Doug Stringer: The Pulpit Is Responsible

It seems more and more that we are living in a land of paradoxes. While we are all the beneficiaries of sacrifices made for the foundations laid by which we enjoy the liberties and freedoms in our nation, many would disregard the very roots of those foundations. We are witnessing the human inclination to casually disregard what previous generations have held to be of fundamental importance. Interestingly, there are those who love to tell the church of its social obligation while also telling the church to keep silent regarding public issues. On the one hand, many want the benefits of what the institutional church can offer when it suits them while also undermining the very heart that motivates and empowers the church from its effectiveness. Oftentimes the issues that the critics tell the church to stay away from lead to the very problems they expect the church to fix. There are those who are adamant that preachers should only preach the gospel, yet when their preaching causes them to be uncomfortable or meddles in their personal preferences, they become angry and some even become hostile. Even well-intentioned Christians fall for this…