Does the Modern Church Still Believe in the Power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit?
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Recently, there was a big uproar over Pastor Mike Todd’s Easter play at his church, Transformation Church. If you search online, you will find lots of commentaries on the content that was delivered in that play, so I don’t need to go too deep into that. However, there is a bigger concern that I believe we need to address as the church in the 21st century, because what happened in his church is becoming symbolic of many churches in America. This could just be a byproduct of western culture and the church in America, but it needs addressing.
What can easily get lost in this whole scenario is the reason Paul made this decision. He wanted their faith to rest on God’s power and not on his own human wisdom. Could it be in our search to be clever we are more interested in impressing people with how we present the gospel than we are in winning people to Christ? Maybe we are trying to wow them with our creativity because we are convinced that to give the simple truth of the gospel can’t work in the day we live in. I can’t say what is in a person’s heart, but I can question the actions a person takes. It is these extreme actions that bring the world into the presentation of the gospel that make me wonder if we still believe it has the power to save.
I encourage using creativity and the gifts and talents God has given us to present the gospel and try to reach those who are lost. However, we must not foolishly believe that our creativity alone is going to win people over. That is not the way the gospel works. We may win them to ourselves with our creativity, but it will take more than that to win them to Christ.
The heart of the gospel is allowing people to confront the person of Jesus Christ, and it is our responsibility to seek or create opportunities for people to do just that. We must make sure we don’t crowd out their opportunity to encounter Jesus because we have buried him in the techniques of the world.
Allow me to say this with no hesitation or reservation. The gospel still has power, and the Holy Spirit is still at work. When we preach the simple gospel and give room for the Holy Spirit to penetrate the heart of a person, then we position them to not only hear, but to respond. Best of all, their response is not to your creativity, but to the movement of the Holy Spirit in their heart. When they are drawn by his power, that becomes the source and basis of their salvation.
While there is room for creativity in how we share the gospel, let’s not go so far or close to the edge that we leave the gospel and the Holy Spirit out of the equation. When that happens, you may have something, but just know it is not the gospel or the work of the Holy Spirit.
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