As I said in the post on Slice of Laodicea it is a sad fact that there is much separatism going on within the Church at large at a time when we most need to be proclaiming the genuine Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastor Bob DeWaay and I were just discussing this subject and with apostasy so deep into evangelicalism this is a time when a new movement of some sort usually begins. But we wonder what will come?

Smaller factions who decide to rally around ideas important to them, as even some of the major well-known “cream of the crop” ministries have already been doing for some time now, or will the Church of Jesus Christ realize that we need to turn in full-scale repentance to our Lord and get back to letting God the Holy Spirit do His job of converting sinners.

By looking at the methods employed by the inspired Apostle Paul in this piece Bob DeWaay offers a Biblical look at proper strategies for preaching the Gospel in public forums as opposed to the local church. Charles Spurgeon was right when he said that the highest calling of the Body of Christ is to follow Jesus Christ Who “came to seek and save that which was lost, and on the same errand He has sent His Church.”

And further Spurgeon said that “she is a traitor to the Master Who sent her if she is beguiled by the beauties of taste and art to forget that to preach Christ and Him crucified is the only object for which she exists among the sons of men. The business of the Church is salvation.”

And yet today we see evangelicalism fracturing right before us and with the inclusivism spread by the practice of Contemplative Spirituality now deep within the new evangelicalism there is much confusion today as to how to even preach this Gospel to those which are lost. In this very important article Bob DeWaay tells us:

Over the years I have pondered a contradiction in the life of Paul. In the book of Galatians, Paul strongly denounced any compromise with Judaizers (those who claimed Christians must keep Jewish laws like circumcision and food laws).

Bob then points out that, “Paul went through a Jewish rite of purification and entered the temple where sacrifices were offered for him and his companions. Such behavior apparently contradicts what Paul taught in Galatians. But Paul’s foremost concern was the gospel.”

Bob’s point is this is not a really contradiction at all but rather is a different method God the Holy Spirit led him to use within a different forum. And this timely work takes a good look at the differences between the preaching and teaching within the setting of the local church and a proper Christian witness as one boldly preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the public arena.

And Bob is spot on when he says that right now:

The error that many people make, especially those in the Purpose Driven and Emergent movements, is that they take Paul’s practices and teachings employed in the public arena to preach the gospel and apply them to the church.

You can read this entire article by Bob DeWaay right HERE.