Sam Bridges
The state of the modern church
By Sam Bridges
The modern church...the body of Christ...appears to be in a terrible state. That should be news to no one, even those who have no affiliation with any component of the church whatsoever. And perhaps I should clarify and qualify my initial statement. The body of Christ is fine, even as it grows and matures. There are some within its ranks, though, that are well-meaning and have good intentions but are nonetheless misguided in their application of Scripture. This situation is distressing and can be dangerous if not corrected. However, there are many who masquerade as being part of the body of Christ while truly having no part in Him. This is perilous. This is heresy. This is an instrument of the enemies of the body of Christ against that body. This is one of the worst ways people can "take the Lord's name in vain," claiming to be joined with Him and to represent Him, all the while bringing dishonor to Him and His name and bringing judgment on themselves.
A recent example of the former (i.e., those who are misguided) occurred last week, when leaders of five mainline Protestant denominations (Episcopal Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church) issued a joint statement in which they called President Bush's new federal budget "unjust." Using the Biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) as their basis, the leaders stated that "in telling this story, Jesus makes clear that perpetrating economic injustice is among the gravest of sins."
It's hard to argue against their point. They correctly interpreted the Lord's intent in telling this story in the first place. And there is certainly a strong and consistent Scriptural basis for caring for the poor and those in need. It's one of our key mandates related to social justice. However, this mandate is directed to and given to individual followers of Christ and His church...not the federal government. This is nothing less than a case of blurring a clear Biblical concept and mandate with liberal, non-Constitutional politics and partisanship.
Instead of insisting as these leaders have that President Bush has committed "the gravest of sins," I have a novel idea to propose. President Bush and Congress should remove from the budget all federal programs that go beyond or are contrary to the Constitution. Then churches and their congregants can have vastly more resources to minister and serve as the Lord instructed them to do. Sin handled. Obedience established. Federalism restored. Case closed.
A little later in the week, I was enjoying Ann Coulter's column entitled, "Come Back, Liberals!" in which she explains how she had "been attacked on MSNBC and CNN, in the Detroit Free-Press and on every known liberal blog and radio show" for a column she had written two weeks prior. Wanting to see if I could find some of this chatter, I visited a blog that is quite popular and quite liberal. Before I could even spend much time looking for references to Ms. Coulter's brilliance, I was struck by an advertisement on the blog for the United Church of Christ (UCC). I was foolishly surprised to see it there, but my interest was piqued. Clicking on the ad and visiting the UCC website, I was reminded how foolish my initial surprise truly was. Here was a classic example of the latter church situation mentioned earlier (i.e., those who are maquerading).
The UCC is a case of a church or denomination making a gross error in doctrine, interpretation, and theology for the cause of political correctness of inclusion and acceptance of anything and everything at all costs.
I'll break it down. God created. All people have sinned and continue to sin. God loves all His creation. But sin separates all people from God with no hope of reconciliation or restoration. God provided the only way by which people can be saved and have a relationship with Him. God accepts those who repent and turn from their sin, relying wholly on the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and on that alone.
God does not accept our sin; He does not accept us in our sin. God wants to include and accept us out of His love and concern for us as His creatures. However, He will not include or accept us until we repent and turn away from our sin. God will not and cannot act in a way that is contrary to His character or His Word in Scripture.
God does not accept the adulterer; He accepts the repentant adulterer. God does not accept the practicing homosexual; He accepts the repentant homosexual. God does not accept the murderer; He accepts the repentant murderer. God does not accept the proud; He accepts the repentant proud. God does not accept the rapist; He accepts the repentant rapist.
Any church that claims to include and accept those who have not yet repented of their sin shame the name of Christ and invite judgment for attempting to fuse unrepentant, sinful flesh into the body of Christ.
The true church...the Biblical body of Christ...in all its denominational components...will survive the completion of history. But the different denominations and individuals comprising the modern church must continuously and candidly assess themselves to determine if they are truly honoring and serving God with every action and every statement, or if they have exchanged the worship of the Lord and their possible relationship with Him for a shameful facsimile created by mankind to please mankind.
