The Lord before the Church

As a Christian we must always place the Lord before the Church. Often the church gets a self importance about itself which is out of line. You often see in the Old Testament that God despised worship that in form seemed correct and yet the worship was totally apostate.

Often you find in the Old Testament that Israel had went very far astray and the few who remained faithful were considered dangerous outcasts. It is not always so radically different in the church today.

Often we find that the churches neglect many parts of biblical teaching. There are very few churches in the current day who have a conscious desire to teach on all of scripture. Many churches actively (consciously or not) seek to not speak on many topics in the bible.

One current preacher of high esteem committed to exegetical preaching said that he makes a point of never preaching on giving! How can such a position be tenable. Jesus had a great deal to say on the topic, and scripture through out has a great deal to say.

You see at least this preacher is honest that he will not preach on the topic instead of hiding the fact, but his commitment to exegetical preaching is compromised by a refusal to ever preach on a topic which the bible finds to be important.

Exegetical preaching is of course faithfully teaching scripture. We cannot faithfully teach scripture if we knowingly refuse the ever speak on topics scripture finds important.

Of course the topic of money in the current day is very difficult to speak of in our culture. But what that means is that more than anything it is a topic which demands to be preached on.

Often people suggest that sexual promiscuity is the great error in American culture. There is truth in this, but money and greed are more likely the largest issue in the American church.

I have heard a great deal of sermons in many churches on sexual purity, but almost never a sermon on money or giving. You see the proof of greed being the greatest thing undermining the membership of the American church is that the church cannot even speak on the topic.

All scripture is useful for teaching and instruction. If we wish to be truly faithful to scripture there are many hard things on which to preach which are not popular. The bible never really is entirely popular in any age because in each age it meets sinful man and tells him the way things are.