If you do not mind a bit of popular culture to help me make a spiritual point, let me remind you of something that should be familiar to you – at least if you are a parent and you have been around for a little while. Back in 1967 the Disney film The Jungle Book appeared.
In it the popular song “I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)” was performed by singer and musician Louis Prima. Part of the chorus of that song contains these words:
I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too
It seems to me this is not a bad desire for all Christians to have when it comes to God. We of course should want to be like our Lord, to walk like him, and think and talk like him. Christians can often pay lip service to this idea that we should be striving to be like our Lord in every respect.
But when push comes to shove, is this really the case? Do we really want to be like him in all things? Most Christians would (should) say that we are to become more and more like our Lord and reflect his heart. But at best we are often all rather selective in what we want to emulate and run with.
That is, too many have this idea that God is ONLY nice and loving and tolerant and accepting. Rightly understood, he is indeed all those things. But of course he is so much more. He is also holy and righteous, and he cannot dwell with sin. He cannot allow evil to go unchecked and unpunished. The cross of Christ reflects all these aspects of who God really is.
Reading in the Psalms again this morning I was struck by this fact of our selective emulation of God. Just one half of one verse can be mentioned here: “you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness” (Psalm 45:7). As I read this, I wondered: How many Christians really want to run with something like that?
Is that really the desire of our hearts? Do we in fact seek to do BOTH? It is one thing to say we want to love righteousness. But many believers today would be a bit squeamish about saying we should hate evil. Sadly, too many Christians think that we should hate nothing and love everything.
They have imbibed too heavily from the warped thinking and lousy moralising of the surrounding culture. They have bought the lie that we are to just accept everything, be nice, and make toleration the highest good. Now, accepting what is right is a good thing. Being nice is generally the way to go. Being tolerant in the right circumstances is helpful.
But we live in a culture that is awash with evil, wickedness, unrighteousness and ungodliness. Those are not things to accept, to embrace, to wink at, or to tolerate. They are things to be opposed and resisted. They certainly are not to be paraded, celebrated and championed. Milquetoast Christians today just do not have the moral and mental backbone needed to stand against evil and stand with God and his holiness and righteousness.
Let me say two things about this point. The first is more of a personal spiritual reflection. It is true of me, and perhaps others can relate. The other day I posted the following online:
The longer I am a Christian, the more I know 2 things (and perhaps you do too):
1. I barely know what God is really like in his righteousness and holiness.
2. I barely know myself as a selfish, self-centred and sinful being.
The more we come to comprehend the first, the more we will realise the second. And that growing awareness can only drive us to our knees to thank God for his grace and mercy.
You can see how this ties in with this idea of wanting to be like him. Only as we really come to know him – in all his fullness and glory, and not just in the areas we might prefer – can we really claim to be his followers. We do not have the luxury to pick and choose which bits of God we want to be like. It is a package deal. It is all or nothing.
The second point I wish to make goes back to things like the culture wars, and loving righteousness and hating evil in the public arena. We must be like God not just in our own personal lives, but in our witness and outreach to the world. A recent article by Virgil Walker concerning these matters is worth sharing from.
Recently he did a short podcast called “I’m Tired of Pretending This Is Normal”. He begins this way:
A few weeks ago, I spoke with a mother after a weekend of preaching at her church. She pulled me aside, eyes weary, and asked how she should handle a heartbreaking situation. Her adult daughter had moved back home and recently came out as a lesbian. But that wasn’t all, she wanted to bring her “partner” to live with her in the house. The daughter framed it as a roommate arrangement, but the mother knew the truth. She was torn between extending hospitality as a parent and upholding righteousness in her home. Her voice trembled with grief as she said, “I want to love her, but I can’t pretend this is okay.”
I didn’t have a clever answer, just a burdened heart. Because I know she’s not alone.
There’s a spiritual sickness in the land.
And the most insane thing about it?
We’re told to nod along like everything’s fine.
A man puts on lipstick, calls himself “mom,” and we’re supposed to smile and say, “Beautiful.”
A child says he’s pansexual at 12, and we’re expected to applaud his “bravery.”
A drag queen gyrates in front of a cross in a church sanctuary, and the congregation claps.
I’m tired of pretending this is normal.
Because it’s not.
It’s demonic.
This Isn’t Progress. It’s Paganism.
What we’re seeing isn’t the evolution of civilization, it’s a return to Babel.
We’ve traded truth for tolerance, and now we’re choking on the fumes of our own delusion.
Romans 1 says that when a people suppress the truth of God, He gives them over.
Not just to sin—but to insanity (Romans 1:28).
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind…” (Romans 1:28)
This is where we are.
We’re not in a political crisis. We’re in a Romans 1 reprobation spiral.
He goes on to say that the church must stop just nodding along with all this evil and madness:
Christian, if you’re waiting for the culture to turn itself around, it won’t. This madness ends only one way: when the Church stops acting like a chaplain to a pagan empire and starts proclaiming truth like prophets in the wilderness.
I’ve felt the temptation to stay quiet myself. When you’re in a conversation at the grocery store or across the table at a family gathering, it’s easier to bite your tongue. You don’t want to come off as harsh. You don’t want to be “that guy.” But then I remember—loving someone doesn’t mean lying to them. It means telling the truth, even when it costs you comfort.
Elijah didn’t ask Jezebel for a seat at the table. John the Baptist didn’t soften his words for Herod. Jesus didn’t flatter the Pharisees. He called them whitewashed tombs. We are not called to survive this age. We are called to stand in it.
What Does It Look Like to Refuse the Lie?
