We live in strange times. While the Bible-believing church is polarized on a wide range of hot-button “issues,” it neglects the powerful truths lying at the center of our faith. The atmosphere of contemporary evangelicalism too often is overreaction and misplaced enthusiasm. We are not as biblical as we think we are. For example, some earnest Christians seem afraid of experiential Christianity. They see that the church today is awash in experience-seeking. And as doctrinal and moral standards are also eroding, they connect the dots in such a way as to blame our problems on this yearning for a deeper experience of the immediacy of God… The modern world may be flooded with vulgar sensationalism and hyper-spectacularization and mawkish sentimentality. But as far as true gospel experience is concerned, our world is a desert. Therefore the church’s answer cannot be a starvation diet of doctrine only. The church’s answer is to irrigate the desert with authentic, biblical Christianity. God created us with a craving for himself, and famished nature will be avenged. If we are deprived of true experience of God, we are by nature spring-loaded to overreact in favor of error and distortion.
Ray ortlund
Reading Reflection:
It’s all too easy for the church to succumb to the tyranny of the urgent, letting immediate concerns dictate her agenda. The core priorities of worshiping God, knowing Him intimately, finding joy in His presence, and spreading His glory should hold a central place. Unfortunately, fear or worldly influences can often relegate these crucial callings to the background.
However, in our earnest attempt to realign the church with her divine purpose, we must be cautious not to reduce her mission to mere information protection and transfer, turning her into a mere education center.
What the church—and the world—truly needs is a genuine experience of God. The gospel doesn’t merely provide information; it leads us into communion with God Himself. Through Jesus Christ, we are adopted into life with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This vital communion with God serves as oxygen to our souls. The church is not pursuing experience for its own sake; rather, it is about experiencing God. This is what the world needs, and it is what we, as the distracted church, needs.
