OK – so this is a Wednesday edition of my Tuesday blog. My life has become even more crowded than usual lately and I just couldn’t get this blog out yesterday.
I’ve been neck deep in working with a church that is near my home that is coming out of its liberal denomination to join with an evangelical denomination that truly reflects their commitment to the authority of Scripture, among other things. To be more accurate, the staff, elders and core congregation of a church are leaving that church to form a new church in a different denomination.
The authority of Scripture is the most basic issue. These people believe that the teaching of Scripture is timeless, and that whenever there is a clash between the teachings of Scripture and the ever-changing mores of culture, it is culture that must give way, adjusting its views to accommodate the truth of the Word of God.
However, their former denomination seems to think that the teachings of Scripture must be adjusted to accommodate current cultural trends to avoid being “intolerant.” Besides dissolving the session, or elder board, of the church about ten days ago, the regional body of that denomination has taken over the church’s website. The opening line of communication on the home page now invites people to have their lives enlightened by connecting with a “Higher Power.”
The mainline American church has largely lost its way, offering a religion that is more about social services and political correctness than about embracing the undiluted truth of the Bible. No wonder outsiders have such a negative view of the church; now wonder the church is so ineffective at impacting people’s lives with the Gospel. There is no Gospel when the uniqueness of the Person of Jesus Christ and His work on our behalf is viewed as just another belief system, no more or no less than other competing belief systems.
But the challenge for the true evangelical does not come from culture and does not come from wayward, heretical denominations. The challenge comes from within. Many, perhaps most, evangelical churches, though accurate in their commitment to the authority of Scripture, don’t truly live up to what Scripture demands. We are self-absorbed, ministering first and foremost to ourselves.
The command of Jesus it to go and make disciples of all nations. Perhaps we should do less finger pointing at culture and eroding denominations and invest ourselves in the simplicity of the Great Commission. A dying world waits! Go!
gcmatrix 