What a solemn warning this is to us not to disregard those religious influences and impulses which, if acted on, anchor us to God.  Many of these influences begin in our church.  Here God’s Sacraments, conveying his life and strength, are frequently administered, here God’s word is read and preached; and we have too the mutual support which fellowship in prayer and worship affords.  We cannot say that God is neglecting us.

On the other hand there are influences of a very different kind active in the world today.  The general tendency is towards the elimination of religion altogether.  Some hold it in contempt and dismiss it as childish nonsense which people in the 21st century have grown out of – although in point of fact people today are no different from those in Our Lord’s day in the first century AD.

And even within the Church itself, there is always the danger of accommodating religion to the current materialistic outlook by substituting a humanism and a programme of social work from which a personal God has been expelled.

Hand in hand with this elimination of the Christian religion, there naturally goes the general rejection of Christian moral standards.  As a result the Christian can only remain true to Christ by resisting the pressure of these influences and by refusing to run with the herd.