Are we really and truly credible???

A few days ago, I was watching a debate on television about ecology, with a “green” activist, a political ecologist and an expert in the field, all criticising each other for not genuinely practising true ecological principles.

It reminded me of an experience I had in my ministry.

One day, while I was questioning an evangelical pastor about the Biblical foundation for a particular practice which was part of his denomination, he was not able to give me a reply.

“I was taught this at Bible School; we have always done it like this,
but I can’t actually explain it Biblically.”

As I mulled over his reply, I decided to do my own analysis of how I did things in my pastoral ministry, just to come to the realisation that some of the things I had believed and done did not truly match what the Word of God said.

Certainly, they guaranteed some success in my ministry, but what were they worth in God’s eyes? I am not going to answer that question, as I am not really able to judge that. Nonetheless, I had to recognise that sometimes, there was a gap between my way of doing the Gospel and what the Bible had to say about it. It is not surprising that more and more people become sceptical when we introduce ourselves as Christians, let alone pastors.

For several years, the term “sceptic” has been used in many different expressions like: climate-change sceptic, Euro-sceptic, Covid sceptic, etc.

In fact, scepticism seems to affect all areas of information, to the point that we have become used to half-truths and full-on lies. We can’t say that scepticism is intrinsically bad or good. It is at the source of all great discoveries and allows us to go above and beyond appearances.

In this respect, we have, once again, inherited Greek thinking which has shaped an intellectual and cultural approach to thought in the West for thousands of years.

Rejected, however, by the church, which considered it to be the opposite of faith which had to be blind, « Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see »[1], we have lacked scepticism in our understanding of the Gospel, in the way we apply it and our ability to question human traditions imposed by our institutions..

On the other hand, our scepticism applies unwelcome brakes when it comes to receiving the Kingdom of God. « But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. »[2].

In the ecology debate, what the expert was criticizing was the lack of genuine connection between the theory and practice of ecology by those supposed defenders of it.

This criticism is also applicable to the body of Christ. How often have I paid the price for this, particularly within the family circle. How many times have I been confronted with inconsistencies between talk and action!

When Cathy and I were in Bible school in 1991, we did a course on evangelism where the speaker said, “A gospel not preached will not be backed up by the Lord, but a gospel not backed up by the power of God will not be believed”! As you will realise, this was in a very Pentecostal setting!

Obviously, this raised a question. We were regularly in the streets or in the church, preaching the Gospel, but we had to recognise that it was not backed up very often by signs of power and healings.

Lots of reasons were given by way of explanation. We were no longer living in the age of miracles; these things were reserved for the apostles; we were not preaching the real Gospel; wrong motivation; God is sovereign. Everyone went by their own explanation or by their “miracle recipe” and a number of books were published… I read a some of them until I realized that once again, I was missing the crux of the matter.

What gave my preaching of the Gospel credibility was not the number of miracles that happened in my ministry, but the reality of the relationship between my life and my preaching, and in one area in particular :”A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. »[3].

Repeated scandals, the arrogance of certain preachers, sometimes dubious political bias, latent racism, prosperity teaching that relegated the poor to a the rank of second-rate Christian, the pride of considering oneself superior to the rest of the world and, most importantly, permanent judgement towards those that we are so quick to condemn and so disinclined to love as the Father did : For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son… [4]

The truth is that our gospel lacks credibility because of the dichotomy we have established between our spiritual lives and our daily lives, in a nutshell. This is thanks, once again, to Greek thinking. We no longer find it useful to apply the most fundamental principles of the Gospel such as the fruit of the Spirit, in favor of things that suit us better or are easier. Two years ago now, the Lord said to me, you have replaced fellowship and communion with meetings and you hope I will manifest my presence in your meetings???

Received in January 2020

It is time for us to ask the right questions, even if it means leaving our traditions, and start living out the Gospel, with a capital “G”. Perhaps we will lose in terms of slickness and control, but at least we will win in terms of credibility.

Mikaël REALE

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[1] Hébreux 11 : 1

[2] Luc 18 : 16

[3] Jean 13 : 34

[4] Jean 3 : 16