I still have the eight drawer bedroom dresser my parents gave me some 65 years ago. It’s well built of hardwood and has withstood almost a dozen moves over five states. It’s still as solid as the day it was purchased. As an adult I’ve had a number of “modern” pieces of furniture: bookshelves, computer desks and nightstands. They were all made of particle board (sawdust and glue) with a thin plastic wood grain veneer to make it look like real wood. They usually don’t last even one move before the joints loosen and they begin to fall apart.
Webster’s defines veneer as a deceptively attractive thin outer layer covering over an inferior wood product underneath. That concept can be true in more than just furniture.
Does the church you attend remind you of a well-built piece of hardwood furniture, able to withstand the stresses of time with sound doctrine, a committed pastor and a faithful congregation? Or, is it just deceptively attractive on the outside, allowing worldly messages and methods that cover over “sawdust and glue” underneath. The Apostle Paul warns us to beware of philosophies and traditions of men patterned after worldly ways.
“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of this world, and not after Christ.” Colossians 2:8