The "Confessing Church"

There seems to be a new fad among those who are "reinventing church," mainly that of "apologizing to the culture for being the church," writes Paul Edwards (WLQV Detroit, posted at crosswalk.com/pastors/11583323).

Apparently, the church needs to apologize for:

...being hypocritical (this coming from those who watch wrestling on a regular basis and think hypocrisy is limited to the church);

...being intolerant (teaching that homosexually is sinful, the orthodox position of the historical church for over 1,600 years);

...condoning slavery (even though the Underground Railroad was started by Christians, of whom are my ancestors, at great peril to their physical being).

...ordering the Crusades (no one talks about the Crusades centuries earlier that slaughtered millions of Christians, Jews, and non-believers and enslaved the Holy Land);

...being ignorant in insisting that the world was created in defiance of so-called science that insists upon Darwinian Evolution (not realizing that the theory of Evolution has never been proved, that transitional fossils that Darwin said would validate his theory have never been discovered, and not one shred of proof supporting Evolution has ever been put forth).

Edwards writes, "...a dozen or more churches across the country that have discovered the latest fad sure to increase your worship attendance created by the psychologically-driven church growth movement: be sorry — be very sorry — for preaching a gospel that rubs the culture the wrong way." He goes on to write, "...most of these so-called “sins” are nothing more than liberal media stereotypes of conservative, evangelical, gospel-preaching churches whose real sin is offending the sensitivities of the culture by maintaining their faithfulness to the Word of God." Well said.

It is true that there are hypocrites in the church - no one denies that. But what about hypocrites in government, business, the stock market (what a reminder we got just recently!), banks - you name it, there are hypocrites everywhere. So why is it that just the ones in the church are constantly pointed out?

It is true that many Christians have reacted poorly to the sin of homosexuality, treating homosexuals poorly.

It is true that slavery was a dark spot on the canvas of this great nation. What has been done cannot be undone, and even today the descendants of slavery still suffer.

It is also true that the Crusades were ordered in order to clear a path to the Holy Land for Christians to go and worship; and that history has been grossly exaggerated by those who despise Christianity for the purpose of condemning all Christians and the Christian faith.

So what shall we do? Water down the truth in order not to offend? Or do we continue to declare the truth even though there are those who do not want to hear and will be offended?

Edwards writes, "Our mandate is to preach the Word, not waste our time apologizing for it to a self-obsessed culture under the guise of “humble orthodoxy.”"

He is right. While I do not seek to offend anyone, I will not apologize for telling you the truth even if it does offend you.