Confronting A Contradiction
“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also.” Acts 17:6
It seems that our 21st Christianity is facing a contradiction. We proclaim that Jesus is Lord of all, but we seem to confine Him to our private space. We preach transformation, but pull back when that transformation disrupts public life. Do you get the idea that modern Christianity is extremely polite? Does it feel safe?
The charge against Paul and his friends was that they believed their faith was to be a very public faith. I believe that Paul knew that a silent faith was a dead faith. A private gospel was a apathetic gospel. Christianity does not turn the world upside down because it hides in the walls of the church.
Jesus declared Himself Lord not merely of hearts but of the heavens when He proclaimed, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me”. That declaration is the foundation of our public faith and the power of the gospel. Remember, Jesus is not our private Lord and our private King – He is Lord of all! If Christ is King, His authority cannot be confined to just our inner life, but to the public square!
As we are learning in our Sunday morning series, the 1st century church was unstoppable with it’s power and undeniable with the truth of the gospel. And those early believers knew that a Christianity in the closet was only good for the moths!
Silent saints do not make the Church loving and caring – they make it irrelevant. If Christianity is true, it must be spoken in the sanctuary just as much as it must be shared in the marketplace. If Jesus is Lord, He must be proclaimed in every town in every nation! The gospel of Christ saves in public as much as it saves in private!
Paul’s faith in a living Christ turned the 1st century world upside down refusing to accept the boundaries that the pagan culture tried to draw around it. Paul’s foundation in the resurrection of Jesus Christ turned his message from a whisper into a shout that is still heard around the world! The church that whispers it’s message has lifeless worship. A church that shouts its faith is publicly unstoppable.
God bless you,
Pastor Dave
It seems that our 21st Christianity is facing a contradiction. We proclaim that Jesus is Lord of all, but we seem to confine Him to our private space. We preach transformation, but pull back when that transformation disrupts public life. Do you get the idea that modern Christianity is extremely polite? Does it feel safe?
The charge against Paul and his friends was that they believed their faith was to be a very public faith. I believe that Paul knew that a silent faith was a dead faith. A private gospel was a apathetic gospel. Christianity does not turn the world upside down because it hides in the walls of the church.
Jesus declared Himself Lord not merely of hearts but of the heavens when He proclaimed, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me”. That declaration is the foundation of our public faith and the power of the gospel. Remember, Jesus is not our private Lord and our private King – He is Lord of all! If Christ is King, His authority cannot be confined to just our inner life, but to the public square!
As we are learning in our Sunday morning series, the 1st century church was unstoppable with it’s power and undeniable with the truth of the gospel. And those early believers knew that a Christianity in the closet was only good for the moths!
Silent saints do not make the Church loving and caring – they make it irrelevant. If Christianity is true, it must be spoken in the sanctuary just as much as it must be shared in the marketplace. If Jesus is Lord, He must be proclaimed in every town in every nation! The gospel of Christ saves in public as much as it saves in private!
Paul’s faith in a living Christ turned the 1st century world upside down refusing to accept the boundaries that the pagan culture tried to draw around it. Paul’s foundation in the resurrection of Jesus Christ turned his message from a whisper into a shout that is still heard around the world! The church that whispers it’s message has lifeless worship. A church that shouts its faith is publicly unstoppable.
God bless you,
Pastor Dave
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