A Critique of the Emergent Church

The emergent church has gained traction over the past two decades.  I see it as a missional response to our post-modern society, where truth basically is said to be unknowable - aka postmodernism. Some churches have adapted to this culture in an attempt to be relevant.  Taking a non dogmatic relational approach they seek to engage with society.  To an extant, it works.  Crowds are drawn, mega churches are born and  preachers become celebrities.  I see the movements purpose, but I fear it over compensates one extreme to the detriment of the other.  My father always told me, wisdom is in the middle way - in balance, in moderation.  I really think that is Gods method.  An overemphasis on a truth or underemphasis is just as incorrect as a lie.  Its a distortion of the truth.  We should seek truth in its right proportions and to deliver that truth accordingly.
 

We can see two faces in the church.  One face is the traditional, those that sing hymns and focus on holiness, those who are conservative, who generally take scripture at face value.  The other face are the liberals,  those who think scripture is primarily a metaphor, who generally are more morally lax but more socially active - in the sense of social justice, such as ending poverty and the like. The liberals may deny the foundations of the faith, like Jesus' resurrection, virgin birth etc. At which point, it is safe to say they cease being 'christian' and begin being a person simply morally inspired by the bible.  Of course there are 20 thousand shades of grey between these two faces but that is the reality.

I see the emergent church as liberal leaning in ideology. Its focus is purposefully ambiguous so as to inspire but never confront or challenge.  This is something I struggle with comprehending.  Personally I feel like a judgmental stereotypical 'conservative' saying that. When I hear the names of emergent leaders anger kindles in my heart.  Why?  Because I feel the truth is being distorted and maligned.  People are taught that the bible wasn't addressed to you so there really is no way it is knowable to you personally. Most just wink at this though.  I sincerely ask myself - am I just conceited?  Am I just full of pride and want to feel superior so I critique?  I don't believe so.  I just value truth and see the movement as an enemy of the truth.  The aposlte warned of a time when people would heap teachers up for themselves to be taught what they wanted to be taught not truth.

I believe the church should be culturally relevant - with modern worship, understandable biblical translations (though still literal interpretations). I believe the theology taught and messages preached should not merely be biblically inspired but saturated with scripture - not cliche feel good motivational messages irrelevant to the text, but explanations of a chapter.  It seems as though its one or the other.  Either it is saturated with scripture, holiness is encouraged but the church is so bland and disconnected from society or the church is so blended with society you cant tell the difference between the church and the world.  Scripture is never quoted, but its a cool scene with nice friendly people seeking social justice. What I don't get with the latter is that you don't need to be a christian to do any of that.  Plenty of my secular friends are really cool, friendly and seek social justice too.  As I write this I am currently disillusioned with churches for the reasons listed and don't attend one.  I realize I should but its hard searching for a good one.  One that is both relevant and faithful to scripture.

So why can't I return to my old church?  I have many friends there.  I may have fought with a pastor but I've moved on.  That said I believe the reasons that I left - the root problems of many emergent churches are completely unaddressed and I believe I would just walk out every Sunday frustrated with the lack of scripture actually taught.  Here's a question...is it pivotal that a good amount of scripture is taught on a Sunday?  Am I just nitpicking at a minor problem?  Or is this reason enough to have left?  It is a very subjective question.  Personally I am of the opinion the primary purpose of an organized church is the proclamation of the gospel and teaching the word of God.  To others its 'being' the church and building relationships. Of course its both, and you cant have one without the other.  But if I believe the bible isn't proclaimed and the word is barely taught - what is the point of building relationships?  Some say to talk about scripture - and that happens sometimes yes, but the controversial issues people avoid.  The very issues that need to be talked about are frequently swept under the rug.  People want low key, entertainment oriented relationships - they don't want to be dragged into theological and philosophical discussion.  Politics and religion are the taboo subjects of our society - polite company will never bring these issues up to be discussed.  How ever so draining it is to be the token spiritual guy to constantly be bringing these topics up too.  That is why preaching these messages and addressing these topics from the pulpit is ideal.  People wont be surprised - its one of the prime reasons a pastor exists - to preach the word.

