What's the Focus?

     As Christians, representing Christ on this earth, what is the "bottom line" of our message?  What is the focal purpose of what we stand for?  

     Many people accuse evangelicals of being focused on the conservative response to social issues, such as abortion, the LGBT+ agenda, and other issues that demand a response.  I have heard it said that the church should be known for what they stand for more than what they stand against.  Is that the correct way to think of it?

     First Corinthians 2:2 tells us, For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  A little later, in chapter 9 verse 16, it says, Yea, woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel!  This answers our question as to what our central message is.  The Apostle Paul put everything else aside to make the gospel of Christ the focus.  We should be doing the same.  As the Church today, we should be known as being for Jesus, being believers in His death and resurrection, and wanting to reach everyone else with His lifegiving message of the gospel.  In Ephesians 3:8, Paul reveals that being a preacher of the gospel is by God's grace.  It is a blessing and joy to get to share the gospel message.  

     Sometimes, periphery matters can get in the way of a gospel presentation.  One time, my husband and I were doing evangelism with a group in Sioux City, Iowa.  One of the men on our team was trying to tell people who walked by that they needed to give up certain habits, and he was making those things the focus, rather than telling them about how Jesus can deliver them from these things...or just preaching Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit lead them.  Was there a place for addressing those things?  Perhaps, but certainly not in the context of the gospel.  If someone isn't even saved, they're not going to have the inner resources to fight these things in their lives.  They're not going to care.  And even if they did care, breaking a sinful habit isn't salvation.  No one is in Heaven because they successfully kicked a bad habit.  We need to get the horse before the cart.  The message of Jesus Christ, crucified for our sins and risen the third day is of primary importance.  It was what the Apostles gave their lives for!  It was the message given to believers over the centuries, passed down to us.  We are the keepers of that message now, and we must be faithful with it!

     That being said, should we just ignore things in our society that are unbiblical?  Are evangelicals obsessed with the conservative side of the argument?  Well, no more than the liberals are obsessed with pushing the liberal side.  Many of these issues demand an answer.  Passivity gets us nowhere.  We need to give the scriptural answer.  I have addressed some of these issues in previous blog posts, and won't go into a lot of details on them at the moment, but here is my question: Is there a way to biblically respond to what is happening around us, while at the same time, sticking to the gospel of Christ and making it about that?  Yes!

     Every believer is called to stand for the gospel.  As for other things, we are called to believe God's word, but some are specifically called upon to speak out, like John the Baptist did in Luke 3:19.  If John the Baptist lived today, many in our churches would probably tell him to "stop judging," but was John judging in any sort of sinful way (there are two ways to judge,  and one was a command by Jesus for us to do!)?  I don't believe John was sinning.  He wasn't speculating or spreading gossip.  He was responding to something that was very public and known by all.  If John had been wrong, Jesus would have said something about that, but instead, Jesus praised John in Matthew 11:11.  Jesus isn't as "anti-judging" as 21st century Americans are.  

     There are issues demanding our response as believers.  We can't let unbiblical statements go unchallenged.  We need to make a stand.  Some are specifically called to speak out, while others are called to pray for them and support them.  I can categorically say that no believers are called to accuse their fellow Christians who take a stand of "judging" however.  Watch that.   

     The bottom line, even in situations of taking a stand on a public issue, is the Lordship of Christ.  If Jesus is someone's Lord and Savior, the center of their being, the One they are striving to follow and obey, they are going to be led in the godly way in all of these things.  God is not going to lead someone into sin.  There is a very vocal woman in Texas who shares her story of discovering her toddler son was "really" a transgender girl, and is now raising this child (now age nine) as a girl instead of his birth sex.  This woman was a Bible-believing Christian, and still claims to be.  She extends a lot of energy and emotion try to prove that her views are compatible with biblical Christianity and getting angry with those who disagree with her.  And yet as I read the things she has written, I don't see Jesus as the center of her message.  I don't know her, or her heart.  I didn't go through what she did, and I can't simplify her experiences, but I can use God's word as the measuring stick.  When I read her story, I see her child, and the leftist LGBT+ agenda being the center of her life, much more paramount that Christ.  Many people who are living this lifestyle are making themselves the center.  Fulfilling what they want to do is the center of their lives.  The same could be said for many other issues and lifestyles.  Making a cause--any cause--the focus of our message, instead of Jesus, is idolatry.  This woman in Texas has made an idol of her child.  If we truly teach salvation through Christ, and then, after someone's salvation, we teach them the Lordship of Christ in all areas, I suspect we won't have as many battles with these other issues.  

     As the church today, we should be known for what we stand in favor of--Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  For Him, we are also in favor of self-denial, taking up our crosses and following Him.  What we stand against is anything that gets in the way of making Jesus our everything.