“How to Survive a Cultural Crisis”
This short article is filled with wisdom to churches and Christians who are facing the consequences of a cultural shift on same-sex marriage issues.
Here is the introduction and first point, but you really have to follow the link and read the whole thing for yourself.
Standing up for historic Christian principles will increasingly get you in trouble socially and maybe economically, perhaps one day also criminally. It’s ironic that Christians are told not to impose their views on others, even as the threat of job loss or other penalties loom over Christians for not toeing the new party line.
1. Remember that churches exist to work for supernatural change.
The whole Christian faith is based on the idea that God takes people who are spiritually dead and gives them new life. Whenever we evangelize, we are evangelizing the cemetery.
There’s never been a time or a culture when it was natural to repent of your sins. That culture doesn’t exist, it hasn’t existed, it never will exist. Christians, churches, and pastors especially must know deep in their bones that we’ve always been about a work that’s supernatural.
From that standpoint, recent cultural changes have made our job zero percent harder.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/05/28/how-to-survive-a-cultural-crisis/
“Listening to Young Atheists”
This article surprised me. And the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that the church needs to heed this wise counsel.
“Church became all about ceremony, handholding, and kumbaya,” Phil said with a look of disgust. “I missed my old youth pastor. He actually knew the Bible.”