Churches Who Duel
Oct 03
Some churches out there aren’t willing to engage or confront the world/culture. Others take up the challenge. Those who refuse to do so are becoming increasingly irrelevant.
For those who take up the challenge, I offer a metaphor. Imagine going into a duel…would you want to have a weapon (sword, gun, whatever) that is superior to your enemy or inferior? Would you want to have shielding that is superior to your enemy or inferior?
David was encouraged to take up the king’s armor (trying in vain to compete with his enemy) in his seemingly despairing and desperate fight against a looming giant. The odds were against him. Anything would be better than nothing.
Churches today seem desperate to find weapons/shielding that can compete with what the world offers–in the effort to be superior. Yet David refuses these gifts/tools, because they seemed to actually limit his abilities, and chooses to use what he knows best.
With God on our side, why do churches feel the need to spend millions of dollars on buildings, programs, staff, interior design, sound systems, etc.? Not that any of these things are inherently bad, but could it be that these may be similar to Saul’s armor? Have we lost faith in God?
I applaud churches who take up the challenge of engaging/confronting this world/culture. My question is–what are we relying on in the fight? Is there a more powerful tool than God’s Word? What about agape love? And what about the power of the Holy Spirit? And how far might personal integrity go towards earning validity in the world’s eyes? These things may seem inferior to what the world offers…but with faith in God, the sky is the limit. Yes, it may look like simply a slingshot and five stones. But surprise!
When you talk about engaging and confronting are there examples that you are thinking about?
I have been given quite a bit of thought to church relevance in modern culture and I have to say the balance is pretty difficult. If the church becomes irrelevant it will be ineffective, if it becomes too affected by culture then it will fall to whatever the sins of that era are. “In the world but not of it,” and, “Wise as snakes but innocent as doves,” is a very high order.