Contending for the Gospel

I just read through this article on CNN a minute ago.

Basically, the Episcopal Church has decided to proactively move forward in “regularizing the status of gays and lesbians within the church”.

Not a big shocker.

That’s not really what this post is about.

What was a shocker to me was a line toward the bottom of the article.

“It is bringing the church’s position in line with civil society’s.”

I am saddened by the fact that churches across the world are going back to the drawing board, if you will, and rewriting truth in order to “bring the church’s position more in line with civil society”.

Somewhere along the way we have lost sight of the fact that Christ has called us to be holy and distinct. Mocked by the world.

We are to be different than the Rotary Club.

Inclusion is not our goal with this thing.

Holiness is.

But, before we just stop here and go to bed tonight thinking how much we disdain the Episcopal Church, we really need to take this a step further and go to the heart of the issue.

Like I said before, I’m not that shocked that the church is working toward inclusiveness of homosexuals. I don’t agree with it… but, I’m not shocked.

What I’m really worried about are the thousands of other churches that, although are refusing to gloss over the sin of homosexuality, are lining themselves up with “civil society’s” position on a number of other things.

Let’s bring this home to us (mainstream/Bible-contending Christians).

Where are we revamping things in the name of contextualization or in order to reach more with the gospel? … or just not look wierd in the world’s eyes?

There is such a fine line there… mind you, I’m not saying I know exactly where that line resides. But, I do think that we need to be careful. We need to adequately fear the Lord and his perfect ways more than we do man.

We also need to be reminded that, in all things, Christ did not establish His church to be in line with civil society… He established her to be a beacon of hope. A light that offers a better way than what our febel and broken minds can conjure up for ourselves. A standard of truth that is to be preserved for generations, so we can aways come back to what is right. A reminder that, left on our own, we will always screw things up and follow our bent toward sin, selfishness and destruction.

The church was meant to show a world that is looking for something to fill the eternal gap in their hearts where true life is found… it was not meant to adapt to whatever inherently-sinful people think is best practice for their day and age.