Biblical Logos Blog

I found the following Facebook post on a Baptist church website. It had been reposted many times and is still making the rounds. I don’t know who the original author is, so I cannot credit the post. Can you spot the issue(s)?

“The pastor says they sit front and center. The gay boys. Somtimes they hold hands. And some folks have said he should address the issue. But the pastor tells me he doesn’t know what to say. And then there’s the man who sneaks in the back door. Fresh off the street. After the service starts. And leaves before alter call. The people sitting close complain about how bad he smells. Of beer and smoke and sweat. But the pastor tells me he doesn’t know what to say. And then there’s the young mama who wears dirty skin and lets her four children come in and eat all the donuts and drink all the watered-down juice. Some church staff say they “…eat like little pigs. Like they haven’t eaten in weeks.” While the mama just stands there and lets them. And the elders say something must be done and said. But the pastor tells me he doesn’t know what to say. And there’s the whore sitting among the faithful. And everybody knows her. She sits with a painted-up face, cheap perfume, and a broken heart. And those who sit close, well, they all treat her for what they think she is. And at the last staff meeting, her name came up. Something must be done about her. But the pastor tells me he doesn’t know what to say.
The pastor is a good man. Holy and just. And he wants to do the “right and loving” thing. And he wants to “look like Jesus”. And he asks me if I have any thoughts on anything he could say.
Yes, sweet Pastor. I do.
Start with this and say it Louder than any other words:
“Welcome to Church. This is a place of love and hope and safety and forgiveness. We will be food for the hungry. Living water for the thirsty. We are so glad you are here. You are invited. You are loved. Come on in—we’ve been waiting on you. Welcome here. We are the church.”
Say that. To the called and to the called-out. To the leaders and the greeters. To the dirty and the clean. We are all the same. We are.
May we blow the dust of religion out of our souls and choose affection instead. May our words and actions and reactions be a sanctuary for all.
Jesus broke many laws to love. So, Jesus, be our voice. Be the only words we should ever speak. I believe this with all my heart. Years ago we were kinder. Everybody looked out for one another. We need to go back to that.”

The main issue for me is that the author doesn’t realize that the Gospel message goes out to all the world, but it calls all who hear is to turn from their sin (repentance).

Luk 5:31  And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 
Luk 5:32  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” 

The Apostle John writing to the church says that God is love

1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 
1Jn 4:8  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

This understanding is true, however with the blog post above, it has been used as an over riding doctrine that isn’t in the context of all the other things Jesus and the Apostles said as well. Here is an equally important verse from Jesus:

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 
Joh 14:24  Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me. 

As in the verses from Luke 5 above, Paul the Apostle reminds us that we need to turn aside from our sin.

Act 17:30  The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 
Act 17:31  because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 

The last Bible verses I will mention are among many we could look at to correct the errors the blog post was making. Paul said in Romans:

Rom 6:1  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 
Rom 6:2  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 
Rom 6:3  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 
Rom 6:4  We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 
Rom 6:5  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 
Rom 6:6  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 
Rom 6:7  For one who has died has been set free from sin. 

And other verses calling believers to turn from sin

Jas 5:19  My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 
Jas 5:20  let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. 

What then should the pastor mentioned in the blog post do to those in his church that were openly in sin?

Gal 6:1  Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 
Gal 6:2  Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 

Mat 18:15  “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 
Mat 18:16  But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 
Mat 18:17  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 

It is a subtle doctrinal error to have a blog post recommending that people be open to seeing sin in the church and being okay with it. The church is the place to help sinners become more sanctified. To slowly conform ourselves to the image of Christ. Church members and pastors all have the responsibility to help one another step aways from our sin. Setting an example in the church that sin is okay because “God is love” is a false non-Biblical doctrine that characterizes the last days church that was warned about in Revelation (Rev 3:14-22). We were also warned about the consequences of continuing on this way:

1Co 6:9  Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 
1Co 6:10  nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 
1Co 6:11  And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.