Sublime

Christians today like to play it safe. We want to put ourselves in situations where we are safe “even if there is no God.” But if we truly desire to please God, we cannot live that way. We have to do things that cost us during our life on earth but will be more than worth it in eternity.

Young people need churches that are more serious about securing souls than filling up seats. They need pastors who help them to follow Jesus as we Christians live as exiles in this world instead of putting our hope in politicians to make our culture the way it once was.

The way that this modern moral order takes shape around chosen identity makes it complicated for pastors. If the church or the pastor tries too hard to shape a person’s life, it will be a violation of the modern moral order.

Young pastors, particularly, hate when people assume that they don’t drink, swear, or watch HBO (one of the reasons hotel restaurants are filled with cigar smoking and Scotch drinking at pastors’ conferences). Now in a secular age, with its attention to authenticity, this leftover conception of politeness and manners seems restricting at best and a

What we face may be complicated, but what we do about it is simple. “Do the right thing,” Laura White told her son. “Do unto others,” a teacher told his disciples, “as you would have them do unto you.”

Should we switch things up? Try another tack? Measurable nonresults is one of the reasons so many churches tuck the gospel behind fog and lasers or adjust their teaching to the “7 Steps” busywork of moralistic therapeutic deism.

live an honorable life treat our spouse well (and respect our marriage) teach our children to be honest and reliable refrain from spoiling them

Embracing True Christianity The Need for Evangelical Self-Examination in Our Denominations and Churches