Question: What is the greatest, most crying need for the American church today?
Response from Colin Smith, Senior Pastor, Arlington Heights Evangelical Free Church, Arlington Heights, IL
I am convinced that the American church has in large measure lost its grip on the gospel, and hence on the doctrine of conversion.
Becoming a Christian is too often seen merely in terms of a decision or a commitment. Losing sight of regeneration by which the Holy Spirit creates new desires and capacities in a human soul, we find ourselves in a strange world of unbelievers who are convinced that they can live the Christian life, and believers who are equally convinced that they can’t. This pessimism among believers results in a long and usually extra-biblical search for the “how to” that will make the Christian life work.
The greatest challenge for the church today is to recover the biblical gospel, and so experience newness of life in Jesus Christ. We will move in that direction as we pursue:
i. A return to the Scriptures, allowing the Bible to speak in its own terms, rather than using it as a source book for inspiration in relation to felt needs. The Scriptures reveal God as He is rather than as we conceive Him to be. The entrance of God’s Word gives light, and delivers us from our miserable preoccupation with ourselves
ii. A rediscovery of the radical nature of sin in all its dimensions as the fundamental human problem that can only be addressed by the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
iii. A renewed confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit
to bring new life in individuals and churches through the Word of God.
to sustain believers and churches through the pressures and struggles of life, and
to fulfill God’s purpose in the world through human weakness rather than human strength so that God may be glorified in all things.
Responses graciously facilitated courtesy of The Gospel Coalition
