The Church
Conversion not Acceptance

Relationships are important to the emerging/emergent movement types. And that is not a bad thing. We need to open our churches to all folks in the postmodern world. But, we must take care that fulfillment is not found in our human relationships instead of in Christ. Too often our relationships are for affirmation and value; for feeling good about ourselves. Belonging to the softball team, YMCA, Rotary Club or any other group can be good for self esteem. Lots of groups give us affirmation. The Church, however, is not about affirmation and value. It is about change. It is called conversion.

Accepting and including others is a step to conversion but not an end. We need to introduce others to the “good news” that they do not have to be as they are. They can be a new creation in Christ. The old passes away; the new has come. 2 Cor. 5:17. Acceptance and inclusion is not the Gospel. The Gospel is about radical change. Dead people are now alive. The unvarnished Gospel is not about keeping people as they are but about changing them forever.

The emerging/emergent folks want to embrace the postmodern idea that we need to understand the times, and who can argue with that? But we are not to embrace the times. Jesus was counter cultural. He was accepting of people but not their behavior whether it be the woman caught in adultery [go and sin no more]; the Pharisees [you brood of vipers] or the rich young ruler [give up all that you have]. Christ wanted folks to be different from the way they were. The sinners obvious to the world, the religious types and the prominent people all needed to be changed, not affirmation and acceptance.

Jesus knew the culture would change when those who affect it change. He did not say…”well, this is how people are, so how can we make the message relevant to them in that situation?” No, He wanted them to see that they must be nailed to a tree, but the good news is that they do not have to be. He did it for them. John Murray’s wonderful book Redemption Accomplished and Applied is the Scriptural punch line. Jesus paid it all and through faith you can apprehend His work. That is a radical message that is not in tune with a self-centered culture where people want to be comfortable in their sin. They do not want to change…they want to be accepted just as they are.

When people come to Jesus and encounter His grace and mercy, they are never the same. He is an Agent of change. He died for those the Father gave Him. He did not die for folks to remain as they are. The Church is about the Church not the culture the Church finds itself located, wherever or whatever that is. The Church is not about acceptance. The Church is about conversion.