And there in lies the problem, the pulpit wont discuss issues and hard scriptures nor will friendships.  What about Jesus' prohibition on divorce and remarriage - that never is talked about nor ever will be, for fear of offending someone. Divorce occurred enough in Jesus' day too.  It was legal.  And Jesus raised the bar and said don't do it.  What about lust with the eyes - an even more common one.  Bringing these issues up sharpens us, warns us, rebukes us.  So many topics are taboo to discuss in churches and in society.  Why?  because social unity is valued above proclamation of the truth.  As someone once said to me when commenting on the emergent churches massive focus on social justice with minimal gospel preaching: "the emergent churches mission is to make people more comfortable on their way to hell".  Which is the truth.  What are riches when they turn to ash when you die and descend into hell not knowing Christ and never being taught the gospel?  Jesus said to some poor people "Do not work for the food that spoils [or perishes], but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." (John 6:27 NIV).

The church exists to proclaim the way of salvation, our reconciliation with God through trusting in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus for our sins. In Him is our righteousness found, our hope for eternal life, the works we do here on earth profit nothing, law keeping, alms giving etc.  These we do for love for Him who gave His life for us.  Social justice is the fruit of salvation - it isn't salvation.  Nor is mere church membership.  That's for another post though.  To be in relationship with Christ is eternal life.

On Happiness and Truth - Excerpts from Augustine

Only a few people will probably appreciate or relate to the following excerpts. These citations struck a chord in me and anyone who has lived has experienced life's feeling of vanity and pointlessness at sometime in their life...especially if they ever have just stopped to contemplate it.  To think this man died 1700 years ago yet his experiences are so commonly felt.  Life never really changes.  His thoughts are on the pursuit of both truth and happiness in life.  Always pursuing but never attaining.

Augustine's " Confessions"
Book 6  - Seeking Truth 
CHAPTER XI - Frustrated and Aimless
18. And I especially puzzled and wondered when I remembered how long a time had passed since my nineteenth year, in which I had first fallen in love with wisdom and had determined as soon as I could find her to abandon the empty hopes and mad delusions of vain desires. Behold, I was now getting close to thirty, still stuck fast in the same mire, still greedy of enjoying present goods which fly away and distract me; and I was still saying, “Tomorrow I shall discover it; behold, it will become plain, and I shall see it; behold, Faustus will come and explain everything.” Or I would say Here begins a long soliloquy which sums up his turmoil over the past decade and his present plight of confusion and indecision.”O you mighty Academics, is there no certainty that man can grasp for the guidance of his life? No, let us search the more diligently, and let us not despair. See, the things in the Church’s books that appeared so absurd to us before do not appear so now, and may be otherwise and honestly interpreted. I will set my feet upon that step where, as a child, my parents placed me, until the clear truth is discovered. But where and when shall it be sought? Ambrose has no leisure--we have no leisure to read. Where are we to find the books? How or where could I get hold of them? From whom could I borrow them? Let me set a schedule for my days and set apart certain hours for the health of the soul. A great hope has risen up in us, because the Catholic faith does not teach what we thought it did, and vainly accused it of. Its teachers hold it as an abomination to believe that God is limited by the form of a human body. And do I doubt that I should ‘knock’ in order for the rest also to be ‘opened’ unto me? My pupils take up the morning hours; what am I doing with the rest of the day? Why not do this? But, then, when am I to visit my influential friends, whose favors I need? When am I to prepare the orations that I sell to the class? When would I get some recreation and relax my mind from the strain of work?

19. “Perish everything and let us dismiss these idle triflings. Let me devote myself solely to the search for truth. This life is unhappy, death uncertain. If it comes upon me suddenly, in what state shall I go hence and where shall I learn what here I have neglected? Should I not indeed suffer the punishment of my negligence here? But suppose death cuts off and finishes all care and feeling. This too is a question that calls for inquiry. God forbid that it should be so. It is not without reason, it is not in vain, that the stately authority of the Christian faith has spread over the entire world, and God would never have done such great things for us if the life of the soul perished with the death of the body. Why, therefore, do I delay in abandoning my hopes of this world and giving myself wholly to seek after God and the blessed life?
“But wait a moment. This life also is pleasant, and it has a sweetness of its own, not at all negligible. We must not abandon it lightly, for it would be shameful to lapse back into it again. See now, it is important to gain some post of honor. And what more should I desire? I have crowds of influential friends, if nothing else; and, if I push my claims, a governorship may be offered me, and a wife with some money, so that she would not be an added expense. This would be the height of my desire. Many men, who are great and worthy of imitation, have combined the pursuit of wisdom with a marriage life.”
20. While I talked about these things, and the winds of opinions veered about and tossed my heart hither and thither, time was slipping away. I delayed my conversion to the Lord; I postponed from day to day the life in thee, but I could not postpone the daily death in myself. I was enamored of a happy life, but I still feared to seek it in its own abode, and so I fled from it while I sought it. I thought I should be miserable if I were deprived of the embraces of a woman, and I never gave a thought to the medicine that thy mercy has provided for the healing of that infirmity, for I had never tried it. As for continence, I imagined that it depended on one’s own strength, though I found no such strength in myself, for in my folly I knew not what is written, “None can be continent unless thou dost grant it.”168168   Cf. Wis. 8:21 (LXX). Certainly thou wouldst have given it, if I had beseeched thy ears with heartfelt groaning, and if I had cast my care upon thee with firm faith.

