This is a concept that is very different from many current churches and spiritual leadership. It is an understandable desire to want to focus on getting people to make a decision of commitment to Christ and worry about the depth of their conviction and understanding later. This is what spiritual growth is all about, but I believe we are doing ourselves, the new believers, and most of all, Christ Himself a great disservice because of this.
We often deliver an environment of peer pressure, emotional manipulation, and a message that is heavily weighted to salvation through faith by the grace of God without bringing in the other part of salvation which is crucial, a repentant heart. It can be a great thing to be "seeker sensitive" which is a commonly used phrase nowadays, but if the real demands of God on those who would follow Him are not made clear BEFORE someone chooses to make a public commitment, disillusionment and bitterness are sure to follow.
I know I have and still do struggle with trying to live a life that is increasingly surrendered to Him and characterized by holiness, purity, and obedience. Knowing how much I have struggled with this in spite of being raised to know of God's call to repentance and obedience, I can only imagine the disillusionment that some have experienced.
We also have the example of John the Baptist. He turned away the crowds and referred to them as a brood of vipers when he knew their motivations were shallow and not of God. How many converts have you seen challenged in any way recently. For the record, I'm not advocating this, but using it to make my larger point. There comes a point where watering down the gospel is no longer just watering it down but fundamentally changing it into something other than the gospel. When that occurs, what are people converting into?
1 comment:
Excellent post, and I completely agree with you. I think the wateringdown of the Gospel is one of the greatest problems with the church today.
I would, however, add one thing to what you wrote. It can be very difficult to nail down "the real demands of God." Though John the Baptist turned people away for not being radical enough, as you note, even he was unsure of Jesus. When John was in prison, he sent a delegation to Jesus asking him if Jesus was the one or if they should wait for another. This was after he had witnessed God speaking at Jesus' baptism and had professed Jesus as the Messiah. Despite being the prophet sent to prepare the way for Christ, he was unsure whether Jesus was following in that way or not. This has served as a great caution to me in my life that I do not have, nor will I ever have, a perfect understanding of what God requires of us. No matter what revelations of Jesus or God I have experienced they are all distorted by my sinful nature, by my lack of ability to understand. God works with each of us differently, and we have to be cautious in laying down what God's demands are for someone else. After all, even John the Baptist was unsure if Jesus was following the way of the Messiah.
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