Where Are We Going?

In 1st Timothy 1, the apostle Paul makes a bold declaration about who He was, in contrast with what
Christ has done and who He made him to be. We can read:
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Our identification of our sin can propel us to seek identification with Christ's sacrifice.  He became sin for us, we're told in 2nd Corinthians, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. So, we have the promise of freedom, of life transformation in Him.  So no longer do we have to identify with our sin, for it has been forgiven; we now identify with the new nature - we put off the old, as Ephesians 4 teaches, so that we might walk in the new life that He promises.

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In Matthew 16, Jesus taught about the significance of His Church - His body, His bride, which is
called and designed to radiate His nature. We can read:
15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Have you ever stopped to think where the Church of the Lord Jesus is going to look like in 25 years?  How about 5 years?  It seems that, through the proliferation of media influences and the intensity with which the enemy seeks to deceive and divide, that we really need to be on our guard to uphold the timeless teachings of Scripture, even though the delivery method might have been altered.

The future of the Church is certainly in the hands of a generation known as the Millennials - and there has been much research done on the habits of this group of young adults who are now in their 20's and 30's.  As we boomers fade away, but not too dimly, we have to recognize the type of Church that we are handing over to them and take the necessary steps to ensure, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that the Church is vibrant, shining brightly the love of Christ.

And, recognize that the Church, God's true church, built on the firm foundation, the rock to which Jesus referred in Matthew 16, is an entity that He has promised to uphold.

There are influences upon the younger generation that are shaping their belief and endangering the Church's effectiveness.  I am fond of the Juicy Ecumenism blog, from the Institute on Religion and Democracy, which published an article by John Wesley Reid, who attended Biola before pursuing seminary at Liberty University.  He addresses 5 Trends Christian Millennials Must Stop Doing.

One of those trends is tolerance.  He writes:

Many millennials have it in their minds that affirming the individual means affirming their sin. This message is due in part to the poison of church progressivism, and many young Christian millennials sing the same tune. Instead of hating sin for the separation that it causes between us and God, they accept the sins of others in the name of “loving them for who they are.”

But the problem with tolerance is that when we accept people for who they WANT to be, we neglect the people that Jesus MADE them to be.

Oh, by the way, the other four, in addition to tolerance are: neglecting theology, (lack of) separation from the world, bashing the church, and declining accountability.

And, the view of millennials is being shaped by what certain thought leaders claim that they are.  For instance, there was a New Yorker article about millennial evangelicals, in which the author stated: "...many young evangelicals are more diverse, less nationalistic, and more heterodox in their views than older generations. Believing that being a Christian involves recognizing the sanctity of all human beings, they support Black Lives Matter and immigration reform, universal health care and reducing the number of abortions, rather than overturning Roe v. Wade."

It appears the author, Eliza Griswold, derived that point from a select group of people who demonstrate what she wrote.  For instance, she said that one particular interviewee is "...part of a growing trend of young Christians who view themselves as theological conservatives rather than political ones. To them, this shift marks a return to a more authentic way to follow the teachings of Jesus, without the taint of the conservative politics with which older evangelicals have imbued the text. These younger believers contend they aren’t looser in any way in their approach to scripture—in fact, they say the opposite. By following the words and actions of Jesus as revealed by God in the Bible, they believe they are being more faithful believers, eschewing worldly politics altogether."

There was a certain bent to the article, including comments by some well-known evangelical spokespersons, that young Christians are eschewing their parents' politics and somehow this new, enlightened Christianity should somehow be divorced from politics or even patriotism.  But, you have to wonder, again, jumping back to the Reid piece, if these millennials are getting the full picture - Jesus certainly taught about mercy and justice, but He also pointed out sin, confronted it, and provided an antidote to it.  So, a few observations:

There is a commitment to justice seemingly prevalent among today's millennials, or at least the analysts say that it is; but as we're seeing, it seems to come cloaked in an "even the score" package, where people are divided into have and have-nots, oppressors and oppressed, victim and victimizer.  That's why socialism, I believe, has become so appealing - it's an attempt to take down the existing power structures and rebuild a new one, predicated on redistribution of wealth: like free college, free health care, and a demonization of leadership.  A new utopian equality!!  However, as Bill Federer outlined on my program, socialism, in order to distribute the goods fairly, has to have someone at the top; that's why you see socialist or Communist regimes headed by...dictators!  But, we have drifted severely of course if we are to believe that equality of outcomes is possible - or even equality of opportunity.  After all, we live in a fallen world - and our primary concern should not be social engineering, but the engineering of the human heart and an embracing of Biblical righteousness.

The heart of the matter is the heart of the gospel: Jesus Christ came to save sinners; He died so that we might live.  If we tilt the balance toward creating a more equitable society, we are in danger of losing the Church's focus on spiritual growth.  And, if we lose the sin element, such as Reid talks about in his blog post, then tolerance becomes the mantra and sin is tolerated.  If people are accepted along with their sin, we lose the platform to talk about why Christ came.  If people are accepted, in spite of their sin, and the gospel is shared to offer freedom from sinful behavior and healing of brokenness, we can be more effective in ministering hope.