----

CHAPTER VI - Lessons From a Drunken Beggar
9. I was still eagerly aspiring to honors, money, and matrimony; but You mocked me. In pursuit of these ambitions I endured the most bitter hardships, in which you were being all the more gracious the less you would allow anything that was not you to grow sweet to me. Look into my heart, O Lord, whose prompting it is that I should recall all this, and confess it to you. Now let my soul cleave to you, now that you have freed me from that fast-sticking glue of death.
How wretched I was! And you did irritate my sore wound so that I might forsake all else and turn to you--who are above all and without whom all things would be nothing at all--so that I should be converted and healed. How wretched I was at that time, and how you did deal with me so as to make me aware of my wretchedness, I recall from the incident of the day on which I was preparing to recite a panegyric on the emperor. In it I was to deliver many a lie, and the lying was to be applauded by those who knew I was lying. My heart was agitated with this sense of guilt and it seethed with the fever of my uneasiness. For, while walking along one of the streets of Milan, I saw a poor beggar--with what I believe was a full belly--joking and hilarious. And I sighed and spoke to the friends around me of the many sorrows that flowed from our madness, because in spite of all our exertions--such as those I was then laboring in, dragging the burden of my unhappiness under the spur of ambition, and, by dragging it, increasing it at the same time--still and all we aimed only to attain that very happiness which this beggar had reached before us; and there was a grim chance that we should never attain it! For what he had obtained through a few coins, got by his begging, I was still scheming for by many a wretched and tortuous turning--namely, the joy of a passing felicity. He had not, indeed, gained true joy, but, at the same time, with all my ambitions, I was seeking one still more untrue. Anyhow, he was now joyous and I was anxious. He was free from care, and I was full of alarms.

Seeking True Happiness

Now, if anyone should inquire of me whether I should prefer to be merry or anxious, I would reply, “Merry.” Again, if I had been asked whether I should prefer to be as he was or as I myself then was, I would have chosen to be myself; though I was beset with cares and alarms. But would not this have been a false choice? Was the contrast valid? Actually, I ought not to prefer myself to him because I happened to be more learned than he was; for I got no great pleasure from my learning, but sought, rather, to please men by its exhibition--and this not to instruct, but only to please. Thus you did break my bones with the rod of your correction.
10. Let my soul take its leave of those who say: “It makes a difference as to the object from which a man derives his joy. The beggar rejoiced in drunkenness; you longed to rejoice in glory.” What glory, O Lord? The kind that is not in thee, for, just as his was no true joy, so was mine no true glory; but it turned my head all the more. He would get over his drunkenness that same night, but I had slept with mine many a night and risen again with it, and was to sleep again and rise again with it, I know not how many times. It does indeed make a difference as to the object from which a man’s joy is gained. I know this is so, and I know that the joy of a faithful hope is incomparably beyond such vanity. Yet, at the same time, this beggar was beyond me, for he truly was the happier man--not only because he was thoroughly steeped in his mirth while I was torn to pieces with my cares, but because he had gotten his wine by giving good wishes to the passers-by while I was following after the ambition of my pride by lying. Much to this effect I said to my good companions, and I saw how readily they reacted pretty much as I did. Thus I found that it went ill with me; and I fretted, and doubled that very ill. And if any prosperity smiled upon me, I loathed to seize it, for almost before I could grasp it, it would fly away.

