Three Problems in the Church That Should Never Ever Be Solved

Three Problems in the Church That Should Never Ever Be Solved June 26, 2017

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If no one is coming to your church, that’s a problem that needs to be solved. If there is known sin flaunted within the body, that’s a problem that needs to be solved. If a wolf is loose among the flock sowing discord and wreaking havoc, that’s a problem that needs to be solved.

But there are a few problems that should never ever be solved. As Atlanta pastor Andy Stanley describes them, they are ‘tensions to manage, not problems to solve.’ Here are three of the biggest problems in the church that should never ever be solved:

1. Evangelism vs discipleship. You absolutely need both, and finding and picking a landing spot in one camp or another will only hurt the church. If you exclusively focus on evangelism, many maturing believers will look elsewhere for solid food and will not remain. Salvation is central to the Christian faith, but it is not the only thing. Likewise, a focus on discipleship to the exclusion of evangelism will make a church body unhealthily inward looking, forgetting the timeless truth that personal evangelism is the greatest form of discipleship.

2. Grace vs truth. How do you deal with sin and sinners in the church? Everyone must deal with this problem because every church has sin and sinners within. Once again, landing in one camp or another will have lasting consequences. A church that practices grace to the exclusion of truth will allow sin to run rampant with no safeguards in place, while a church that decides that truth predominates over grace will become judgmental Pharisees. Jesus modeled what it means to live out both grace and truth (John 1:17).

3. Unity vs diversity. Depending on where you look in the New Testament, you’ll see both unity and diversity preached. Jesus prayed in John 17 that the church would be united above all else, while in Acts 2 you see the early church made of people from nations throughout that part of the world. If a church pursues unity by only targeting one type of people, that betrays the biblical model. Yet at the same time if a church allows any doctrine to waltz into the church in the name of diversity, that church will quickly fall into dangerous heresy. Both unity and diversity are appropriate in certain spheres. A diversity of cultures, races, socioeconomic classes, generations, personalities and giftings will only make a church stronger as long as they are completely united around faith in Jesus Christ.

QUESTION: What other problems would you argue should never be solved by the church?


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