When the Church (Ekklesia) was being planted in Gentile territories in the 1st century, they quickly realized they were having to deal with issues that had long since been settled in the Jewish world of Israel—prostitution worship, emperor worship, allegiance to the government, paying taxes, polytheism, animism, child sacrifice, and many, many, many more issues.
The issues today are not all the same, of course, but amazingly, most the core concerns of the historical church are the same core concerns we face today. Just in a quick summary of what is in the news right now (you should be well aware of the conflicts, unless you truly have buried your head in the sand):
- Sex conduct and sexuality issues of all kinds
- Abortion
- Politics/government and Christian involvement (or not)
- Immigration controversies
- Racial conflicts
- Government control and role
- Environment concerns
…just to rattle off a few.
This Sunday, July 24, I am beginning a new series of messages for the rest of summer about how the Body of Christ navigates the confusion of messaging and lifestyles lived out in our world, and how we as the Body of Christ navigate these waters. On Sunday morning, I will lead us in an introductory time in order to lay out a framework of how to deal with EVERY issue that we face.
These are often dangerous waters to swim through, but we as the Body of Christ must take a good look at them. I am not totally sure how many issues we will get through over the remainder of the summer, but we will at least launch into some of them. They can be and often are troubling, divisive, confusing, frustrating, and even overwhelming. But our primary task is to take the gospel to the world. We will work at figuring out how to do this in a biblical, gospel-presenting, God-honoring way.
See you Sunday!
