Awakening

We need God's discernment and His compassion to be released in our lives, active and centered on Christ and His instruction. In the book of Jude, we can read:
2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have to make sure that the gospel is recognizable in and through us...that what we believe is evident in our lives, and that our faith is based on the clear instruction of Scripture, not human understanding.  The words of the serpent in the Garden, "Did God really say...?" are watchwords for many in our world today, as they challenge Christian orthodoxy, rooted in the Scriptures.  We have to guard against so-called "progressive" teaching that embraces an "anything goes" mentality and attempts to silence those who disagree.

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In 1st Thessalonians 2, we see a passage in which Paul extols the Scriptures as the word of truth, the word of God:
10 You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe;
11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children,
12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
13 For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.

After attending a National Religious Broadcasters convention, certainly there is much to process.  It is a time for many to receive training and exhortation, practical tools to be better communicators of the gospel.  For others, it is a time for encouragement, to be built up in the faith.

My NRB experience for years has been to hear firsthand from Christian communicators, whether they be authors or musical artists, commentators or actors.  And, I believe that one of the threads upon which I was able to explore this year was the conflict between the true gospel and "another gospel." I discussed this with Nick Hall of the Pulse Movement, especially as it applies to the Millennial generation, in a conversation heard last Thursday on The Meeting House.  Still to come, you'll hear from Billy Graham's granddaughter, Cissie Graham Lynch, as we discussed this new thread of tolerance which is, as I see it, a misapplication of the truth of the Scriptures.  Millennial commentator Nick Pitts of the Denison Forum also discussed some of the mindsets that are present within the young adult generation.

This clash of cultures was present at the NRB Convention, as a protest - a "vigil," if you will, was brought to the Marriott World Center, where the convention was taking place.  A group called Soulforce, which had disrupted a session with Rick Warren last year, had organized a protest, complete with an altar and homemade "doves" that were sent in from all over the country.  This is a group that purports to counter Christians they deem to be hateful by being loving and tolerant.  There were arrests, and there was a mischaracterization of the mission of NRB.  A press release by the group stated:

The NRB conference brings together several thousand Christian communicators and the businesses, like Facebook, that cater to them to discuss messaging strategies, media deregulation, and “religious liberty.”

The latter is a catch-all phrase for the anti-LGBTQI, Islamophobic, and anti-Woman rhetoric that the organization and its members espouse in countries around the world.

So, how did the intolerant "haters" from NRB respond?  By joining together in prayer for the families of the victims of the Pulse nightclub terror attack in Orlando.  A press release quoted NRB President Jerry Johnson:

“When we made the decision several years ago to hold our convention in Orlando, we couldn’t know that ‘The City Beautiful’ would have been so accosted just eight months prior to our arrival. But it’s fitting and proper that we begin our convention in Orlando with a time of reflection and prayer for the victims of this massacre, as well as for our government as it seeks to protect citizens from the evil of terrorism, both at home and abroad.

He continued:

“As image-bearers of God, every person slain and harmed is a precious soul to God, each worthy of dignity and respect. We weep with those whose friends or family members have been taken from them, for those who have been injured, and for families who will never be the same.

As Christian worship leader and author Paul Wilbur described it in an NRB interview, there is certainly a tension between kingdoms on this earth.  I believe there is a "gospel," really a philosophy that is seemingly predicated on faith, love, and tolerance but is intolerant of those who disagree with it.  A few months ago, Michael Anthony of Godfactor.com put it this way:

There’s a breed of revisionist Christ-follower making the rounds on social media these days. They are not at all selfless. They are selfish and self-serving. In the name of love, they hate. In the name of tolerance, they are intolerant. Meet the progressive “Christian,” the man or woman masquerading as a follower of Jesus Christ. They are walking contradictions, not living sacrifices.

In the name of progress, progressive “Christians” have regressed – and they want you and throngs of the orthodox to follow them in their downward spiral of moral, theological and social decay. They defend killing the unborn (abortion), and embrace biblically alternate views of God, heaven and hell, gender redefinition and more. Pay attention, because they are not merely after you, but also your children...

They call themselves "progressive," but they actually are "regressive," as Anthony suggests. This hearkens back to that moment in the Garden when the serpent came to Eve and asked, "Did God really say...?"  Nothing new under the sun, indeed.

We certainly need spiritual awakening.  The conflict is real, but the gospel is true.  We have to make sure that this regressive stream of teachings has not permeated our own thinking.  We have to examine our personal convictions and make sure that we are in line with the Scriptures.

And, while we can be challenged to be uncompromising, yet we can still be compassionate.  In our devotion to Scripture, we still have the responsibility to view people, even those with whom we disagree, through the eyes of Jesus.

Finally, we can continue to be bold to speak and live out our faith.  That may put you in a position where people will try to silence you.  I think of former Atlanta fire chief Kelvin Cochran, who wrote a book about God's view of sexuality and ultimately lost his job, or Minnesota filmmaker Carl Larsen, who wants to uphold a Biblical view of marriage in his films, but state law demands that he present "other" viewpoints.  You will hear from these gentlemen later this week on The Meeting House from NRB.   We have to be people of discernment and of uncompromising devotion in order to navigate these challenging times.