Mark Dever notes, on the blog “The Gospel Coalition”, that:
Since the Fall, hasn’t the trajectory of human history been redeemed?The city of man? It is always in the Bible for judgment (the Flood, Babel, Canaan, Egypt, Jerusalem, Babylon, Rome, and then Revelation 19). as universal as gravity, but apparently as inevitable as, in its general trend. )
- For a complete overview of the pastor and his relationship with his community.
- Read the full article here.
- Others would take the opposite view and suggest that the New Earth will have a new and improved human culture and therefore Christians and churches should participate.
- In cultural renewal here and now The last question is:.
Is our culture redeemable?
Those looking to get involved in these issues, at least in the United States, are involved in different “areas”. Us:
Of course, I have just simplified in a sentence what is often a confusing, very polarized and emotional debate between the different evangelical, theological and denominational views. I’m having a hard time getting on that list. In fact, as I get older, I find that this general culture of Christians is labeling each other more and more useless, and if there is anything useful in the previous points, I lean more towards numbers 1, 3 and 4. that our job as a church is to glorify God, preach the gospel, and make disciples. By doing this?share our lives and live in communion, interact with our neighbors, seek the good of our communities in need and live clearly?culturally contrary?people will be attracted to Christ by the Holy Spirit, born again and, over time, no one per person will begin to have an impact on the community. Community renewal will therefore be the byproduct of gospel-centered preaching and healthy churches. Who knows what to do
It is useful for this discussion to look at the history of many churches in Scotland and the United Kingdom, which have tried to get involved in their culture or not for the past thirty years. Many churches, believing that the world was going to hell by leaps and bounds, focused on preaching Christ, rescuing repentant sinners, and leaving the rest to themselves. Others, believing that Christians have a role to play in the fact that God will finally renew all things at the end of time, have sought to become more the danger to the first group is to fall into a form of separatism, so that the second group slides into a certain cultural accommodation. In fact, I see the legacy of the two posts in under-neglected housing communities in Scotland and this manifests itself in two main ways.
1. Those who historically fought for doctrinal and theological purity at the expense of cultural commitment (for fear of diluting the gospel) and are now on the margins of communities, with aged and dying congregations. They have the gospel, but they don’t have one to preach it, have they adapted to their worldview?Us against the world? And, unfortunately, they leave generations with no idea of the good news of Jesus. People don’t go to church anymore and the church doesn’t go to people anymore. We have some kind of ‘?Mexican? Spiritual impasse where each side is increasingly enduing its heart against the other over time Does one party think the church is a place full of judges unnecessarily?And old-fashioned, the other looks at the world destroying himself because of his wickedness and sin. Meanwhile, desolation and spiritual confusion occur in communities in need where we have remnants of dying congregations or where they no longer exist.
On the other hand, those who have sought to adapt and engage with culture, to the detriment of biblical truths, tend to be very socially conscious, but, ironically, they also have the same aged and dying congregations. These churches? (if we can call them that) are only seen as social service agencies, they do not see the “sides”, but they regard each one as children of God and the church as a force for “good” in the community. The world sees them as a means to an end, but not as salt and light, and certainly not as a challenge to their souls. Is the church, in this case, considered more organic than organized, a church without walls?. The result is the same empty churches as those of our friends above. The same congregations die without having a real spiritual impact on their community.
Unfortunately, both groups are losing, the real victims are the same people who should be affected by the good news of Jesus Christ. While the Christian world has drawn its theological battle lines on culture and contextualization, living souls have (and in large numbers) perished from the bottom of our nation for lack of a concrete testimony of the Gospel in the neglected communities of subdivisions.
As a result of this reversal of events, much of the work of evangelization and community development is carried out in poor communities by a combination of government agencies and paraeclesiastical organizations. Many of these groups that visit schools in marginalized communities, teach religious education courses, organize clubs and try to reach young people for Christ, are largely (but not always) independent of local churches, and without a real struggle against it?crisis of the congregation?that we face today, when the local church is dead or not doing its job (either for lack of courage or simply because it is incapable)?
In my opinion, the only way to reverse this trend in our housing communities is to establish new churches and/or renew existing ones.
Wherever this discussion takes us, it is an indisputable fact that housing communities need healthy, gospel-centered churches to reverse this situation. Here are three quick reasons:
What we desperately need is a local church that glorifies God, believes in the Bible, preaches the gospel, actively trains disciples, lives Christian brotherhood in a healthy way, serves and loves one another. A small and united group of brothers can promote cultural and community renewal. Not because it is his goal, but because it is the consequence of the power of the kingdom in action. Pray for us, because through our 20-pattern initiative, we seek to restore the light of the gospel to dark places by revitalizing and establishing churches in these communities.
Who knows, perhaps, the Lord is calling you to come and help us in this task?