The Pendulum of the Church

Why is it that whenever the church finds out that it is doing something wrong, it seems to jump to the opposite extreme?

Today I read something in a popular Christian book that said God is love, so it is wrong to fear Him, or think of Him as a judge, or think of His wrath, or think of His discipline. Refer to 1 Peter 2:17, Psalm 75:7, & Heb 12:6. 

I read that grace is by faith, so any attempt to test someones fruit or tell them that being made holy is part of the gospel is a flat denial of grace. Refer to Matt 7:17.

I heard a sermon that said the church exists solely for unbelievers not the saints, and that evangelism is the only reason the church exists, and not discipleship. Refer to Eph 4:12

I heard another message that said learning about propitiation, justification, sanctification and all of those "theological" words make people "fat" and useless.

I see churches that rarely ever practice communion, and in order to be culturally relevant they neglect these great historical acts of worship. 


I heard another famous speaker say that churches should not be marked by "belief in a set of doctrines or beliefs" and actions is what matters.



Is there some truth in these statements? Sure. But I have to ask a question after hearing all of this from the emerging church,  are you ignoring half of the biblical evidence? Instead of balancing the problems in the church, have you not just created another problem and jumped to another extreme?

Why can we not have both?

Why can we not have God as BOTH loving AND just, full of grace AND full of just wrath. 

Why can we not have a church that evangelizes AND disciples? (Matt 28:16-20)

Why can we not have a church that equips believers AND reaches the lost? (Eph 4:12)

Why can we not have a church that is culturally relevant AND practices the great historical traditions of the early church. 

Why can we not have a church that teaches the great truths of propitiation, justification, doctrines of grace, AND serves the community, reaching unbelievers, and seeks community justice?

Why can we not have both? Or does the church have to swing from one extreme to the next, like a pendulum, swinging back and forth with one extreme pushing the others to result in an opposite extreme, without finding the balance in the Word of God.

Swinging from legalism to a license to sin, from no action to no knowledge, from no relevance to no tradition.

Sadly, this error always results from a improper view of Scripture.  I pray that we as the church would step up and embrace, trust, and follow the full counsel of God found His Word.

Not that we will ever have a perfect church, or that churches in this balance do not already exist, but we should be the church "always reforming" to find and return to the great balance and paradox of Scripture.