[BBC List] bargain hunters

[Mike Abendroth]

We Are Not Peddlers of God's Word


"Pelagianism is the natural heresy of zealous Christians who are not
interested in theology." - J.I. Packer, "'Keswick' and the Reformed Doctrine
of Sanctification."

Churches which preserve their cognitive identity and distinction from the
culture will flourish: those who lose them in the interests of seeking
success will disappear. 

In our churches we may have made a deal with postmodern consumers but the
hard reality is that Christianity cannot be bought. Purchase, in the world
of consumption, leads to ownership but in the Church this cannot happen. It
is never God who is owned. It is we who are owned in Christ. Christianity is
not up for sale. Its price has already been fixed and that price is the
complete and ongoing surrender to Christ of those who embrace him by faith.
It can only be had on his own terms. It can only be had as a whole. It
refuses to offer only selections of its teachings. Furthermore, the Church
is not its retailing outlet. Its preachers are not its peddlers and those
who are Christian are not its consumers. It cannot legitimately be had as a
bargain though the marketplace is full of bargainhunters. 

For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's Word..." II Cor 2:17

No, let us think instead of the Church as its voice of proclamation, not its
sales agent, its practitioner, not its marketing firm. And in that
proclamation there is inevitable cultural confrontation. More precisely,
there is the confrontation between Christ, in and through the biblical Word,
and the rebellion of the human heart. This is confrontation of those whose
face is that of a particular culture but whose heart is that of the fallen
world. We cannot forget that. 

David F. Wells, HYPERLINK
"http://www.monergismbooks.com/abovepowers9023.html"Above All Earthly
Pow'rs: Christ in a Postmodern World, pg. 308-309

 

 

Charis, 
  
Mike Abendroth 
  
"Make us choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to
be contented with half truth when whole truth can be won.  Endow us with
courage that is born of loyalty to all that is noble and worthy, that scorns
to compromise with vice and injustice and knows no fear when right and truth
are in jeopardy."

 - West Point Military Academy Cadet Prayer 

 

HYPERLINK "http://www.bbcchurch.org"www.bbcchurch.org 
  

 


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