have been brought to know Christ without
really facing up to their guilt and their sin.
The way we come to know Christ puts an
imprint on how we will grow in Christ. It is
very hard to build a Christian life on a
beginning without repentance.
3. Christian counseling versus cross.
Unless Christian counseling directs
people to the Cross, to death to self and to the
fullness of the Holy Spirit, we are giving them
an easy way around. It will be a temporary
solution and they'll be back in the counseling
room soon for more help, for another crutch.
A return trip to the cross is needed to show
that Christ not only died for us but that we
died with Him and that we can be delivered
from self and sin, and live the victorious life.
Counseling does not always get one back to
the cross.
bypassing it in our churches and going with
professional mediation instead of what God
has provided.
6. Self-Centered prayers versus
Corporate Public Intercession.
Thank God for small groups; they are as
old as the early church. But often in our
prayers, what is prayed about is very much
for community concerns and family concerns
and personal concerns. It is not the kind of
broad prayer that advances us in missions or
carries the Church victoriously forward in
this post-modern era.
4. Manward Homilies versus
Godward Preaching.
That is, preaching down to man versus
preaching up to God. Most people in the
congregation are interested in self needs. The
preacher knows this so he gives a little
Scripture and a little psychology. He
ministers to their felt needs and they go home
with a temporary solution that lasts a few
days. These people must be introduced to
God! They must know Him! Many in the
congregation do not know who the true God
is.
5. Professional Mediation versus
Biblical Reconciliation.
It is not uncommon in these days for a
church or denomination to be caught up in
litigation. There is a massive ignoring of 1
Corinthians 6, where Christians are
instructed not to go to law before unbelievers.
Churches and denominations, at least in
Canada, are pouring a lot of money into
professional mediation.
Do we forget that Christians have been
given the message of reconciliation and the
ministry of reconciliation? Too often we are
7. Evangelical Orthodoxy versus
Experiential Holy Spirit Encounters.
It is very easy to be evangelically
orthodox and measure up to a statement of
faith, but it is something else to lead our
people into an experience with the Holy Spirit.
He is the One who has been sent to form
Christ in us and to make us holy and godly
people. That is His assignment. We are not
making enough progress with that.
8. Kickback giving versus Kingdom
Giving.
A. B. Simpson preached a sermon one
time called “Seven Kinds of Giving.” Six kinds
he designated as being self-centered. He said
giving to the pastor's salary is not giving, for
he is serving you and your family. Giving to
the church organ is not giving, for that serves
you, and he went down the line. He said that
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