All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,2 Timothy 3:16
For the past few weeks most of my posts have come from one of three books, Radical, Radical Together, and Not a Fan. These books have a common theme. They call the church to re-examine the Christian life in terms of what scripture calls for and not just what we have gotten used to. The teachings they contain are very biblical and certainly not “new fangled” or revolutionary, except for one thing. The church has wander so far from its calling that the idea of going back and doing things by “by the book” turns out to look radical.
In order to gain anything from these teachings, one has to be willing to accept that what passes for Christianity today is not recognizable from the Word of God. In order to gain anything and to move forward, one has to accept this fact. It’s not a easy thing to do for a church that has become very comfortable and has drawn into itself.
There is, no doubt we are experiencing the first stirrings of persecution in our own country and full persecution of the Christian Church in much of the world. Our reaction has been similar to a turtle’s to pull into our shell, to withdraw from the world. This satisfies the enemies of Christ like no other reaction could.
The proper reaction is to conduct a critical self-examination. The power of the attacks against the modern church is that they contain enough truth to sound valid. We are called unloving and in many ways we have been. We have let the world around us change so much that pure Christianity seems out of touch with the world and out of step with history.
When any people move from a majority position to that of a minority, it isn’t comfortable. The church was comfortable in the America of the 1950s when national ideals and christian ideals matched up pretty well. In the days of my youth, no everyone followed Christ, but most agreed it was the proper thing to do. That world is gone. The teachings of scripture are now inconsistent with the beliefs of most of our countrymen. We have to accept that if we are to speak truth, we can expect to be ridiculed and marginalized, and persecuted; but that’s no excuse for backing up from His message.
Just because the truth of the gospel isn’t popular doesn’t mean it isn’t needed. In fact, it means it’s needed all the more. We have to accept that our attempts to be comfortable, to fit in with the world we find ourselves in, has lead us into non-biblical, non-christian lives. Instead of the bright, salty lives, Christ called us to we are living dim, flavorless imitations that draw no man to us.
We need to go back to the book, and examine what it says in a pure sense and not in light of what we have twisted it to mean. We need to be Christ centered, Great Commission oriented radicals if we have any chance of being salt and light.
It’s time to pick up the book with fresh eyes and a willingness to have our ideas renewed by the Spirit. It’s time to start to live “by the book” and abandoned what we have accepted as a poor substitute. It’s time to give up being fans, and become followers. It’s time to get radical. In fact, it’s past time.
Nick
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