When I read the title and summary of “The church: Long on ‘mad’ – short on ‘mercy’?” by ONN Guest Columnist Randall Murphree it caused me to ask the immediate question: “Where was evangelism even mentioned?”
The Summary of Randall’s article read, “How we handle confusion and fear, how we demonstrate mercy, how we serve others – those are the qualities, says author Joseph Stowell, that will make us salt and light in a bland and dark world.”
Nowhere in this article did he mention the commandment of Jesus to preach the Gospel. When did the Gospel get reduced to works?
When you read the scripture,
…You see Jesus referring to this verse when He told us to be about spreading the “salt” and showing the “light” to the world. Nowhere in the words of Jesus did He say to make anything else a priority over the Gospel being preached. Nowhere.
God’s MERCY is what we preach; works result from our gratefulness at being saved. And when you go to the next verse in Psalm 34, verse 9, you see the command is to Fear God! Is that not God’s “mercy” Randall? Is it not merciful to tell man that he must first fear God that he may depart from evil?
Randall quoted Dr. Joseph Stowell, “The church has been long on mad and short on mercy for too long.” Exactly what does Stowell mean by “long on mad” ? The preaching of Hell, Judgment, and the Wrath of God? Is this the “mad” Christianity he speaks of?
Let’s not get the cart before the horse and make a ministry of works over seeking and saving the lost. I suspect Randall Murphree and Dr. Stowell don’t much like, or understand, the preaching of the Law to the Lost.
When Jesus said, “Unless you repent you will also perish” was He being “mad” to say such a seemingly hard thing to the people in response to their questions about why God let people perish under a tower that had fallen? Was Jesus “mad” when Hetold the people to repent as they sought His answer top why God would let Herod mingle their blood with the sacrifice? That was pretty harsh no? was Jesus “mad” to be so seemingly mean spirited?
No, obviously not. Then why would Jesus act so? Because REAL madness is to let a sinner perish unchallenged. Forget coddling their flesh and save their SOULS.
So let’s be deliberate, like Jesus, and seek the Lost Biblically, the Way Jesus did and taught. USE YOUR WORDS, because the actions are just a normal process of a person saved from their sin.
If you are not one of those who has works then naturally, if you are cold to the plight of those around you, then, as James explained, you might want to see why.
A faith without works is a sign of the spiritual dead. But surely those who have no desire to see others saved are not saved themselves.
Patrick J. Burwell
Patrick@OnlyJesusSaves.com
OnlyJesusSaves.com
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