Monday, November 19, 2007

Confrontational Christianity

When the word "confrontational" comes up in reference to Christianity, we often think of street preachers who confront passersby with such questions, "If you died tonight would you go to heaven or hell?" Confrontation has, in many circles, come to mean a form of evangelism. Once someone is a Christian, the confrontation stops.

I believe this is backwards. We need to be non-confrontational and non-judgmental with those who are not followers of Christ. Once someone becomes a follower, then we confront them, with love and grace.

This past weekend, my wife and I were out of town for a getaway. We attended a church, where the pastor stepped on numerous toes during the message. He was stepping on the of the church members. He blasted them for gossiping. He did it in a loving and corrective way.

Too many churches seek to coddle the Christian and confront the pre-Christian. When you look at Jesus' ministry he was very confrontational with the religious elite, but with the woman caught in adultery and woman at the well he was not.

Let's confront the problems within the Church, and quit slapping each other on the back with an "I'm-okay-you're-okay." We are not okay. Each of us is a broken person who need Christ daily.

2 comments:

Roy said...

When does he start looking for a new church to lead?

bishopman said...

He has been there for 5 years. He planted the church. And, it is growing.