You might think this is an interesting title. Truth vs. Grace, shouldn't the two be together? What do I mean by this title? There is something that I have been struggling with for a while. The thing that I am struggling with is how the church, should address certain issues with members within a given church.
The problem is, that in this day and age, "Church discipline" is not something that is really practiced very much. Many people are not comfortable with confronting people. We don't want to stir the pot, we want to let everything be as it is. The church tends to lean towards a "hands off" approach. We don't want to upset people.
The thing that bothers me about this way of doing things is that we seem to be afraid to stand on the truth. We are afraid of upsetting people to the point that we would rather not say or do anything. Even if it is complete and outright sinful, we would rather not say or do anything. Even if is directly contrary to what the Word of God has to say, we still don't want to get involved.
When I write, "Truth vs. Grace" I mean that many people would rather see grace then stand for the truth. Even when people are living lives in a sinful way. How should the church respond in these times? Should we continue with a "hands-off" approach, or should we take a stand for what is right and true?
As I am writing this, I am thinking about some of the reasons why we are afraid to stand for the truth. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think maybe one reason might be we are afraid of people calling us "hypocrites." Are we afraid that people will say that we are too "judgmental." I don't really know, just some of my thoughts. What do you think??
When Morning Breaks and Shadows Flee (Boston)
3 hours ago
5 comments:
Thanks, Brian, for raising these questions and for inviting input. And so I will give a bit o' mine. I'm not sure how long you've been at your church, but I've been at this one for almost a year and a half. Just as with living overseas as a missionary, I found how it took me at least a year to begin to understand the culture, and longer to actually penetrate it. So both in Asia and now on Long Island, some things that stick out to me at first as sin later turn out to be more of culture, and then, as I get to know the people and place, the personal, relational, and cultural sins all begin to show more clearly. During this time, I've only had a few series in preaching since I go through entire books of Scripture, or most of a book. When something comes up in the passage, I will try to bring that out, without preaching by agenda.
Hey, Brian, it's me again. My first comment ended by sounding as if preaching against specific sins is done solely as carrying out an agenda. As I re-read my comment, I thought I should clarify that statement.
When I've had someone ask me, "Why don't you preach against such-and-such sin? What about [special focus] Sunday?" My response communicates that I will preach on that when it comes up in the Scriptures of the book I'm preaching through, in the church calendar (historic, not "social sin Sunday" one week, "social justice" Sunday next week), or the lexicon (which I haven't been following up to this point). For Pentecost on this past Sunday, we celebrated it as it fell on this Sunday in the church calendar, and I concluded a series on Luke with an emphasis on mission in chapter 24.
Concerning specific sin, I'll preach against social evils like abortion when the passage is Genesis 1 or Psalm 139, not on "anti-abortion" or "pro-life" Sunday. Similarly, I won't preach on truth telling and lying because I've caught someone in a lie. It'll come up when preaching through Ephesians 4 or Exodus 20. That's my m.o.
About hypocrisy and being judgemental...God is going to judge us, so Christians who are truly committed and honest with themselves will appreciate the gentle comments of someone who loves them. It's much easier to see other's sin than it is to see our own, so I appreciate the help of my husband and friends. Also, Christians are actually called to judge each other - judge has become an evil word, but we're supposed to look out for each other! When the Bible talks about judging, it doesn't say Don't Judge Ever, it says be careful how you judge. We have no reason to judge non-Christians - a non-Christian who quits stealing is not much better off. He needs Christ first, then he needs to work on his lifestyle. But Christians, who carry God's name and are His representatives here, do need to be judged...by their fruit you'll know them.
Hypocrisy has also become a big scary term in America (and Canada? :-). Any Christian could be a hypocrite, given we're supposed to be perfect but we'll always sin in one way or another. I think hypocrisy is a term applied to anyone who does wrong, but rather it should be applied only to those who preach one thing (ie don't steal) and live the other. Perhaps the preacher commits this sin on occasion, but for the most part strives against it and feels guilt over it - he is not a hypocrite. And sometimes those who are the worst caught in sin can be the best preachers against it...though that's no reason to get into sin :-)
God is gracious, but God is just. We need to be like him - gracious with those who turn away from sin, but honest with those who
sorry - distracted by baby...then of course the computer wouldn't work. To finish the thought, we need to be honest with those who need to hear the truth, but gracious with them after they "turn from their wicked ways." Funny how people always forget that part of the verse.
Hey Brian, no comment on your post, but wanted to say thanks for the comments and encouragement. We are excited for the summer and to see what God has in store for us!
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