(SNIP)
As I’ve said many times, when I came to Grace Community Church nearly five decades ago, I expected that my ministry as a pastor would involve defending the gospel from attacks. What I didn't expect was that attacks from within the professing church would be so relentless. The assaults from within have taken many forms: the charismatic movement, the self-esteem movement, the seeker movement, the emergent movement. Virtually every doctrinal aberration and dangerous trend I’ve addressed from the pulpit over the years has been, at root, a challenge to the true gospel—a perversion of what it means to embrace Christ as Lord.
To see the result of those relentless attacks, look no further than the church's changing views on homosexuality and marriage. While the shift toward affirming homosexuality seemed to happen rapidly, it was actually the fruit of decades of shallow preaching, cultural accommodation, and theological cowardice. Bit by bit, people’s confidence has been undermined to the point that they’ve become unable or unwilling to identify sin as sin. The purity and testimony of God's people has been compromised, and one major cause is a fundamental lack of confidence in and commitment to Scripture’s gospel truth.
The true church can never rest and a faithful pastor’s work is never done. We need to constantly preach to the world and to ourselves the true gospel, and strive for greater clarity and precision—not less. By so doing, we cultivate our own spiritual growth, we protect the health of the church, and we strengthen our witness.
