Title: The Church’s Response To Ungodliness
Series: Living Godly Lives (Sermon # 5)
Text: 1 Cor 16:13; Eph 4:15
Date Preached: July 13, 2008
COPYRIGHT © Joe La Rue, 2008 (All Rights Reserved)
Introduction
A. I doubt that anyone here this morning will be surprised that I would say that we live in the midst of a sinful society. Ours is a society in which “tolerance” and “acceptance” of practically any and every activity has become commonplace. We have a “live and let live” approach to life these days, and that includes allowing each person to decide for himself or herself what is right and what is wrong.
1. When President Clinton committed his infidelity, many people said that it was nobody’s business, and not something that the public should be concerned about. More recently, when Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana was implicated as a customer of a call-girl ring, he described it as a private matter between him and his family, and many of his Republican colleagues came to his defense proclaiming that his private life should not be anyone’s concern.
2. Perhaps that’s true; perhaps it isn’t. Regardless, we have come a long way from the day that cheating on one’s spouse ruined a political career. Just ask former Sen. Gary Hart about that. He was the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination for president back in 1988, but was forced to step aside when he was caught cheating on his wife on a boat appropriately named “Monkey Business.” His political career wfias ruined, because the public would not accept the notion that his unfaithfulness to his wife was none of their business. We live in a different day.
a. And it’s not just in politics. This live and let live attitude permeates our society such that our young people are growing up believing that there is no right, but that all that matters is what’s right for you. There is no wrong, all that matters is what’s wrong for you.
b. Perhaps the natural conclusion of this attitude is laws such as the one recently passed in Colorado which has made it a criminal offense to discriminate against someone based on his or her lifestyle or gender perception. Now, I’m against discrimination, but that isn’t really what this law is about. Rather, this law is about silencing criticism of sinful lifestyles. And what it does, among other things, is make all criticism of alternate lifestyles a possible crime. A perhaps unintended result of this is that now all restrooms, locker rooms and fitness centers in the State of Colorado are open to both sexes. Thus, if a man considers himself a woman, he is now welcome to enter a women’s restroom, and if anyone tries to stop him, they are subject to arrest for a hate crime. Of course, this puts every woman and girl in the state of Colorado at risk of sexual predators—for, who is to know for sure that a man really considers himself a woman?
i. One concerned resident has said, “Now, as I stand outside of a movie theater bathroom or a swimming pool shower room door and guard the most precious thing in my life: my wife and daughter’s safety, modesty and privacy, I can no longer stop a man from entering a woman’s domain” without being subject to civil and criminal penalties, up to a year in jail.(See http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.
view&pageId=68060, last visited July 9, 2008).
ii. And, business owners can be prosecuted as well. For instance, if a gay couple attempts to hire a photographer to photograph their commitment ceremony and the photographer refuses, he is subject to prosecution and a sentence of up to a year in jail, even if photographing their ceremony would violate his faith, because under this law he has discriminated against the couple because of their orientation.
iii. The concerned citizen who talked about not being able to stop a man from entering a women’s bathroom closed his comments with these words: “An act that once was criminal is now legitimate, and what was taught to me as a virtue is now a vice.” But God does not approve when a society legitimizes what God says is wrong. In fact, the Bible says, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.” (Isaiah 5:20, NASB).
B. Well, such is the world in which we live. Now, what should the Church do? We are concluding our series on “Living Godly Lives” today. We’ve talked about the importance of living a godly life, and doing so when no one is looking, and also doing so when everyone is looking. And we talked about what we need to do when we fail to live godly lives. Now, as we conclude the series, I want to share with you what the Church’s response should be to the ungodliness in which we live. Take out your Sermon Notes page and fill in this blank. First, the Church must refuse to compromise.
I. The Church Must Refuse To Compromise The Truth.
A. We must not compromise what we hold to be true. The Church of Christ must not accept any philosophy or morality that opposes what God says is right. We must cling to the first of the Ten Commandments—“Thou shalt have no other god before Me”—and so the Church of Christ must refuse to bow her knee even to the government of her state or country, when that government creates laws that oppose the law of God. The Church must hold to the cry of the Marines—semper fi—always faithful. And this means that we must refuse to compromise.
B. The Bible says, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Cor 16:13, NASB). If ever there was a time that the Church needs to do that, it’s now!
1. Now listen to me, Christians! When the Bible says “Be on the alert,” it means that we are to be aware of what’s going on around us. We are not to stick our heads in the sand, but are to be cognizant of what’s going on in the world.
2. And being on the alert, and seeing how bad the world is sometimes, we had better stand firm in our faith and act like men and be strong. And that means that we refuse to buckle in our beliefs or compromise in our convictions.
3. Rather, we continue to preach against sin and call people to repent, even if we are ridiculed for doing so. We continue to share the good news about Jesus, even if we are persecuted. We just keep on keeping on. Listen to what the Bible says: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Cor 15:58, NASB).
C. The pundits of the new tolerance, such as authored the Colorado law, want to silence the Church. Cathryn Hazouri, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, testified before the Colorado House Judiciary Committee prior to the law’s enactment. In response to concern that this law would infringe on the rights of religious people to speak against sin she said, “One may practice one’s religion in private; however, once a religious person comes into the public arena, there are limitations in how the expression of their religion impacts others.”