Refusing the lie starts by refusing to use their language. If a man says he’s a woman, don’t play along. Call him what God calls him. It also means rejecting the false virtue of tolerance. Loving your neighbor doesn’t mean affirming their rebellion. It means warning them of judgment—and pointing them to Christ.
We must also preach with clarity, not caution. If your pastor avoids sin, hell, or repentance, it’s time to find another church. Fast. And above all, live as if your children’s souls depend on it. Because they do. What we tolerate in moderation, our children will embrace in excess.
You’re Not Crazy
If you’ve looked around and thought, “This world has lost its mind”—you’re not crazy. You’re seeing clearly.
Insanity is the cost of suppressing God’s truth. But clarity is the gift of standing in it.
I’m not writing this from a place of detached outrage. I’ve had the hard conversations. I’ve lost opportunities. I’ve wept over the direction we’re heading. But I’ve also seen the fruit of standing firm—families restored, young men awakened, and the Gospel glorified.
Yes, it really is about time for the church of Jesus Christ to stop just trying to be nice. It is time for it to stop winking at sin and evil. It is time to stop craving the world’s love and affirmation. The only time the world will love the church is when it denies all the basics of biblical Christianity.
When the church rolls over and plays dead, the world will applaud it and affirm it. But when the church takes a stand for biblical truth and values, the world will hate it. When the church seeks to be salt and light, and stands up for that which is good and true, the world will hate it.
Christian, don’t pretend you are a follower of Christ if you cannot say and affirm with all your being what God is really like. That includes saying with the psalmist, “you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness”. And we must also say, “I wanna be like you.”
You began with this little ditty:
“I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too.”
I fear that far too much of what passes for “worship in song” is just the sort of trite piece of doggerel as the one above. The repertoire of modern song is replete with this sort of stuff. Meanwhile, the great hymns of the church through the ages, from the ancient church through the Reformation, the C18th and C19th, and yes, the C20th too, have been airily dismissed with mild but disparaging comment as “the old hymns”—from which we have (allegedly) moved on.
However, these compositions expressed the great truths of the faith, and in moving beyond them we have not improved, but degenerated. I am reminded of what the Lord said to the church at Ephesus:
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the deeds you did at first…” (Rev 2:5)
We are constantly told that “forward looking thinking”, and “moving on from the past” is the way of progress and improvement in the life of the church and for the individual Christian, and that “a backward looking outlook” is the path to oblivion. Not so! Time and again the Lord urges His people to look backwards to examine from where they have fallen (see Isa 51:1-2; Jer 6:16).
I know I have an obsession about worship in song, and recovering the heritage of hymnody, but I do so believing firmly that the great truths of our hymns are lost on professing Christians today. Hence, if there is superficiality in song, there will be superficiality in life. Such, I believe, is the case.
I applaud the above comments. Amen. So may it be. Return to Yhwh on our knees with a contrite heart and mind. Putting on the full Armour of God. Stand with the Rock of all ages, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Jesus Yeshua Savior Redeemer coming King Lord of All.
Thank you Bill once again for your commentaries, which I copy and paste print out and leave in my workplace staff Dining Room hoping for them to disappear , I might add they are nearly always taken and read by other staff members.
I too must applaud your first two responders. Before Covid we in WA had a visit from Franklin Graham on the conclusion I must admit I said to myself are these young Christians worshipping our Heavenly Father or maybe the upbeat Christian Band, I would hope their excitement was for our Lord and Savior.
Thanks Susanne.
I know what to tell that mother now Bill after reading your articles – her daughter can come home, but not if she wants to bring a partner.
Thanks Bill, for a timely article.
You began with this little ditty:
“I wanna be like you
I wanna walk like you
Talk like you, too.”
I fear that far too much of what passes for “worship in song” is just the sort of trite piece of doggerel as the one above. The repertoire of modern song is replete with this sort of stuff. Meanwhile, the great hymns of the church through the ages, from the ancient church through the Reformation, the C18th and C19th, and yes, the C20th too, have been airily dismissed with mild but disparaging comment as “the old hymns”—from which we have (allegedly) moved on.
However, these compositions expressed the great truths of the faith, and in moving beyond them we have not improved, but degenerated. I am reminded of what the Lord said to the church at Ephesus:
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent, and do the deeds you did at first…” (Rev 2:5)
We are constantly told that “forward looking thinking”, and “moving on from the past” is the way of progress and improvement in the life of the church and for the individual Christian, and that “a backward looking outlook” is the path to oblivion. Not so! Time and again the Lord urges His people to look backwards to examine from where they have fallen (see Isa 51:1-2; Jer 6:16).
I know I have an obsession about worship in song, and recovering the heritage of hymnody, but I do so believing firmly that the great truths of our hymns are lost on professing Christians today. Hence, if there is superficiality in song, there will be superficiality in life. Such, I believe, is the case.
I applaud the above comments. Amen. So may it be. Return to Yhwh on our knees with a contrite heart and mind. Putting on the full Armour of God. Stand with the Rock of all ages, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Jesus Yeshua Savior Redeemer coming King Lord of All.
Thank you Bill once again for your commentaries, which I copy and paste print out and leave in my workplace staff Dining Room hoping for them to disappear , I might add they are nearly always taken and read by other staff members.
I too must applaud your first two responders. Before Covid we in WA had a visit from Franklin Graham on the conclusion I must admit I said to myself are these young Christians worshipping our Heavenly Father or maybe the upbeat Christian Band, I would hope their excitement was for our Lord and Savior.
Thanks Susanne.
I know what to tell that mother now Bill after reading your articles – her daughter can come home, but not if she wants to bring a partner.