Posted By Michael Breznau on Mar 1, 2019

So how should Christians respond and live faithfully in a broken, divided world?

:: Fault-Lines and the Faithful :: A message delivered on February 24, 2019 at Mayfair Bible Church:

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The San Andreas Fault stretches for 800 miles with at least half a dozen other fault-lines branching off to the east and west. Millions of people live right along the fault-line. Yet repeated earthquakes don’t seem to deter people from living there either! They are in constant danger of a chaotic disaster…

Today, across North America, our culture is splitting wide-open with societal upheaval, moral collapse, racism, violence, and political division. It’s like we’re living along the San Andreas Fault with no telling when the next moment of chaos may occur.

Lines are drawn up by mass-media outlets (on both sides of political and social persuasion, mind you). New battles seem to arise just about every day. After all, they want to keep us engaged in the news cycle! If something can’t be drummed up out of Washington, DC, then they’ll resort to the weather report to get everyone stirred into a panic.

However, on a very sincere level, the second largest church denomination in the USA is – this very week – drew up battle lines, per se, around issues of morality. Fault-lines are appearing everywhere around us… and the fault-lines of the culture often invade the church.

Two weeks ago, an extremely well-known pastor of a giant conservative evangelical church network was fired by his elders after years of hidden abuses and cover-ups. And the world salivates over our demise. The fault-lines are spreading…

So how should Christians respond and live faithfully in a broken, divided world?

I’ve prayed and thought and prayed some more over the past a couple years, but especially over the past several weeks about the answer to that question. Today, I will simply map out 4 coordinates from God’s Word to help us navigate the fault-lines as faithful Jesus-followers.

Here are 4 vital coordinates for faithful living in a divided world: 

1. Follow SCRIPTURE not CULTURE. (2 Tim. 3:14-17; 1 Pet. 1:23-25; 2:12)

Receive your talking points from the words and works of Jesus, not from political pundits or governmental power groups. Don’t take your cues from the broken culture, but from the enduring Word of God. This applies not only to matters of morality and bioethics, but also issues of justice and poverty. We aren’t in opposition to the culture itself, but we are not guided by the prevailing winds and morals of the times.

2. Live by FAITH not FEAR. (Josh. 1:9; Hab. 2:4; Matt. 28:20; Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:38)

God said to Joshua: “…do not be afraid from I AM with you wherever you go.” (Js 1:9) Many years later, Jesus then promised His disciples (and to us who are union with Him by faith): “Lo, I am with you always even to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:20) Therefore, we can live out our trust in Christ no matter what, knowing He is with us. The righteous of God live by faith in God. (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Heb. 10:38). So we can move from fear to faith because HE IS WITH US.

3. Rest your HOPE in GOD not GOVERNMENT. (Job 12:23; 1 Pet. 1:13; Rom. 15:13)

Nations will rise and fall. Kings and kingdoms will pass away. The earth will fade. But God and His Word will never change. Focus your hope on the One who governs all governments (1 Pet. 1:13; Rom. 15:13). One caveat: there’s nothing wrong with being grateful for our country. We are commanded to be prayerful for our government leaders (1 Tim. 2:1-3). I’m thankful for those within our local church who serve in leadership positions in the government. We must pray for them. Yet we must also remember that our hope is not in them but in Jesus the King, whose kingdom is not of this world.

4. Speak from LOVE not HATE. (Matt. 5:10-12, 43-48; 1 Pet. 3:8-9, 13-15)

When verbal (or literal) stones are being thrown, we don’t pick them up and throw them back at the crowd. As counter-intuitive as this sounds, we are called to love the haters. When commenting on Matthew 5:43-48, John MacArthur said,  “We are most like our God when we love the people who hate God.” So we must ask ourselves: Will they know we are Christians by our vote? Money? Buildings? Programs? No… by our love.

“The choice for the church in every age will always be, will our identity be shaped by Scripture or by our culture – by the biblical story or the cultural story?” – Lesslie Newbigen/Michael Goheen