Taken From Book 6 - Seeking Truth , chapters 11 and 6, "The Confessions of St. Augustine" - by Augustine

He concludes extensively in  book 10 that the happy life is one lived in the truth.  Therefore God Himself is the source of true happiness. Heres an excerpt:

Book 10 - Probing the Depths of Self
Chapter23 - The Quest for Happiness Leads to Truth
33. Is it, then, uncertain that all men wish to be happy, since those who do not wish to find their joy in thee--which is alone the happy life--do not actually desire the happy life? Or, is it rather that all desire this, but because “the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh,” so that they “prevent you from doing what you would,”342342   Gal. 5:17. you fall to doing what you are able to do and are content with that. For you do not want to do what you cannot do urgently enough to make you able to do it.
Now I ask all men whether they would rather rejoice in truth or in falsehood. They will no more hesitate to answer, “In truth,” than to say that they wish to be happy. For a happy life is joy in the truth. Yet this is joy in thee, who art the Truth, O God my Light, “the health of my countenance and my God. All wish for this happy life; all wish for this life which is the only happy one: joy in the truth is what all men wish.
I have had experience with many who wished to deceive, but not one who wished to be deceived. Where, then, did they ever know about this happy life, except where they knew also what the truth is? For they love it, too, since they are not willing to be deceived. And when they love the happy life, which is nothing else but joy in the truth, then certainly they also love the truth. And yet they would not love it if there were not some knowledge of it in the memory.

Men Hate the Truth

Why, then, do they not rejoice in it? Why are they not happy? Because they are so fully preoccupied with other things which do more to make them miserable than those which would make them happy, which they remember so little about. Yet there is a little light in men. Let them walk--let them walk in it, lest the darkness overtake them.
34. Why, then, does truth generate hatred, and why does thy servant who preaches the truth come to be an enemy to them who also love the happy life, which is nothing else than joy in the truth--unless it be that truth is loved in such a way that those who love something else besides her wish that to be the truth which they do love. Since they are unwilling to be deceived, they are unwilling to be convinced that they have been deceived. Therefore, they hate the truth for the sake of whatever it is that they love in place of the truth. They love truth when she shines on them; and hate her when she rebukes them. And since they are not willing to be deceived, but do wish to deceive, they love truth when she reveals herself and hate her when she reveals them. On this account, she will so repay them that those who are unwilling to be exposed by her she will indeed expose against their will, and yet will not disclose herself to them.
Thus, thus, truly thus: the human mind so blind and sick, so base and ill-mannered, desires to lie hidden, but does not wish that anything should be hidden from it. And yet the opposite is what happens--the mind itself is not hidden from the truth, but the truth is hidden from it. Yet even so, for all its wretchedness, it still prefers to rejoice in truth rather than in known falsehoods. It will, then, be happy only when without other distractions it comes to rejoice in that single Truth through which all things else are true.

I found this convicting. I see myself in the subject of his writing.  In fact I find his book convicting. Hard hitting words. The inner journey of a mans pursuit of happiness...something we all seek yet few attain, and if they do its fleeting. He found a constant source of it....joy in truth, joy in God.  Yet as he states, men hate truth and to pursue God , to pursue actual solid happiness in God inevitably leads to a marginalized life in a minority going against the grain causing friction...which is a major source of misery in itself. Catch 22 I guess.

Salvation by Faith Shown in Scripture

I love these four passages, they explain salvation by grace in such a blunt way. The reception of a righteousness totally separate from our works...that is to receive Christs righteousness as our own through faith in His work on the cross, enabling us to enter heaven. (This principle is explained further in Romans 4).

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. - Philippians 3:8-9
---
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil....35 The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. 36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” - John 3:16-19 & 35-36 ...8That is, the word of faith which we preach: 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”[f] 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. - Romans 10:2-4&8-10
---
"21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law." - Romans 3:21-31

Live Life

Desire much, fear little. Take calculated risks. Let the threat of pain amplify the thrill and subsequent enjoyment of success rather than succumbing to the crippling paralysis of inaction. Fear choking your existence as you wilt away in apathy or trepidation accomplishing nothing. Embrace pain, run toward it, fear will diminish. If you fail, adapt, adjust, evolve - repeat. Tenacity. With enough patience you can attain or achieve anything. Resolutely fearless, take life by the horns and ride it into the ground. Engage. If not fear will keep you small. Shatter expectations, spurn the status quo, forge your own path. Surround yourself with ambitious and optimistic people.

