More specifically the question is...
'Is the rejection of our church by the surrounding community purely on account of our faithfulness to Christ or have we added offense to the gospel in some way?'
The question arrises from the thread dealing with the Free Church and the Scottish Highlands but was too long to post in the heading.
http://www.puritanboard.com/f47/i-went-wee-free-while-holiday-47029/
A relevant scripture to underpin the discussion perhaps is
My concern in this discussion is not to
1) Say that Free Church and similar groups are all dead religious and hypocritical
2) Ignore the fact that faithfulness to Christ can breed hostility among the lost
3) Ignore the fact that other denominations have Christians who 'let the side down'
It is however to deal with the issue
If a large part of the surrounding community reject a local church and have bad feelings towards it on the basis of the actions and attitudes of the local church as a unit, is this not an indication that something is wrong with the local church?
'Is the rejection of our church by the surrounding community purely on account of our faithfulness to Christ or have we added offense to the gospel in some way?'
The question arrises from the thread dealing with the Free Church and the Scottish Highlands but was too long to post in the heading.
http://www.puritanboard.com/f47/i-went-wee-free-while-holiday-47029/
A relevant scripture to underpin the discussion perhaps is
Rom 2:17 Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,”[c]
My concern in this discussion is not to
1) Say that Free Church and similar groups are all dead religious and hypocritical
2) Ignore the fact that faithfulness to Christ can breed hostility among the lost
3) Ignore the fact that other denominations have Christians who 'let the side down'
It is however to deal with the issue
If a large part of the surrounding community reject a local church and have bad feelings towards it on the basis of the actions and attitudes of the local church as a unit, is this not an indication that something is wrong with the local church?