Steve, this is an awesome explanation, as are all 101 of them!! God has truly blessed you with wisdom and discernment! You have radically helped me in my grace walk! Grace Gal
If the Church doesn't stand up to the tide of sin then who will? The Holy Spirit - yes - but He works through the Church. Our witness for Christ is hypocritical and ineffective if we don't stand up for what is morally right.
Steve, what you are advocating is a cop-out of our moral duty to take a stand against evil.
Nathan, your opinion certainly isn't uncommon in the climate of the modern church world but I don't happen to share that view. My calling - our calling - is to share the gospel, which is the good news of the finished work of Jesus. To suggest my position is a cop-out is inflammatory and certainly not true. If I were trying to please people, I'd do exactly what you are suggesting we should do because that is most certainly the politically correct position in the world of religion. Proclaiming the pure grace of God and knowing nothing "but Christ and him crucified" always provokes the ire of people who share your view about the need to pounce sin.
Steve, the very nature of proposing Christians make no stand against evil is in itself an inflammatory topic. I wonder what the Good Samaritan would have done had he shown up while the robbers were beating the man. Would he have just stood there watching and ministered to the man afterwards (what your position is advocating) or would he have tried to stop the robbery and beating from happening? And, how would God judge the Samaritan had he just stood there and watched?
Nathan - defending the defenseless is a different matter than "pouncing on people's sins," which is what I tried to communicate in this video. My position doesn't advocate allowing somebody to be beaten. It's your misunderstanding of my position that leads you to that viewpoint. I believe that grace will cause us to always act in the most loving way toward people. Again, the video wasn't intended to speak to the evils of society but to the issue of focusing our message on sin more than on the good news of the gospel.
Steve, this is an awesome explanation, as are all 101 of them!! God has truly blessed you with wisdom and discernment! You have radically helped me in my grace walk!
ReplyDeleteGrace Gal
If the Church doesn't stand up to the tide of sin then who will? The Holy Spirit - yes - but He works through the Church. Our witness for Christ is hypocritical and ineffective if we don't stand up for what is morally right.
ReplyDeleteSteve, what you are advocating is a cop-out of our moral duty to take a stand against evil.
Nathan, your opinion certainly isn't uncommon in the climate of the modern church world but I don't happen to share that view. My calling - our calling - is to share the gospel, which is the good news of the finished work of Jesus. To suggest my position is a cop-out is inflammatory and certainly not true. If I were trying to please people, I'd do exactly what you are suggesting we should do because that is most certainly the politically correct position in the world of religion. Proclaiming the pure grace of God and knowing nothing "but Christ and him crucified" always provokes the ire of people who share your view about the need to pounce sin.
ReplyDeleteWe're discussing your position in part at The Christ in Prophecy Journal.
ReplyDeleteSteve, the very nature of proposing Christians make no stand against evil is in itself an inflammatory topic. I wonder what the Good Samaritan would have done had he shown up while the robbers were beating the man. Would he have just stood there watching and ministered to the man afterwards (what your position is advocating) or would he have tried to stop the robbery and beating from happening? And, how would God judge the Samaritan had he just stood there and watched?
Nathan - defending the defenseless is a different matter than "pouncing on people's sins," which is what I tried to communicate in this video. My position doesn't advocate allowing somebody to be beaten. It's your misunderstanding of my position that leads you to that viewpoint. I believe that grace will cause us to always act in the most loving way toward people. Again, the video wasn't intended to speak to the evils of society but to the issue of focusing our message on sin more than on the good news of the gospel.
ReplyDelete