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What We Represent
By John W. Kennedy | March 5, 2008

In his sermons at this week’s Assemblies of God Prayer Summit in Springfield, Mo., Brooklyn Tabernacle Pastor Jim Cymbala stressed a theme that Christians need to hear: Jesus taught that people will know we are Christians by our love for others.

Yet, sadly, that’s rarely the case in our culture. The world often knows what we oppose — same-sex marriage, drinking alcohol, stem cell research — because we spend a lot more time opposing than loving. Likewise, legalism about who we don’t find acceptable — card players and moviegoers a couple of generations ago, the pierced and tattooed today — can keep the non-Christian away from our churches.

If we are to reach the unchurched, it won’t be through denunciations of outward behavior or appearances. Nor will it be through a display of knowledgeable teaching. Cymbala noted that people want to know how they can get off crack cocaine or how they can recover their runaway daughter, not the history of the Philistines or what constitutes the mark of the beast.

Similarly, non-Christians are turned off by the lack of cooperation they see among those who represent Jesus. Racial division is pervasive in many congregations; different ethnicities usually don’t worship together. In addition, Pentecostals and other groups spend a lot of time being proud of doctrinal distinctives instead of uniting behind the Savior.

It’s hard for people to accept the gospel if they sense we don’t truly care about them. God may place a soul in our path who has overriding physical or emotional needs. If all we do is try to make a theological point with that person, we haven’t helped. Cymbala says the Lord has convicted him about the need to put his arm around a drug addict or a sex offender as a first step in offering hope in Jesus. That’s a good lesson for all of us.

Blessings on Ya!
Pastor Kitner