Ask the Pastor

By Pastor Scott Denham of Harvest Fellowship, Shambaugh, IA

Clarinda Herald Journal Publication Date : 08/15/2007

The Church Challenged

            "What are the biggest challenges facing believers today?"

            The biggest challenge facing the church today is the number of so-called Christians who turn from the truthfulness of God's Word, celebrate what the Bible condemns as sin, and deny the essential tenets of biblical truth.

            Put another way, the number one challenge facing the church today is Christians who no longer believe that the Bible is true. Apart from the Bible, man has no absolute standard of truth and right and wrong. Without the Bible, truth is whatever 51% of the people believe at any given time. The Bible teaches, and reason concurs that, if we are to know what is true, God must give us an anchor in the sea of moral ambiguity. That anchor is His unchanging Word. To discredit the Bible is to remove any possibility of discovering what is right and wrong, what is the way of salvation, how we can be forgiven, and how we might receive eternal life.

            The book of Jude calls believers "to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints" (v3). The "faith" that has been "entrusted" is the teaching of the Apostles recorded for us in the New Testament. 2 John 1:9-10 says that those who do not "continue in the teaching of Christ, do not have God." The distinguishing mark of historic Christianity is that it clings to the truth of God's Word.

            It only follows, then, that those who deny the truthfulness and authority of the Bible will inevitably follow ever-changing definitions of sin and ever-changing notions of Christian doctrine. Jude describes such people as "godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord" (Jude 1:4).

            Second, when people celebrate what the Bible condemns as sin, "the grace of our God" is perverted, distorted into something God never intended. J. B. Phillip says this of the grace-changers:  "We want, in fact, not so much a Father in heaven as a grandfather in heaven—a senile benevolence who, as they say, 'liked to see young people enjoying themselves' and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, 'a good time was had by all.'" The true God is not nearly so “tolerant.” Rather, He is coming “to judge everyone, and to convict the ungodly" (Jude 1:15).

            Finally, when people reject the Scriptures, they will ultimately deny Christ. Most people believe that Christ lived among us. (Even the most hardened secular scholars accept this a it is historical fact.) But many deny His claims to be God and to be the only way of salvation. They may acknowledge Him to be a  good man, a prophet, or a moral teacher, but they have not surrendered to His Lordship nor submitted to His teaching. If we do not recognize Him as God and Master, we don’t know Him at all.

            These challenges to historic, orthodox Christianity come from those "who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit" (Jude 1:19). They may mean well, they may have impeccable academic credentials, but they are deceived by "natural" reasoning, and do not have the "Spirit" who guides believers into all truth (John  16:13) and testifies of Jesus (John15:26)—the real Jesus.

            These challenges, though very real and disheartening, will not frustrate nor alter the purposes of God. So, don't worry, just serve the Lord faithfully, and love those in opposition (2 Tim 2:23-26).  "Soon," Jesus said, He will return and set the record straight (Rev 22:12).

--Pastor Scott (www.askpastorscott.com)