As soon as we Christians begin witnessing the love of Christ
to some of the lost and come against the cults, we hear "you are hate-mongers!"
etc.
Hate? Not a chance! That's ridiculous ...for it
takes LOVE to:
* insist that conversion changes lives in a day when
"easy-believism" prevails.
* preach repentance in a day when "disciplining
unbelievers into gradual commitment" is the more popular approach.
* tell some church folks they are not saved in a day when
other evangelical churches will flatter them with affirmation in their
unbelief.
* caution church members about the dangerous effects of TV,
movies, video and cable in a day when it is no longer acceptable to "preach on
things."
* warn people about the wrathful side of God which hates
sin and includes judgment and hell, in a day when it's only the tender, soft,
Santa Claus side of God which is accepted and believed in - the "half-God" so
popular with the masses.
* preach Christ and Him crucified and the simple "raw
gospel" to people in a day when they can get an uplifting, nice, feel-good, pop
psychology from the smooth talking "communicator" down the street.
* so design the church meetings and services so as to
meet the actual deepest needs of men and women in a day when the accepted fad is
to concentrate primarily on "felt" needs rather than REAL need.
* elevate the sacraments to a means of grace in a day when the
sacred is trivialized and the holy is treated lightly.
* expose what the Bible calls sin in a day when the only
sin is "intolerance" or calling sin SIN!
* expect converted people to abandon their
self-centeredness (i.e. "I have a mind, I can think and do for myself lie of
satan); begin attending church more than one hour a week and raise their level
of commitment in a day when privatized and optionalized religion is the
norm.
* issue decisive calls for decision in a day when it is
difficult to get seekers to look up and give you a furtive glance as their sign
of a need of confession.
* insist that the Bible be the primary book of study in
the Sunday School and small groups in a day when interest-driven studies are in
popular demand.
* to teach separation from and non-conformity with the
world in a day when the vast majority of evangelicals have fallen headlong in
love with modernity.
* to determine to do what is right and say what is true
in a day of pragmatism, when doing what works and saying
what is popular are the route to both fame and money.
* teach that people are to stop sinning when they are
converted in a day of understanding, tolerance, therapeutic preaching, smoothing
over sin and general "Phil Donahuism."
* preach holiness and entire sanctification in a day
when all people really want is help, encouragement and a "feel-good experience"
in worship.
* teach and preach of a majestic, holy, all-powerful,
sin-hating, transcendent God in a day when most religious consumers want a
nearby, immanent God who simply help them become self-actualized, holistic,
successful human beings.
Hate? Absolutely not. It is a vast love of mankind
that makes the true man or woman of God stand up and be counted in today's
fly-by-night, do-it-myself-without-God, ridiculous attitude toward
holiness. It's LOVE, not hate, that says "you are bound for hell without
Jesus Christ in your life."
