Time and time again, I both read and hear Christian pastors, bloggers, and concerned-filled Church-goers "caution" the Church about fulfilling one of the most significant roles of the Church - speaking the Truth found in the Bible.
The point of contention centers on hypocrisy. How can a person share what the Bible says when they themselves are failing to live out the Truth they are proposing?
Without a doubt, hypocrisy is a devastating issue, but it is a separate one.
Lets consider something...
When demons confessed that Jesus was the "Holy One of God" in Luke 4:33-36, did it make the claim untrue simply because the Truth came from untrue ones?
What makes the Word of God (Bible) the Truth is not the piety of the ones proclaiming it (the Church?), but the One whom it reveals.
I, as a preacher, have validated this by my own shortcomings. Haven't we all? Hasn't every preacher, teacher, and average-Joe-Christian shared some nugget of Truth from the Bible that has not been fully synchronized, at whatever degree, into their own personal walk with Jesus? Does our own shortcomings dilute the actual Truth?
I don't think it does. ...or at least, it doesn't have to.
I recently read a quote from a lady named Dorothy Day. You might have read the more edgy translation of it.
"The Church is a whore, but she's still my mother."
Perhaps the better approach, when broaching such topics as those surrounding the LGBT movement, Hell, recreational drug use, and abortion, is to let the Bible be the Bible and the Church be the Church.
The moment the Church, or anyone belonging to it, moves the validity of The Message from Bible to the Church, we immediately lose our center of gravity and fall over in defeat.
Share the Truth...
Disciple believers...
Love the lost...
Do not tolerate sin
Walk with Jesus...unceasingly
jb
Amen! Our weakness shows His strength when our hearts are turned toward Him. Jesus living in us - the only antidote for hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteEllen
Good points, jb. I agree with all you said (even though I have a few comments which are sorta extra).
ReplyDeleteWhat we are saying when we fail to heed your advice is that we accept ad hominem and genetic fallacy arguments as valid when we discuss truth.
But I will say that some people are correctly pointing out to others that they need to clean up their own lives. Not that the validity of what they may say changes if they are hypocrites.
And it is true that there are some areas (like church leadership) where men are expected to have had certain victory in life before they are qualified.