Bootstrap wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 2:55 pm
Ken wrote: ↑Sat Jun 10, 2023 1:53 pm
Yes but no one notices what positions your small Holdeman church takes on anything.
I believe that our individual churches and families are the most important place to seek the Kingdom of God and to be salt and light to the world. And that includes Josh's small Holdeman church. The most important mission for the Kingdom of God is to be the Kingdom of God.
Part of the problem, I think, is that we can think that the things that our culture sees as more important really are. So we look to the kinds of things that go viral on the Internet. And that's rarely the Kingdom of God. It's more often outrage about Bud light and transgender people.
Here's an interesting test: Would you give a sermon on that topic or hold a Bible study about it?
You are co-mingling two completely separate issues here.
The positions that small Anabaptist churches take on any social issues are frankly of no interest to the outside world because no one in the outside world ever actually hears them. When you retreat from the "world" one consequence of doing so is that no one hears you.
All that the outside world ever hears and sees from conservative Christianity is the constant drumbeat of messaging from the conservative evangelical world that is loud and relentless and political. And yes, does come across as very judgmental, hypocritical, and partisan. I could cite endless examples from the likes of say Sean Feucht, Paula White, James Dobson, Franklin Graham, etc. Who all have millions of followers. Every one of which on their own drowns out the combined message of all Anabaptists in America 10-times over.
Are you asking ME if I would give a sermon on the subject of Bud light? If I was giving a sermon on sin I'd be more likely to start with someone like billionaire coal company owner Jim Justice and how the sin of greed has led him to crimes against nature such his multiple companies engaged in mountain top removal strip mining, exploitation of thousands of employees, and hundreds of cases of environmental and safety violations. And how Christians should not be cheerleading the political aspirations of such an unrepentant sinner and criminal, even though he is pandering to them through his signing of anti-LGBT laws in West Virginia as governor.
