The mission of Jesus Christ to build His church (Matt 16:18) is the most important thing happening in this world and it should be the highest concern of every follower of Jesus Christ. All other responsibilities must be lined up properly with this one. 1/

Every word and deed should be measured against its effect on our mission. I encouraged our congregation Sunday to remember the three facets of our witness for Christ: the content of our message, our contact with the mission field, and our credibility of the Lord’s messengers. 2/

Specifically, I challenged us to be careful we not let the current craziness in our culture lure us into its mess. My fear, frankly, is that too many professing believers and congregations are carelessly damaging their witness by their reactions to the shifting cultural tide. 3/

We hurt our credibility as truth-tellers if we share stories, posts, and links that are false or deceptive. The biblical principle regarding 2 or 3 witnesses* may be a helpful tool here—do you have 2 or 3 independent, reliable sources that confirm this? 4/

If not perhaps you should research it further or not pass it along. When it comes to your credibility, better safe than sorry, right?

We damage our contact with the mission field when we cause needless offense through our speech or actions. 5/

The gospel carries its own offense and we should never back down from it. Never. A lot, though, of the rude, obnoxious, in-your-face stuff that happens on social media has nothing to do with the gospel. It’s just rude and obnoxious. 6/

“Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Col 4:5-6). The best defense of a right position is one done graciously & leaves the door open 7/

to talk about the most important topic—the good news that God saves sinners through Jesus Christ. Putting someone in his/her place at the cost of your witness may feel good, but it is eternally foolish. 8/

The way some professing believers are going at each other online about pandemics and politics is hard to square with John 13:35, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." 9/

We create distortion in the content of our message when we mix in our political, national, or medical takes. The Bible speaks to a lot of the issues we are facing, but we need to be very careful not to preach specific applications in these areas as the gospel itself. 10/

Let’s not confuse becoming a Christian with becoming an American or by joining your cause. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, but retain for God the things that are God’s! 11/

2020 has been a testing time for God’s people in many ways. Pressure squeezes out what’s inside. Some of that has been glorious evidence of God’s grace among His people. I have been blessed to see God at work in our congregation. 12/

Much of what I see and hear generally, though, is evidence that the American church is not healthy. It truly calls for repentance and should prompt prayer for revival. Let’s not trade our witness so easily. SDG. Fin/