"You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." --James 4:4
I've written before about those who proclaim that there is a "prophetic voice of the world," or as another preacher said, "God's witness to us in the culture." Such people want the Church of God to be open to supporting rebellion to the Bible, making it a lesser voice than their own subjective experiences.They silence teaching on repentance and holiness and seek to get rid of anything which makes a worldly person feel uncomfortable in our midst. Open doors and hearts, yes, but when they come in, what all should find is a congregation lifting God up and faithfully speaking His truth; calling the lost to the home they need, rather than seeking to comfort men in their fallen state.
"But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you." --1 Corinthians 14:24-26
Church is not all about seekers, however. It is the seat of corporate worship, fellowship, and engaging with the teaching of the apostles (see Acts 2:42), which was built on understanding the Gospel and the Old Testament. In a Biblically illiterate society, believers and seeker alike need good expositional preaching to understand the whole witness of scripture.
Will engagement in the teaching of sound doctrine push people away from the church? The passage above indicates that it will not, and the history of the church has affirmed time and again that those who are a faithful witness don't lack for an audience.
We need to stop fearing other people, their criticism and rejection. Instead we need to be faithful in what we teach, what we preach, and how we live. That will cost us friendship with the world, but it will make us friends of God and His children; past, present and future.
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