If we fail to love one another in ways so striking that we actually start looking like Jesus, then the world has the right to judge that we know nothing of him. They might be wrong. We might indeed be Christians. But the world is right to dismiss unloving Christians as unchristian. Jesus himself gave them that right.

Let’s set all lesser things aside and prayerfully, before the Lord, rediscover his powerful gospel, while we still can.

What he notices, and what pleases him, is our churches’ passion for Christ crucified. But down here on earth, among people, it’s often a different story. People’s opinions of us gravitate toward two opposite extremes. And the clearer our churches are about Christ, the more polarizing we will be.

As our churches press further into gospel doctrine and gospel culture, what can we expect to see? The Lord has different plans for different churches. But the Bible encourages us to look for more conversions (Acts 6:7), more joy (Acts 8:8), more impact (Acts 19:20), more glorious outcomes. We can also expect more trouble.

This is the priceless hope given us in the Bible: “God himself will be with them as their God.

And heaven will not be singing in mass choirs up in the clouds. Heaven will consist of real people living in a real creation, freed from all evil and misery and renewed in unimaginable beauty, because the Lord will be with us.

The renewal of our churches starts deep within each of us, as we are renewed in the gospel ourselves.

The temptation of the Devil was (and is): “Don’t risk yourself on God. Trust your own instincts. Live from within yourself. You need to take control, because you cannot trust God.

“When a sinner is repentant, the elders should protect that sinner from the church. When a sinner is defiant, the elders should protect the church from that sinner.