May I dare to say that a church is only as good as the persons who are in them? Would you agree that a church cannot rise any higher than the level of leadership and membership? The truth of the gospel is the same but human the element often disappoints us. Let us take seriously our responsibility toward holy living. If what we believe and present to the world is indeed the truth that will set mankind free, let’s not contradict Christ’s life in the way that we live. God doesn’t normally bless even His own truth when it is held with a bad conscience and with an unrighteous life. Good doctrine with bad living doesn’t lead to the spread of Christianity but to a society which is increasingly skeptical and who will eventually become haters of truth.
We used to live in a predominately “Christian” nation – I think it’s clear that when we discarded the Biblical (Puritan) notion of godly living as evidence of a redeemed life we gave up the power of our witness. What’s this witness? Redeemed Christians, by God’s grace, have a desire for holy living. A desire that transcends mere pretense and works its way deep into our lives. This desire is a gift from God and is worked out through the process of sanctification. But this progress is subject to a daily choice to participate in the Christian disciplines. In other words our progress is proportional to the effort we put into Bible study, prayer & meditation, Christian fellowship, and sharing our faith.
We should take care not to fall into a self-righteous inspection of the lives of other churches and believers. But it should sadden us to see other believers fall into sin, as we can clearly see the cause of Christ brought into shame.
On the brighter side, lets remember that if the power in our testimony comes from our purity, then it follows that victory doesn’t come to the strong nor to the especially gifted. It comes from ordinary men & women who take seriously the claim of truth upon themselves and their churches. Truth has a way of transforming the ordinary mind and the average tongue into instruments of power for God. What is needed is a people who have a deep personal knowledge of God, who submit to His will and conformity to the mind of Christ, and who cultivate a holy desire to do something to challenge our decadent and indifferent society.
