I had the privilege of speaking at one of our church’s mom’s groups this morning. As we went around the room, each person telling how they came to the church, one of the moms mentioned that she was happy to find a church that doesn’t shy away from biblical truth in these trying times.
I’ve been thinking about that…a lot.
I know a lot of pastors are worried about sharing what the Bible says about “controversial” issues, fearing they will lose members. And yet, here was a woman who had decided to bring her whole family to the church (at least in part) because of the church’s stance on truth.
Which is interesting because we’re not a “political” church. If/when issues are discussed, they are always handled with love, courtesy, and very, very carefully. But they are discussed. Thank God. And people aren’t leaving. They’re coming. In droves.
I was blessed to have lunch with the pastors of my old/home church (Lindale Church) this week. We ran into each other at Chicken Salad Chick and had the sweetest impromptu lunch. They shared a story of a man who was radically saved a couple weeks ago. I wasn’t surprised. The altars at that church are full every Sunday. Lives are being changed. People are coming to Christ and giving up all sorts of addictions and sins. Transformations are taking place.
In other words, the truth is setting them free.
The problem with the “just love them” approach to Christianity is empty altars. Unchanged lives.
Sure, people walk away from Sunday morning service smiling and feeling validated, but they’re not necessarily walking into an eternity with Christ. They’re not witnessing the power of transformation.
The truth of God’s Word has the power–yes, POWER–to radically change lives. WHY would we want to swap that out with sappy love-chat messages that don’t have the power to bring radical transformation?
I don’t know where you worship, but my prayer is that church leaders begin to see that they can’t straddle the fence anymore. Either they speak truth (and risk losing congregants as a result) or they fall.
And they WILL fall.
Hard.
Because the enemy is coming in like a flood, and the body of Christ has to have a backbone to fight. That backbone is built at the altar, when confession gives way to transformation, which morphs into spiritual strength.
If I’m reading the scriptures correctly, the church has a HUGE role to play in the end times. So I, personally, want to be in a healthy church where altars are full and lives are transformed. Together, we will be unstoppable!
