“Perhaps postmodernism and sexual immorality are not the greatest threats to the church of Christ in our day. Perhaps we are in more danger from the subtle lies that flow from subtle shifts in how we understand the gospel. We have not forsaken the faith, but we may have redefined it in ways that are fundamentally different from the gospel laid out in Scripture.
This redefinition of the faith does not happen all at once. It may not even surface in the public theological discussions of the church. Rather, the redefinition is a process of subtle steps at the practical level of the church’s fellowship, life, and ministry. Hope in Christ gets replaced with Christian activity, emotional experiences, Christians fellowship, or something else, without anyone consciously redefining or forsaking the faith…
The gospel does call me to lead a godly life and to gather with God’s people for worship. God will meet me in special ways at certain times. The gospel does call me to influence the world for good, to love truth, and to meditate on it. God is a God of comfort who meets us in all our sorrows. We are to be enthusiastic participants in the fellowship of the body of Christ.
The danger occurs when we reduce the gospel to any one of these elements. Whenever I do, my Christianity is no longer motivated by a humble admission of my daily need for Christ and a humble pursuit of his grace. Things that are intended to be the means of this pursuit instead become the ends. For example, the goal of understanding the truths of the gospel is to have a deeper relationship with Christ. But when theological knowledge becomes the goal, Christ is displaced.”
Timothy S. Lane & Paul David Tripp, How People Change. (Greensboro, NC: New Growth Press, 2008), p 11.
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