If the Church is to be a great blessing to society, then it must also be society's greatest threat, for the Church must constantly proclaim the Gospel of Repentance and of following Jesus Christ - and this is a threat to the world which is in rebellion against the True and Living God (Psalm 2).
To apologize for preaching repentance is akin to apologizing for saving a family who are overcome by carbon monoxide poisoning and are blissfully unaware of their surroundings. Those without Christ are dead, and if we cannot witness in a fashion that will, by God's grace, wake the dead then perhaps our faith is dead.
God so loved the world that He gave. We so love ourselves that we will not give. What is a crime is that we reinforce our self-centeredness when we gather together. Hollywood may have produced a series of individual American Idols, we seem to be perfecting a collective idol in the church.
Paul calls himself "Christ's slave." He says, "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant [slave] of Christ." (Galatians 1:10).
What do we call ourselves? Who are we trying to please? Curry favor with?
Are we, by Christ's grace, waking the dead?
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