Sometimes I worry that the majority of today's youth, which are passionate to reinvigorate the gospel for a new generation, forget that it really doesn't need to be updated. I admit that Christianity has it's foibles, but seriously, if anything, it's not that it needs to be fixed, just better understood. Any and all problems or misrepresentations that have arisen over the last 2000 years regarding Christianity have come about because people refuse to study and learn what God's word really means. The gospel itself is perfect. I can say that with confidence. It has no errors, no flaws, and everything you need for life, wisdom, and godliness is found within the pages of the Holy Bible. I don't say this out of ignorance either, or out of "blind" faith, because there is no such thing. The saddest thing about the statements I just made is that a majority of so called "Christians" would be much more hesitant to take such a stand. Am I claiming to be some sort of super believer? Not at all. I know who I am, and it is not pretty. But I also can say what I say with confidence because I know it to be true. I'm calling for more believers to simply trust and obey the word of God and take it for exactly what it says it is. When it says God created the universe in six days, why is that so hard to believe? Why must we force the Scriptures to conform to what science and "logic" try to reason to us? Shouldn't it be the other way around? The word of God (who created science) stand alone, and then all the sciences and arts conform to it's pattern and guidance? When it says Jesus rose from the dead, folks, the whole book hinges on that. If you can't believe that then you can't believe any of it. Who in his right mind would take entire passages out of the Bible upon which is stands and then claim that the rest of it is simply "OK"? You cannot separate the two. Either you believe it, I mean really believe it, every word of it, or you don't believe any of it. There is no in between. The Lord does not negotiate on our terms people. Get that through your heads. I am alarmed at the trends I see in culture of updating the gospel and 'tweaking' it to fix today's culture. The so-called "emerging church" movement, simply a try to mold Christianity into an existential worldview where all answers are true and likewise false, is something that must be fought. And frankly, these die hard fundamentalists who say "The Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it" aren't much help either. They have passion yes, but they are ignorant and have not loved the Lord their God with all of their minds, conforming and renewing themselves to the will of a Holy God. Frankly, both ends of the spectrum are to be blamed. The fundamentalists give us a bad name because they cannot stand up to interrogation, their apologetics are just plain awful. They cannot provide a ready defense and therefore give Christianity the "dumb, ignorant backwoods" stereotype. Those who appear to be more "in touch" with the culture on the other hand, (and yes, I'm talking about the readers of Relevant magazine and followers of Donald Miller and Rob Bell), are more times than not convicted of actually compromising with the culture, of sleeping with it and then trying to pretend it never happened the morning after. God doesn't need our help peddling religion or sugar-coating truth. He allows us to share in a glorious relationship with Him for which none of us are qualified, and then permits us to spread the news of that relationship to a world apart from it, in hopes that perhaps by the grace of God some of them will be moved and called by the Spirit to accept what we preach and point to: Christ crucified. Forgive my rant, but I'm genuinely appalled by how quickly the prevailing "evangelical" culture has shifted on many issues. Many of these compromises have occurred within the last 20 years, that's only a couple of generations down the road from where we used to be. We need people to take a stand, to get serious about what it is that they believe and be ready to defend it. We need not take the fight to the world, nay, it is already before us. Christ promised his followers tribulations and trials, so why is it that whenever hard times come our way we ask for prayer to simply get out of these tough spots? Why not ask for prayer to be wise enough to discern what the Lord would have us learn from the tough spot He put us in, for His own glory??? This idea may shock many and surprise some, but we've go to do a better job in the area of apologetics. Truth is on trial, and we're standing by as the world chips away at it everyday we keep our mouths closed. If you had the cure for cancer and nobody cared, how would you respond? Take a stand men and women of faith. Not in an antagonistic fashion, but in a zeal for the word of God and for His name and kingdom to be glorified. We're too happy, shying away from somber, serious discussions of God's nature and doctrines. We'd rather sing ourselves into an emotional state of euphoria than actually examine the word of God with a desire to learn it and live it. We can still be full of joy and love, I'm just calling for a little serious-minded driven attitude to be added in. Johnny Cash may be one of the best examples of this. He understood the serious side of the gospel, and when you look at his life and his music, I see a prophet of somberness who was faithful to uphold the tough truths of the gospel. Should we all wear black? Perhaps not. But it wouldn't hurt if a few of us tried it every now and then, I promise the world would take notice and then we might see some real revival taking place in the hearts of the people as our hearts and lives become serious about reaching them with the Truth. Forgive me my rant, but as always, I blog because I care.
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