Articles
The Word vs The World
I'm confused! I don't understand. I don't claim to know it all, not even a fraction, but let me ask, if we continue to water down God's word to meet worldliness, what's the end game? Let me put it another way, people can go anywhere to get worldliness, so if the church is just another place to go get it, why on earth would people want to be a part of the church?
People can get lectured about worldly things anywhere, no need to get it from the church. There are a host of counselors, psychologists, therapists, celebrities, authors and so-called journalists who can and will tell you just what you want to hear, and some people want encouragement to continue in their sinful way(s). If we offer that same message from the pulpit, why would anyone bother to come and listen to it, and rightfully so? What would be the point?
If people grace the doors to our church buildings to hear a life-changing message, and that message simply affirms the sinful life they are living, they won't come back, and why would they? They will leave just as lost, just as helpless, just as ignorant (not knowing the real truth) as they were when they came in. If that's all we have to give them, a pat on the back and our empty words that Jesus loves them, what have they benefited? And if we only offer God's message from inside stained glass walls 20 minutes a week, how effective is that? But that's another discussion for another time!
As Christians, if our message to people is that they are just fine doing whatever they think is acceptable, make no changes, keep up the good work, why bother being a church? Any so-called friend with an opinion can do that. Why would anyone want to fellowship us and worship with us to get what they can get on social media from the comfort of their own living room?
As our world moves to be more progressive and inclusive, we absolutely must ensure that our humanism doesn't somehow consume our knowledge of God's will for mankind. When people are searching for answers to their hardships, fears and concerns, it does them no good to look in places that no longer provide the answers from scripture. Political correctness stands in opposition to the Gospel, and it's killing churches every single day.
If our message, our image and our churches continue to bend to meet the whims of mankind, they will become irrelevant. This has been proven repeatedly in history. Why then, is it so hard to avoid? If the church of Christ wants to grow, numerically and spiritually, if we want souls to be converted from sin and death to salvation, if we want to increase our own faith, we absolutely must reject the teachings of this world, and offer absolutely nothing but the unadulterated teachings of Christ. This must come not only from our pulpits, but from our lives, as people see us and talk to us every day.
