when did God change? One hundred years ago we saw all the churches using the same Bible, so when you travelled and visited a church, you could follow the preacher with the same version. Churches once had choirs and sang those beautiful hymns to the Glory of God. There was solemnity in the church and when you went into the church, you sat down a few minutes before the service started and you meditated on the things of the Lord. You could also hear church bells ringing throughout the town which was a notice to all the unbelievers that God had a presence in town. Sunday mornings had a divine quietness about it. People weren’t washing their cars or going to the malls. Businesses were open six days a week instead of seven and families went to church together and little boys wore suits and little girls wore dresses. Remember those days when Christianity was faith with meditative reverence attached to it?

Compare what I just wrote to what we have today. In every church we have 15 different versions and people don’t care whether their version was written by sodomites, unbelievers, or atheists. When did God change? The beautiful choirs have now been replaced by rock bands who sing songs with a total of 3 words 18 times in repetition and if your church sings them without getting permission from the long-haired, half-shaven, earring wearing Hippie who penned it, he will sue your church. When did God change? There is no more solemnity in the church as many churches look like soccer games when people are up and moving throughout the whole service. Instead of meditating on the things of the Lord, they concentrate on their agenda until the first drum roll signals the start of the service. When did God change? You don’t hear church bells anymore because we wouldn’t to wake up the drunks and fornicators in the town. When did God change? Instead of Sunday morning being so quiet that you could hear birds singing, now you have people running to the shore, washing their car, rushing to the malls. When did God change? Boys and Girls who come to church are now dressed like they just walked out of the dump. It seems they try to out-trash each other to be the coolest one in the church. Christianity now has the stigma of deep worldliness attached to it instead of reverence. When did God change?

Our verse above states that God does not change. His standards for holiness has remained the same from Genesis to Revelation. His standards have never changed. What has changed is Christians who feel that to reach people for Christ we need to change with the times. The sorry fact is that as society has degenerated, so has the quality of Christianity. No longer do we cry out against sin, instead we cry out against the teachings of sin, and offer health and wealth. No longer do we speak of Hell as we may offend someone. No longer do we cry out against false teachings, instead we cry out against those who oppose those teachings and call them narrow minded bigots. No longer do we call Christians into accountability but we call them for counseling sessions.