They’re not leading anyone. They may leave critical comments on a blog or write angry emails to church leaders, but who’s following them? (Other than maybe five people who write letters/leave comments with them?)
Who are they leading to Christ?
What are they building?
What seeds are they sowing other than seeds of dissension?
The spiritual gift of criticism is not a spiritual gift.
Do we need to get back to the Gospel? Absolutely. But the Gospel is as much about moving forward as it as about moving back.
So keep moving forward.
3. The Scripture Says…
Ah…scripture wars.
These are so hard.
When I was a young leader, I tried to justify all my actions with scripture.
But you know what? Often that’s exactly what people try to do when they keep quoting scripture verses: justify their actions.
And when you try to explain your position using a series of scripture verses, guess what someone who disagrees with you will do? The same thing.
And you end up with a scripture war.
I’m not sure that’s why God gave us the scriptures.
Again, every strategy you propose or adopt should be entirely consistent with scripture and genuinely biblical, but too often Christians will try to use scriptural principles to attack preferences with which they disagree.
Often, strategy comes down to preference.
One person likes this kind of music; another prefers a different style.
Someone likes a more traditional architecture; someone else prefers something far more modern.
