I was recently asked a question about some of the biggest social issues facing the church today, and there are many many issues facing the church, but the first thing that came to my mind saddened me a bit. Immediately I thought that the church is at a point now when it is going to have to take a stand and say, “Yes, we are different from the rest of the world.” Yes, it says it throughout the Bible repeatedly, but now, with the goal of being “relevant” to the unbeliever, there are many cases where the church is becoming so “relevant” that you can’t really tell a difference anymore. Yes, I do believe the message of Christ if very relevant to today’s society, and I do think that the love of Christ can be spread through modern and creative ways, but I don’t think that the church needs to start leaving out pieces of the Bible because it may be offensive or because they believe that it may be flawed because of interpretations. I was talking with one of my friends in Florida about this and two pieces of scripture came up.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (The Message)

^19-23Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!

This means to contextualize the Gospel. It is key in reaching the lost. But often this next verse seems like it is often overlooked.

Jude 1:3-4 (New International Version)

³Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. ⁴For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

I love the word “contend”. We can’t sway from the truth that we know in order to connect with those who are lost. The truth will make people uncomfortable. We have to face it. It’s going to happen. For us to say that we need to change the message in order for people to receive it, is saying that we are able to communicate who God is and what He wants better than He can. Now we’re creating our own truth and changing the grace of God into a license for immorality. That doesn’t mean to have a fire and brimstone message every Sunday, but it means do not alter the truth to create comfort.

This is where the power of prayer comes into play. Anyone who has talked with me for more than 5 minutes about my philosophy of ministry has heard me say this: It is critical for me to prepare as though the end result is up to me, but pray like the end result is up to God. I realize that the end result has nothing to do with me and my abilities, but is completely reliant on the power of God. I’m simply saying that we should prepare to the best of our abilities, but pray that God uses our ministry and that God honors our obedience and diligence to reach the lost by breaking through and speaking to the core of their heart. Pray humbly that God takes our words and our actions, that are otherwise useless without Him, and speaks to their heart in ways that only He can.

We simply need to remember this:

As cliche as this is, it’s true. We need to accept and love the sinner, but not the sin. Introduce them to a God who chose to carry the weight of their sins so they no longer have to live in it. Introduce people to a love that wants to make them perfect before the throne. Contend for our faith.