Detroit - A Lesson for The Church

The City of Detroit is Bankrupt. No surprise. They have been bankrupt for years. The recent declaration merely seals the deal.

Organizations & Organisms, cities and churches, often conduct themselves like the proverbial ostrich. The signs, the objective metric indicators are glaring, screaming like a neon sign in Los Vegas. The response is "this may be true in other places but not here". If we ignore it, it will go away. WRONG!

Extreme you say? Consider the following data on the church in the USA.

* Every year more than 5,000 churches close their doors.

* Every year 2.7 - 3 million church members fall into inactivity (QUIT).

* From 1990-2000 the combined Protestant church membership declined by 9.5% while the population in the USA grew by 11%.

* Half of all churches in the USA did not add any new members in the past two years.

* In 1900 there were 27 churches per 10,000 population - in 2000 there were 11 churches for every 10,000 in the population.

* The USA now ranks third (3rd) following China & India in the number of people who ARE NOT professing Christians.

Detroit has lost its place as the auto manufacturing capital of the world. The church is rapidly losing her place as Salt & Light in the USA.

The signs are clear. The trend is undeniable. Will the church repent, act to see the trend-lines change? That remains to be seen but the time is NOW!

Letting The Text Speak

Does the Scripture actually mean what it says in clear (theologians use the term perspicuous) language? I have invested 44 years of my life endeavoring to acquire the skills required to know with certainty what the Scripture is saying and what it means. Sounds simple enough, but wait. . .

I recently entered a post on a BLOG site. The issue was focused on the often quoted shibboleth that "God hates the sin but loves the sinner." David Platt preached a message challenging this incomplete and therefore distortion of Truth. Please consider:

Psalm 5:5   The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers.

Psalm 11:5 The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who  loves violence.

There were 60 responses on this BLOG. At least 50 of them disputed the fact that God hates the one working iniquity. Lots of word games. Lots of hermeneutical gymnastics but very little submission to what the text says.

The response were not from flaming 'liberals', people who deny Christ. These were men who claim to be bible-believing theist. But then, this should not surprise. Consider:

2 Timothy 4:1-4  I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:  2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,  4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 

It is past time for some irenic, civil face to face Forums in which we hold one another accountable for what the text says and what it means. This is the finest form of accountability. What say you?