Ridgell's Originals

 I hear different versions of this statement often.  Sometimes negative.  Here is what was wrong with my old church.  They would never talk about the hard things.  Never addressed the difficult issues.  Never talked about the things that matter in our culture.

Or they talk about the new church they are going to and are thrilled because they heard a sermon.  A sermon on a topic that was never addressed in their old church. 

Always interesting when you know that subject was talked about, or you preached a sermon on that very topic.  So why do they not remember.  Or why do they even know the things talked about.

Here are a few things that may contribute to this misunderstanding.

You weren't there for every class or sermon.  And that is not a criticism.  But it is awkward when you assume the only topics discussed were those that you heard.

Or they talked about it and you weren't paying attention.  Sometimes you just aren't focused.  Or you were in a bit of a wilderness and just didn't stay engaged.

Maybe it was done so poorly that you didn't get the point.  I have heard poor communicators and it is hard to always know what they mean.  Of course, that does not mean they did not address it.

And ... maybe they talked about it but not like you thought they should.  They did not make the points you think they should have made.  Or drew conclusions you did not agree with.  That is not the same as not addressing it.

So be careful about making broad statements that may not be true.  I know some churches avoid the hard topics.  Much better to preach thru the text.  It is hard to avoid topics that way.  

So if you are in a church that really does avoid hard discussions, I would encourage you to be bold in standing on Scripture.

And if you are in a church that does talk about the hard things, kudos to you.

# posted by Steve @ 5:00 AM