February 20, 2024
As I shared last week, Rev. Scott Wade, a friend who serves as an Evangelist for the Church of the Nazarene asked me to consider what I might want to speak to the church for 2024.
Rev. Wade, host of “Casual Conversations” has broken his interview of me into two sessions, and the first of the two was released this week. You can find it by CLICKING HERE
After some extended time in the Word and prayer, seven specific thoughts came to mind that I feel might be important for the church of Jesus Christ to consider in these days. The first is this:
In a time when nearly everything is changing, the true Gospel does not (and must not) change.
The rate of change in our world is sometimes mind-bending. We hardly know how to adjust. Some of the changes are improvements, to be sure. It is nice to be able to look down at my car’s dashboard and see approximately how many miles I have left before I’ll be stranded on empty. And most of the newer cars that I rent, when flying to meet with churches and pastors, have an “adaptive cruise control” that works nicely to keep me at a safe distance from the vehicles ahead of me.
Other changes are not so welcome. I’m increasingly alarmed at the advances of artificial intelligence, and what it might mean for our future. Is this going to be one more step toward a fully automated existence that shuts down actual creativity and innovation? Will it foster even greater dependence, removing our need to truly think for ourselves? I think it might … like in the Pixar movie “Wall-e.”
And when it comes to spiritual truth, the Apostle Paul was already alarmed nearly 2000 years ago at the changes some were making to the Gospel, and the truth about Jesus Christ. He wrote this to the Galatian believers:
“I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7)
The Gospel is not changing. Methods of communication may change. Cultural differences in the world mean that the Gospel must often be contextualized to be understood and received. But please KNOW THIS - - GOD IS NOT LEARNING. He is NOT getting wiser. He is not adjusting the requirement of repentance in order to meet the needs of a more liberal, twenty-first-century mind. The offer of salvation by GRACE through genuine FAITH has not and will not change. Without Christ, our destination is set, and it includes eternal destruction. The good news is this – Jesus died so that we don’t have to continue being separated from God. The unchanging condition is repentance and faith.