© Sam Bridges
The modern church...the body of Christ...appears to be in a terrible state. That should be news to no one, even those who have no affiliation with any component of the church whatsoever. And perhaps I should clarify and qualify my initial statement. The body of Christ is fine, even as it grows and matures. There are some within its ranks, though, that are well-meaning and have good intentions but are nonetheless misguided in their application of Scripture. This situation is distressing and can be dangerous if not corrected. However, there are many who masquerade as being part of the body of Christ while truly having no part in Him. This is perilous. This is heresy. This is an instrument of the enemies of the body of Christ against that body. This is one of the worst ways people can "take the Lord's name in vain," claiming to be joined with Him and to represent Him, all the while bringing dishonor to Him and His name and bringing judgment on themselves.
A recent example of the former (i.e., those who are misguided) occurred last week, when leaders of five mainline Protestant denominations (Episcopal Church USA, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), United Church of Christ, and United Methodist Church) issued a joint statement in which they called President Bush's new federal budget "unjust." Using the Biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31) as their basis, the leaders stated that "in telling this story, Jesus makes clear that perpetrating economic injustice is among the gravest of sins."
It's hard to argue against their point. They correctly interpreted the Lord's intent in telling this story in the first place. And there is certainly a strong and consistent Scriptural basis for caring for the poor and those in need. It's one of our key mandates related to social justice. However, this mandate is directed to and given to individual followers of Christ and His church...not the federal government. This is nothing less than a case of blurring a clear Biblical concept and mandate with liberal, non-Constitutional politics and partisanship.
Instead of insisting as these leaders have that President Bush has committed "the gravest of sins," I have a novel idea to propose. President Bush and Congress should remove from the budget all federal programs that go beyond or are contrary to the Constitution. Then churches and their congregants can have vastly more resources to minister and serve as the Lord instructed them to do. Sin handled. Obedience established. Federalism restored. Case closed.
A little later in the week, I was enjoying Ann Coulter's column entitled, "Come Back, Liberals!" in which she explains how she had "been attacked on MSNBC and CNN, in the Detroit Free-Press and on every known liberal blog and radio show" for a column she had written two weeks prior. Wanting to see if I could find some of this chatter, I visited a blog that is quite popular and quite liberal. Before I could even spend much time looking for references to Ms. Coulter's brilliance, I was struck by an advertisement on the blog for the United Church of Christ (UCC). I was foolishly surprised to see it there, but my interest was piqued. Clicking on the ad and visiting the UCC website, I was reminded how foolish my initial surprise truly was. Here was a classic example of the latter church situation mentioned earlier (i.e., those who are maquerading).
The UCC is a case of a church or denomination making a gross error in doctrine, interpretation, and theology for the cause of political correctness of inclusion and acceptance of anything and everything at all costs.
I'll break it down. God created. All people have sinned and continue to sin. God loves all His creation. But sin separates all people from God with no hope of reconciliation or restoration. God provided the only way by which people can be saved and have a relationship with Him. God accepts those who repent and turn from their sin, relying wholly on the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and on that alone.
God does not accept our sin; He does not accept us in our sin. God wants to include and accept us out of His love and concern for us as His creatures. However, He will not include or accept us until we repent and turn away from our sin. God will not and cannot act in a way that is contrary to His character or His Word in Scripture.
God does not accept the adulterer; He accepts the repentant adulterer. God does not accept the practicing homosexual; He accepts the repentant homosexual. God does not accept the murderer; He accepts the repentant murderer. God does not accept the proud; He accepts the repentant proud. God does not accept the rapist; He accepts the repentant rapist.
Any church that claims to include and accept those who have not yet repented of their sin shame the name of Christ and invite judgment for attempting to fuse unrepentant, sinful flesh into the body of Christ.
The true church...the Biblical body of Christ...in all its denominational components...will survive the completion of history. But the different denominations and individuals comprising the modern church must continuously and candidly assess themselves to determine if they are truly honoring and serving God with every action and every statement, or if they have exchanged the worship of the Lord and their possible relationship with Him for a shameful facsimile created by mankind to please mankind.
© Sam Bridges
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