Herald the Gospel Boldly!

The Church has lost sight of the fact that they have something vitally important to say to the world. This is essentially what my daughter, Rachel shared with me from her reading of R. C. Sproul's, Defending Your Faith: An Introduction to Apologetics. Putting it that way has stuck with me, especially given the tenor of the church's demurring approach to evangelism these days. Coming at this from another generation & a different author, I am amazed at the perspicuity of D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who back in the 1960s preached a wonderful series of sermons on the book of Acts. In volume 6, Compelling Christianity, in a sermon entitled simply, "The Word," on 8:4, "Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word."  

But there are those in evangelism, according to Lloyd-Jones who seem to be afraid to declare the truth too dogmatically, who seem to imagine that there is merit in admitting that truth can come from other religions. Perhaps, they think, Christianity does not have the "corner on the market" of directing folks to heaven?! [My paraphrase] And is this not true, that today it is considered a virtue to be tolerant of all beliefs by putting them all on an equal par with the gospel? That last part is vitally important. We can be tolerant of others, but THAT DOES NOT MEAN EQUATING THEM! It's almost as if we cannot be too bold to assert that we have the truth, so we prevaricate by saying that we are pursuers of God in a manner of speaking. Lloyd-Jones sees it quite another way:

They were not looking for anything; they were telling people what they had found. They were not explorers; they were men and women who knew exactly what they had found. This is emphasized everywhere in the New Testament. A church is not a society in which you seek for truth. The church is a society that proclaims the truth, declares it, and heralds it. And if she does not do that, she is not a church, no matter how old she is or who belongs to her. The idea that a Christian is someone who is seeking for salvation or seeking the truth is an utter lie, a contradiction of the very basis of the Gospel. 

Thank you, Lord, for a daughter who's seeking the truth from a foundation of The TRUTH, and has laid her account solidly at the foot of the cross without hesitation. 

Amen!!