How much we need zeal. Christ, who is our Saviour and our example, manifested zeal for the house of God. Do we have zeal for lost souls? Do we feel for them? Do we join ourselves with the work of God? Do we witness for Jesus Christ? Or do we find that, surrounded perhaps by unbelievers, we get to the state where we don’t care about it, and we don’t feel for them? We need zeal about false teaching: that there is so much false teaching going on these days and some people don’t mind. They will go to a church where there is false teaching, and they know it is wrong. They’ve no zeal – it doesn’t hurt them. The word of God is being ignored and thrown aside; somebody is profiteering and leading people astray. It doesn’t seem to bother them; they don’t mind.
Take Christian publishing, Christian books, as an example of this. In the United Kingdom and particularly in the United States, there were certain families who started Christian publishing businesses. They were nearly all not only evangelical but strongly Reformed. And they were famous in their day for publishing sound Christian literature. Their lists, their publication lists were impeccable, theologically. They were marvellous publishing houses. Time went by. Children took over, children’s children took over. Some of them were sold to commercial interests. Things changed even in some of them which remained in the original families; profit took over. They started publishing unsound books. One very famous American evangelical publisher, many years ago, went over, because it found it more profitable, to liberal publications and literature. Others went down market, publishing unsound material. Commerce took over, and the publishing houses became big and what counted was turnover.
It also comes into churches. Look at what has happened to worship. Look at what has happened to worship in the last thirty years as contemporary Christian worship has come in. Driven by stars who live and conduct themselves very largely like secular popstars, and make money at it and lots of money, and have their publicists, and use the same style and approach and language and methods. The money makers are in and, in many churches, have been allowed to take over even the worship.