(See http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=68060 (last visited July 9, 2008)).
1. I want you to know that she’s dead wrong. Religious people do not give up their right to speak when they step outside their house, any more than non-religious people do. And for that reason, I expect this Colorado law to be challenged in federal court as a violation of the First Amendment, and I expect it to ultimately be struck down.
2. But the point remains: Satan wants to silence the Church, and he uses people like this and laws like this to do it. But he also uses Christians willingness to compromise, and go with the flow, and not want to make waves, to do it too. The Church must not compromise. We must continue to call sin, “sin.” We must continue to teach what God’s word says, even if it makes people uncomfortable or mad. And so, I will continue to preach against sin, and I will continue to encourage you to stand up for your faith and do the same.
3. The Bible says, “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” (Prov 14:12, NASB). Our world needs to hear that message. Our world needs to know that. People are going to die in their sin, if we don’t share the truth with them. We must not compromise our message. We must do what the Bible says, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (1 Cor 16:13, NASB). No compromise. We must speak the truth.
D. Trans: However, and this is number two on your outline,
II. The Church Must Refuse To Compromise Its Love.
A. I don’t know about you, but I get angry at laws like this one passed in Colorado. And I get angry when non-Christians flout their sinful lifestyles and tell me that I have to accept it, and subject my family to it. I get angry when people do wrong and say that there’s nothing wrong with what they’ve done. And when I get angry, I sometimes forget that as Christians, we are to be loving and kind and gentle.
B. The Bible says that we are to “speak the truth in love.” (Eph 4:15). And in another place it says, “The Lord’s servants must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone. They must be able to teach effectively and be patient with difficult people. They should gently teach those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will believe the truth.” (2 Tim 2:24-25, New Living Translation).
1. Did you hear why we do it? Perhaps God will change peoples minds, and they will believe the truth.
a. You see, that’s what being a Christian is about! We represent Jesus! We are His representative, and so we must act like Him and always remember that He said that He came into this world “to seek and save lost people.” (Luke 19:10). That’s why Jesus came! And blasting people with the truth, and angrily condemning them, doesn’t draw people to Jesus. It shoves them away from Him.
b. ILL: You may have heard about the Westboro Baptist Church in Wichita, Kansas, whose members picket at the funerals of soldiers. They believe that God is punishing our Nation because we have accepted ungodly lifestyles as normal, and so while they have nothing against the brave men and women who have given their lives for their country, they perversely celebrate their deaths as proof that God is angry with America. Now, they are certainly right that God’s word condemns certain activities as sinful. But they haven’t won anybody to their way of thinking because the way they communicate their message is so abhorrent. We do the cause of Christ no good when we stand firm and refuse to compromise in an angry, belligerent, hostile way. In fact, we harm the cause of Christ when we act that way.
2. One of the most humbling Bible verses I know is 2 Corinthians 5:20, which says that “we are ambassadors for Christ.” (2 Cor 5:20, NASB). We carry His message to a lost world. And we shouldn’t be surprised that people oppose us. Jesus said, “And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, how much more will it happen to you, the members of the household!” (Matt 11:25, NLT). And again Jesus says, “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” (John 15:18, NASB).
a. But no matter! We are Christ’s ambassadors! We are to do things the way that Jesus did. So how did Jesus do things? Well, God said about Him,
“I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout; he will not raise his voice in public. He will not crush those who are weak, or quench the smallest hope, until he brings full justice with his final victory. And his name will be the hope of all the world.” (Matt 12:18-21, NLT).
b. And we’re to do the same, because we are Christ’s ambassadors. We represent Him. So we should speak the truth, but speak it in love. We should always remember that these people who may oppose us, and engage in conduct that angers us, are people for whom Christ died. He died for them! He came to seek them! He loves them. And we must love them too.
Conclusion
A. We live in troubled times. We are told that there is no right, and there is no wrong, and everything is relative, and we must be tolerant and accepting of all behavior.
1. But as we’ve seen in this study, God in His Word defines what is right, and what is wrong. And God calls us to live godly lives, even when no one is looking, and even when everyone is watching. We are called to be godly.
2. And so, we cannot tolerate ungodly behavior. No, we must stand against it. We must oppose it. We must let people know that God has called them to live better than that.
B. ILL: Sin ultimately destroys us. Several years ago in my home church in Indianapolis where I had grown up, the minister, we’ll call him John, was caught having an affair with a missionary that the church supported and that he had recently visited on behalf of the church family. His wife, we’ll call her Jane, was understandably devastated and filed for divorced. The elders of the church were understandably devastated, too, and they fired him. John’s sin wrecked his marriage, robbed him of his family, cost him his job, forced him to change careers, and placed him in danger of hell. That’s what sin does: it hurts the sinner in this life, and places the sinner in danger of the fires of hell in the next life.
1. And that’s why, friends, the Church must continue to preach against sin. That’s why we must refuse to compromise the truth. It’s because sin hurts the very people that Christ died for.
2. But that’s also why we must refuse to compromise our commitment to love. Because Christ loved people enough to die for them. We must love them too. We’re His ambassadors.
C. Godliness is a high calling. Let’s make sure we don’t compromise our message, or our love.
D. Stand with me please as we sing our hymn of invitation. If you have a decision to make for Jesus this morning, please come forward as we sing.
