I have noticed a disturbing trend even here, where good parents who are church-going folks fail to transmit their values to the next generation. I believe a part of the problem is that churches are too fearful of “condemning” people to preach the Bible.

Scripture itself shows us that there is a difference between telling someone that their behavior is sinful and condemning them for that behavior. I am sure you recall the incident with the woman caught in the very act of adultery. The mob wanted her to be stoned, but Jesus shamed them away. Notice what He told her, “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

In that short passage of Scripture, we see that Jesus did not consider telling someone that they were sinning to be the same thing as “condemning” them for that behavior.

Throughout the volume of the Book we see that God’s people had the prophetic role of speak ing unwelcome truth to power. This was so for Samuel. It was so for Elijah and Jeremiah. It was so for John the Baptist when he told the wife-stealing King Herod right out in public,

“It is not lawful for you to have her.” And of course, it was so for Christ as he told the religious leaders of His day that they were white washed tombs. In the same way, Paul spoke unwelcome truth which caused him to be lashed three times and stoned twice. These things did not come about because Paul preached to the multitudes only that God loved them, for no one persecutes a preacher for saying that. Rather, these things came on him because Paul preached that He loved them so much that He wished to make known His will on what sort of men they ought to be.

I fear that much of the post-Bible church has forsaken the role of speaking truth to power. Indeed, they tremble with fear to speak God’s standards for human conduct to the least of the people, how much more do they fear to speak it to the mighty!

Yet, Christ Himself commanded His disciples to shout from the housetops even what they hear whispered in their ears. This can only mean that we are to boldly and even loudly proclaim God’struth, including His truth about right and wrong conduct. And how much better off a soul is once they hear and obey it. But “how will they hear without a preacher?”

I really see a need for older people who know better to, against the grain of the popular culture, confront youth who are making mistakes that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Some churches are willing to help people pick up the pieces of their broken lives, but would to God that they be just as willing to preach God’s truth about human conduct so that some of those lives would never be broken to begin with!

What does it mean to preach “the full Gospel?” I submit to you that no church preaches “the full Gospel” unless it preaches repentance from sin. Sadly, we live in a culture where people do not understand that there is anything that they need to repent of. Hebrews lists “repentance from dead works” as the milk of the Word - as one of the basics for baby Christians.

The message of grace is built on a foundation of understanding that man has sinned. Without that foundation, the “full Gospel” cannot be preached, for if there is no acknowledgement of sin there cannot be any need for mercy.

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Editor’s note: Mark Moore is the lead writer for an Internet blog on matters pertaining to Arkansas culture and government, Arkansas Watch, and on Tuesday nights is the host of an Internet-based radio program, Patriots on Watch. He can be reached through The Times at [email protected].

Opinion, Pages 4 on 10/06/2010