"It is a miserable state of mind to have few things to desire and many things to fear." – Fracis Bacon

Musings on Life

In the spectrum of human emotion, excepting love, anger is the most powerful of human emotions. It drowns all fear, focuses power and gives motivation matched only by love. It has over thrown tyrants, defended the weak and punished those that abuse others.

Love (for victims) necessitates justice, ie jail, fines, physical pain and even Hell at the universal divine level.

Justice is nothing but communal vengeance in an orderly way. Yet revenge is deemed wrong, but justice is good.  Revenge is a knee jerk reaction, charged with emotion and self interest; Justice an objective disinterested judgment and punishment of vicious, reckless or selfish behaviour.  The goal being to reform the person (fines, physical pain, jail time)...failing that, to make an public example of them to discourage the maladaptive antisocial behaviour (eg.public execution, and even more soberly: hell).

Love for the perpetrator results in grace - undeserved pardon at Christs expense for those who trust in Him.  As it is  undeserved there was no obligation on Gods part to provide a way of reconciliation to Himself. He could have justly wiped his hands of the human race and let us be punished for our rebellion and imperfection.

Want implies lack.

Value of anything is both objective and subjective. The subjective part depends on the subjects desire or need of the object. The more they need or want it, the more valuable it becomes to them...they are then willing to pay a higher price than others. This is conversely true also. Simple supply and demand. Deconstructed, it applies to all of life, to all things.

Axiology - the formal study of value. Simply put its the study of life mechanics. A division of philosophy but I think it belongs just as much to sociology - the study of human behavior. There is an objective yardstick that drives all people. A common denominator that all are driven by to some extent: the pursuit of pleasure and the aversion of pain.  The pursuit of enjoyment and happiness and the aversion of stagnation and misery. This is inclusive of higher pleasures and pains that go beyond simple senses. Eg... emotions, pride, shame, love and hate,self respect etc.  Love is the other driving factor, 'doing unto others as you would have them do to you'. That is the promotion of the universal good and minimization of suffering.

Value = utility + Aesthetics.
anything of any value to anyone can be broken down into these two categories:

Utility:that which is useful - eg. power, control, ability, knowledge, assets, wealth (for either aversion of pain or promotion of pleasure - of self and/or others)

Aesthetics: that which is intrinsically pleasurable (eg music, beauty, flavour, order, virtue, humour, fun etc)

Again, if anyone values anything its because they judge the object, activity or even person as 'valuable'.  Respect, money, time or attention given is proportionate to perceived value.  I say perceived because the judgment is made off of the limited knowledge or experience a person has of the object, activity or person.  It will always be limited knowledge.  This bypasses the natural innate value of all people given by God...as man was made in the image of God, there is a benchmark of universal respect, care and attention demanded by all people regardless of the aforementioned factors: utility + aesthetics.  For what profit is it to help a homeless man on the street who is neither useful to you, nor enjoyable? The value of this man is that he is made in the image of God, far above all animals...comparable to yourself.  Empathy and love demands you help him where possible but as to who does this is dictated by a persons outlook on life.

This is utilitarian thought but essentially it is just sociology, explaining why people do what they do, why they value certain things over other things...but different personal tastes adjust how pleasure is attained. What's amazing to me, may be average to you.  Still it will almost be universally observed that when given the option between a rotten apple or a good apple, people will choose the good apple.  There is a criteria we all use to judge things, it differs in some details for some things but at the macro level its the same.

All of life is just continual value judgments. To some extent behavior is predictable...even looking at your past decisions and reflecting as to why you did what you did or said what you said.  Its because at that moment in time you chose what you thought was most profitable (for yourself and/or mankind), or what you perceived to be most 'valuable' (not necessary what was actually most valuable).  This judgment criteria varies depending on how you live of course. Some live without regard to their fellow man, some live completely self-sacrificial lives for their fellow man, some for both God and their fellow man.  Most don't fall at the extremes but somewhere on the spectrum, contention between self-interest and the best interest of others continually exists, and always will.

All vice or 'sin' results from unbridled self interest disregarding the interests of the universal whole, this whole includes God and mankind - (murder, hatred, lies, slander, theft, idolatry, blasphemy, fornication, adultery, contention, pride, offense etc.).  All virtue takes into account the whole, the interests of all not just the self.  This explains why Christ called men to die to themselves daily: 'deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me in living and if need be dying' - no one perfectly fulfills this, but that's the aim.

