Humanly speaking, this is a dark time for the Christian church in this country. The sharp truth of the Bible has been replaced in many churches by a vague moralistic spirituality that enables people to believe what they want and set the rest of the Bible aside. This sort of “cultural religion” is adopted by many people in our own Lutheran churches, because they don’t make God’s word part of their lives.
It’s not surprising, then that many people are leaving the Christian church and not returning. Besides that, between the number of senior citizens and the low birth rate among Christians we are not “replacing ourselves”. And you can add to all this the fact that fewer people are turning in repentance and faith to Christ. Even the churches that are growing are doing so significantly at the expense of other churches – and at the expense of the truth of the Christian faith, for that matter.
In contrast cults like Mormonism are refining their message according to what people want to hear in order to gain numbers. Islam is making great inroads into our country through immigration, high birth rates, and zealous proclamation of their false faith.
So what should we do? Some churches water down the truth so as not to offend the unbelieving world; but what good is it to have members who still reject the truth of the Bible? Others try to cover over the truth with a change in style. But the timeless message of salvation by grace alone through faith in Christ Jesus is a universal message, and every style you choose leaves out others.
I spent two days this last week at a strategic planning session for our synod. We, after study, have concluded that we Christians tend to talk about our faith to one another, so we need to learn to engage others with Jesus. I think you know that also, and that it is something we all struggle with. Clarity of communication, friendliness, and showing true love to one another are all important, but the gospel is first and foremost, as Paul says in Romans 1:16-17 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”
It is God who builds the church through His word, and the power is His not ours. We can’t say whether the gospel will be accepted or rejected. But we can rejoice in our Savior, and make sure that others know about him, as we have the ability an opportunity to do so. After all, our great joy is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – sinners like you and me.