The church faces many challenges in the coming years, but I believe one of the biggest challenge will be to stay true to biblical teaching. In our PC dominated world today anything that doesn't fit with the beliefs and values of the majority are challenged and often resisted. We regularly see conservative speakers uninvited to speaking engagements because a vocal minority rise up in protest. Business owners who do not toe the PC line are threatened with boycotts and worse. GOYA is only the latest to feel the wrath of liberal politicians, celebrities and other left-wing radicals who want to destroy this Hispanic-owned food company.
Some denominations and churches abandoned biblical teaching years ago in an effort to appease the PC crowd. Those who continue to hold to biblical authority can expect pressure to conform its teachings and values to that of the unchurched community. We must resist that pressure even though there may be a price to pay in doing so.
The Bible is the Word of God. It is authoritative in everything it says. No church, no denomination, no individual has the right to change its message. Rather than changing the message to match the lifestyle, we need to change our lifestyles to match the Scriptures.
One of the reasons we see the chaos and difficulties in our nation today is that we have drifted far away from those biblical teachings. Without absolute truth and absolute morality everyone is free to do whatever they please, and as we have seen in recent months that can only lead to chaos, division and lawlessness.
Our pulpits must be faithful to preach the truth of God's Word without apology. Not everyone will like that, and that may include some of our strongest leaders in our churches. For me, if I am given the choice of offending God or the chairman of the deacons with my preaching, I'm going to offend that deacon. The worst he can do to me is cause me to be fired, but I would rather experience that than have to stand before God and explain why I failed to stay faithful to His Word. We must love people enough to teach them the truths contained in the Scriptures.
The church stands in a unique circumstance right now. Many churches who began to broadcast their worship services during the pandemic reported that their viewership exceeded their normal worship attendance. That tells me that our current situation has caused some people to seek answers to their questions about what is happening in our world. These are individuals who hunger for truth and want something solid upon which they can base their lives. The Gospel provides that firm foundation, but they will only know that if we are faithful to proclaim it to them. If all we can offer is spiritual mush that comes from some denominational office or a concoction that contains a lot of humanistic philosophy and personal opinion that is hooked to a Bible verse to give it credibility, they will not hear what they need most.
Pastors, commit yourself to boldly preaching the infallible Word of God. Lay leaders, encourage your pastors to do so even if it makes you uncomfortable at times. The Word of God has been silent too long in too many churches. It's time to change that.
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