Discernment: Part 3

Reasonable, Essential Discernment

It is not unreasonable that public acts should merit a public response. When I write something on the internet, I am making my statements public property—I am going on public record as saying, “this is who I am and this is what I want to say.” Therefore it is fitting, if I am teaching what is false, for someone to publicly denounce my teachings. If it is fitting for someone to publicly agree with me when I publicly say what is right, the opposite must also be true. This applies not only to blogs and emails, but also to books, sermons, speeches, and all other public forums. God’s commands regarding church discipline are reasonable and good. By forsaking His commands for discernment and mutual accountability, we have abandoned the Church to the oversight of a condemned World.

While discussing the worldliness of modern Christianity, a friend recently asked me, "So where does the church need to go from here?" I replied, "Repentance, Revival, and Reformation. Above all else, we need to pray unceasingly that God would give us hearts to return fully to Him and to His Word. We must count as absolute poison to the Church every man-made, man-centered innovation by which the majority of American churches are built today." Semper Reformanda! (The Church should be "Always Reforming!")

O, Lord, let us delight in Your holy Truth and abhor that which is evil and false, especially when it is found in ourselves! Rebuke us and revive us, for the sake of Your great Name!