God created life like this, he built the machine, created both pain and pleasure and determined their sources.  Its an explanation of life, not a method of directing life like hedonism - which says you should live by the pursuit of pleasure and aversion of pain -  such a bestial way to live.  The greater good at times demands self-denial of pleasure and endurance of pain which may be reversed if you were entirely selfish.  Undoubtedly the selfish life is the most profitable life in those terms, but devoid of love and the 'profit' comes at the expense of others.  Nothing in life is free.  Every action, every object  has its price.

People generally respond to pain in two ways: fear or anger.
Its self evident which response is the most useful. The other alternatives are no response or apathy - the stoic way. or responding positively with love and blessing - the christian way. The Christian way is not a natural response...only in Christ is this response even possible.

Grace

Grace - an overused, under appreciated and misunderstood word.  Religious jargon to the atheist, dead rhetoric to the christian formalist, something unheard of in all other religions (who generally work on the basis of merit) but to those convinced of their personal demerit and desert of hell, something sweeter than life itself.  A trust in Christ not for pardon alone, but that His righteousness may be accredited to their own account on the day of judgment.  Free for them, at the price of Jesus' life on the cross - that whoever would trust in Him would attain His righteousness and be saved from divine judgment and eternal hell.  That line "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me." carries so much more weight to it. There is more to grace than this. Reconciliation with God. A relationship with Him and enjoyment of Him forever.

Romans 4
 1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
       7 “ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
      And whose sins are covered;
       8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.” 

Romans 10  
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”[f] 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. 13 For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”

Romans 3 
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all[h] who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Seeker Sensitivity

In an effort not to offend and be politically correct, we often bypass explaining major truths of God like sin, the final judgment and even an eternal conscious hell.  I know I'm guilty of this. Like offering a medical cure to a sick person who thinks they're well, why would they take it? Christ is offered often as a life improver, or a relationship like you have never had. While this is true, this isn't why I came to Christ - and I never would have come had I not believed I was on my way to hell and life could pass at any moment.

The grace offered through Christ is savored to the extent that these harder truths are understood and felt personally: We are sinners, there will be a judgment after death where God requires perfection, there will be an eternal conscious hell where perfection hasn't been met (which is everyone) - yet Jesus died that whoever trusts in Him will have His perfection accredited to their account - that is grace, that is salvation, that is the gospel. Jesus said "He who is forgiven much loves much, he who is forgiven little, loves little." Likewise He who understands the severity of what he is saved from loves much.

The gospel isn't culturally relevant, its a constant. Preachers for centuries expounded these truths (the law to convict of sin, the fleeting nature of life, the final judgment and the eternal conscious torments of hell as the consequence of rejecting Christ) ushering in the gospel (trust in Christ crucified for salvation) as the life vest to cling onto in despair. A relational push is good, so long as truth isn't forsaken or subtracted from the message. The truth spoken in love, that's how Jesus did it. He spoke more on sin, judgment and hell than anyone but offered himself as the escape from them all. Paul also in his preaching in acts preached on the final judgment - preaching repentance and a turning to Christ to be saved. Seeker sensitivity and the fear of offending people or scaring them away is a hindrance to understanding the gospel in its entirety. It does a disservice in the long run both to the kingdom of God and the individual (who often doesn't realize their condition before God). The healthy don't see the need for a physician, and the public generally thinks they are good people on there way to heaven apart from Christ. They're not that bad, which may be true, but they aren't perfect, which is the standard God will measure us by.

The great revivals of the 17th-19th centuries were birthed out of prayer and frank, loving communication. "Here's mans problem, here's the solution:Christ"....Christ was savored so much because people soberly grasped the severity of what they had been saved from, making them cling to Christ even tighter. Too often only the solution is pushed: take Christ for a better new and improved life!. While that's true, when persecution and tribulation come, they are like the seed on shallow ground.The gospel is offensive somewhat, it says "you're not as good as you thought you were...you need Christ to get to heaven".  It shatters pride in people.  Jesus wasn't murdered because he went around preaching love and peace.  Who would find fault in that?  He was murdered because He proclaimed Himself as the only way to be saved from Hell...this angered people who wanted another path to God.

There are two extremes to avoid, one is the hell fire preaching that leaves people in despair, minimizing the gospel.  The Other is preaching "come to Jesus" with out an adequate explanation as to why, minimizing the aforementioned less pleasant truths of God.  Balance is everything.  The entire truth shared from a heart of love and care.