I am preaching in Oklahoma on Tuesday to a group of pastors from churches like ours. It is a sermon I have been working on for several months, and I wrote an accompanying 90-page book to give away at the conference.
The book and sermon are called Contending But Not Contentious, and I hope to encourage young men to stay true to what we have inherited from previous generations, but have a good spirit while contending for the faith. I had a conversation recently with a pastor who told me that some groups get a little too contentious, and he would rather not be associated with all of that. I get that. And I agree.
You can take a strong stand on something but not be ugly about it. As Christians, we will grow increasingly counter-cultural just because the culture is drifting so far away from the Bible. In my dad’s day, prayer and Bible reading were commonplace even in the public schools, so biblical views were not so foreign. Today, though, entire generations of kids have grown up without any Bible influence, so it’s no wonder why they are shocked at traditional Christian beliefs once they do bump into them.
Again, you don’t have to be ugly about your beliefs. I don’t believe Jesus was, and HE is our model. Be a contender for the faith, but don’t be contentious in the fight. Let the Gospel do the offending… not you.
—Pastor Ryan