get in the game

Rembrandt, "Return of the Prodigal Son"

fourth Sunday in Lent
11 Cor. 5:11 - 6:2

There has been much written in recent years about the importance of churches being sensitive to the needs of seekers. There is some merit in this: why repel people through obtuse religiosity? At the same time, consumer-driven Christianity is not the game in which classical Christians are to be. The game for us is to persuade men and women of the truth of the gospel and their need for Christ. What I long for is not so much seeker-sensitive churches as gospel-sensitive ones!

A gospel-sensitive church is one in which:

• the fear of the Lord is all-pervasive (v. 11a)
• a spirit-directed sense of conscience serves as a rudder for the journey (v. 11b)
• leaders set the bar high in terms of their personal and ministry conduct (v. 12)
• the love of Christ is compels sacrificial action (vv. 14,15)
• worldly thinking is distinguished from Christian thinking (v. 16)
• broken people are regarded from the standpoint of their new natures breaking forth (v. 17)
• there is a commitment to reconciliation wherever it may be needed (vv. 18,19)
• there is clarity about each believer's identity and role as an ambassador for Christ (v. 20)
• there is an appreciation for the local church as the embodiment of God's righteousness on earth, just as Jesus was (v. 21)
• there is a mutual commitment to ministry based on grace (6:1)
• there is a sense of urgency in pursuing the call (6:2)

How would you like to be part of such a church? You already are if you will only choose today to internalize and model these commitments before your brothers and sisters. Get in the game.