How Choosing Unity over Division Can Transform Our Church Communities

Members of the historic Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia have been legally parking on the street outside their building, thanks to a city permit. However, these spots are located in what is (other than Sunday morning) a bike lane. After months of protests by a local association of cyclists, the church has decided to work with the city to find alternative parking. Their executive pastor explained: “Many of our neighbors see us as self-centered, pursuing our own interests and unconcerned with their welfare. That’s something that could easily become a stumbling block for them as we try to invite them to know the Lord and to know us as a church.”

Their decision to prioritize the souls of their community marks them as followers of the One who “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). James Montgomery Boice, who famously pastored their church from 1968 until his death in 2000, observed:

“No one ever truly comes to know, honor, or worship God without being changed in the process.”

As we’ll see today, such change is more vital for our churches and our culture than ever before.

The Opposite of Courage in Our Society

In 1953, Americans’ belief in God was nearly 100 percent. More than 90 percent identified as Christians, and 73 percent were church members. That same year, psychologist Rollo May wrote in Man’s Search for Himself that the opposite of courage in our society is not cowardice but conformity.

Now that church membership has fallen below 50 percent for the first time in American history, what would he say about conformity to our “post-Christian” culture?

In The Great Evangelical Disaster, we have apologist Francis Schaeffer’s answer to our question:

Here is the great evangelical disaster—the failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth as truth. There is only one word for this—namely accommodation. The evangelical church has accommodated to the world spirit of the age. First, there has been accommodation on Scripture so that many who call themselves evangelicals hold a weakened view of the Bible and no longer affirm the truth of all the Bible teaches—truth not only in religious matters but in the areas of science and history and morality. . . .
This accommodation has been costly, first in destroying the power of the Scriptures to confront the spirit of our age; second, in allowing the further slide of our culture. Thus we must say with tears that it is the evangelical accommodation to the world spirit around us, to the wisdom of this age, which removes the evangelical church from standing against the breakdown of our culture.

Stern words. But is Schaeffer right? He made his declaration in 1984; what would he say today?

If Christians are “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) and the room is dark, what must we conclude about the power of our witness?

“The Truth Will Set You Free”

Here’s the good news: Jesus promised us, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31–32). Note the order:

Abide in Jesus’ word—this means to “live” in Scripture as we study and obey it.
Then you are truly my disciples—we will pattern our lives after our Master.
As a result, you will know—God guarantees that we will understand and experience personally.
The truth—note the definite article.
And the truth will—again, this is certain.
Set you free—from falsehood, sin, and death (Ephesians 4:25; Romans 8:2) to righteousness (Romans 6:18) and service (Galatians 5:13).

Our skeptical culture wants proof that God’s word is true before trusting it. However, all relationships require a commitment that transcends the evidence and becomes self-validating. You cannot prove you should attend a school, take a job, or get married until you do. You examine the evidence beforehand to be sure, but then you must take a step into a relationship that verifies itself through experience.

So, it is with biblical truth. The more you and I choose to trust and obey it, the more we will discover it to be “living and active” (Hebrews 4:12), trustworthy and transformational in our lives.

And so, as we have noted across this week, ideas change the world—God’s ideas most of all.

“So We Become Stronger Than All Others”

Yesterday, Christians around the world marked the martyrdom of St. Maximilian Kolbe on August 14, 1941, in Auschwitz. The priest chose to die in the place of a condemned prisoner, perishing in a starvation bunker with a smile on his lips.

In one of his earlier letters, he wrote:

Through obedience, we transcend our own limitations and align ourselves with God’s will, which, with infinite wisdom and prudence, guides us to do what is best. Moreover, as we become filled with the divine will, which no created thing can resist, so we become stronger than all others.

Father Kolbe’s death proved the truth of his declaration.

Will you be “filled with the divine will” today?

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.

Quote for the Day:

“Such is the immutability of truth: the patrons of it make it not greater, the opposers make it not less; as the splendor of the sun is not enlarged by them that bless it, nor eclipsed by them that hate it.” —Thomas Adams (1583–1652)

Published Date: August 15, 2024

Jim Denison, PhD, is a cultural theologian and the founder and CEO of Denison Ministries. Denison Ministries includes DenisonForum.org, First15.org, ChristianParenting.org, and FoundationsWithJanet.org. Jim speaks biblically into significant cultural issues at Denison Forum. He is the chief author of The Daily Article and has written more than 30 books, including The Coming Tsunami, the Biblical Insight to Tough Questions series, and The Fifth Great Awakening.