Acts 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
In the last twenty years, the Church of Scotland has sadly lost 40% of its membership. This is because Britain is becoming more secular as each year passes. Despite trying to accommodate worldly and cultural views into its organization, the Church is diminishing. It appears that appeasing society is a big turn off for the people of Scotland. In a desperate bid to be relevant, the Church of Scotland has become inessential and ineffective.
The Church is meant to be radical, not relevant. It’s supposed to promote the Truth, not trivia. Apologetics is not about the Church saying sorry for being Christian to the world; it’s about the Church feeling sorry for the world because people are not Christian. We have a message to proclaim and a mission to accomplish. Whenever we forget this or fail to live up to the Great Commission, the Church diminishes and congregations die.
Scotland is now a mission field. If the Church of Scotland truly wants to grow again, it has to stop pandering to the people and start proclaiming the Gospel. That will involve a lot of courage and will challenge people’s lifestyles all over Scotland, but if the next generation of Scots is going to become Christian, then ministers need to stop preaching what the masses want to hear, and start prophetically proclaiming what God wants to be said.
Long ago, when Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he didn’t hold anything back. His people were guilty of crucifying Christ and they needed to repent. If Peter had sugar-coated the message then perhaps no one would have responded. Instead he proclaimed the unpopular truth and over three thousand people were baptized that day. It’s a lesson that we should constantly keep before us. It’s an act of courage that we should be continually espousing and evoking.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, grant us the temerity to truthfully proclaim the Gospel no matter what it costs and however much it challenges us. We want the whole world to experience Your wonderful salvation, but we have grown timid about witnessing to Your Way, Truth, and Life. Remind us that life is a test as well as a journey. Help us to grow Your Church in our communities, countries, and across the entire planet. In Your Holy Name, we sincerely pray. Amen.
John Stuart is the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.
Today’s image is John’s latest drawing of the Mabry Mill which is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. If you would like to see a larger version, please click on the following link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/traqair57/4640994106/sizes/l/ John has signed and matted prints available of this beautiful scene.
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