“We’re living in a world that is contradicting a lot of the things that the Bible says.”
Despite the confusion in today’s society, God’s Word still provides the blueprint for the way we need to live our lives.
Pastor and professor Sam Andreades provides a biblical perspective and insight from his book .
In the same way that our faith can be tested on an individual basis, God is able to test the body of Christ as a whole. Sam explains that the evidence can be seen throughout the Old Testament.
“I think that situation is given to us by God, it’s ordained by God in the same way that sometimes God brings pressures on the Israelite’s in the Old Testament.”
He shares a few examples from Judges and 1 Corinthians 11:19, pointing out that the same pressures can be seen in the church today.
“He doesn’t drive all the opposing forces out of the land in order to test the people of God and to see where their hearts really are at. That’s what I think he’s doing with the church today, He’s bringing up some really controversial and contradicting elements and by doing this, and He’s asking the church, ‘Where are you really? Are you following me or what? Where’s your heart really?’”
“This is a sticking point. In fact, Paul says it’s necessary for these things, for heresies even he uses the word, to come about…in order to prove the true.”
Sam says that although it’s happening in our churches today, God still has a plan and He’s certainly in control of what’s going on. As a church, we need to make sure to stand on His truth.
“Churches need to check whether they’re assimilating and just kind of being politically correct, or are they standing for what’s really true while listening to the legitimate concerns that the culture raises?”
We need to be aware of the struggles that Christians are facing today, so that we can know the truth about these concerning issues.
“I’ve pastored a lot of young people. I’ve found that there are usually afflicted by one of the ‘Big 3: fornication or sexual activity outside of wedlock, pornography, and mono-gendered/same-sex relationships.”
“They’re big difficulties and temptations for our young people today. That’s something where understanding what God says can really help us understand and being powered by the salvation that Christ brings us. It’s is really the answer to all of these ways in which we’re asked to withstand temptation.”
Not only does the Bible provide answers that we need to navigate through complex cultural issues, but Christ provides us with a way for us to live and speak the truth in our lives and maintain healthy relationships with others.
“Christ really can bring us into these healthy and wholesome relationships through these principles. Christ has made the way for us so we can actually come to a place where we are both maintaining equality and the asymmetries in our families in our marriage relationships and in the church…because church is the family of God.”
