Stand Firm - A Pastoral Letter
A Pastoral Letter to the Members & Regular Attenders of Covenant Grace Church
Written by Rev. Tom Brown on April 1, 2022
Brothers & Sisters in Christ,
I hope this finds you well, dear friends.
With a heart full of love for you and a sincere desire to be a faithful shepherd of your souls, I was compelled to write this pastoral letter. So much is happening right now in our culture and the wider world. In some ways the sweep of social change is happening at such a rapid and forceful pace that it can be overwhelming, confusing, and even paralyzing for us to know how to process from a Christian perspective. I want to offer the following words of encouragement in the hope of strengthening and fortifying your faith in order that we may stand firm to the end, (I Cor. 16:13-14).
Many of you, like myself, feel a deep concern over the current events of our world. There are numerous evil ideologies wreaking havoc in our society. The tide of the moment is pressing hard against the true church. It is a sad and unpleasant reality in our present day that even many of those who call themselves “Christians” find true, biblical Christianity egregiously offensive. Even the most loving teaching of God’s truth concerning subjects like sexual ethics, gender, identity, marriage, abortion, social justice, sin, God’s judgment, etc., are considered by many to be “oppressive” and “hate speech”. Perhaps more clearly now than ever before in our lives, we can see that living the true Christian life in this world is a hard business, (Matt. 7:14). As I said during the sermon last Sunday, “a shallow, fair-weather faith simply will not stand firm in the storm.”
So how do we stand firm? In one sense, the answer to this question is always the same: by looking to and trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. May we never stray from this foundation! But affirming this truth is more than an empty anecdote. Looking to Jesus in faith has real meaning and application to our daily lives as God’s people. In the face of the pervasive errors that exist both within the American church and without, I want us to consider the question: How can we faithfully follow Christ? Treatises could be written on this subject, but for now I simply want to offer three encouragements for the members of our church.
Stand Firm On Truth
Be Bold In Mission
Rest Wholly On Christ
1. Stand Firm On Truth
We have a need for greater clarity on and commitment to Biblical truth.
First, we must be much more clear and mature about what we believe as disciples of Jesus Christ. Just think for a moment about how often and diversely the term “Christian” is used in our society. For some it means proudly waving rainbow flags in the name of “love”. For others it means holding hateful picket signs in the name of “morality”. For others still, it means nothing more than being “positive and encouraging” toward our fellow man. The world around us no longer has any kind of accurate definition of what the term “Christian” truly means—and perhaps the broader church isn’t very far behind. “Christianity” in our country has been so man-centered and malleable to the world’s influence (on both the right and the left) for so long that it is has lost almost all resemblance to that which the head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ, set forth through his Apostles in the New Testament. As in the days of the Judges, every person simply does what seems “right in his own eyes” as if there is no King, (Judges 17:6).
Beloved, I feel the weight of this very deeply in my soul. The state of the world and the American church drives me to my knees with tears and churns in the depths of my heart almost constantly. I see a world of sinners, lost and dead in their sins, being offered a man-appeasing so-called “Christianity” that contains neither the biblical Christ nor the true gospel of salvation, (Gal. 1:6-10). I see “churches” full of people who have been convinced that they are “Christians” because they said a prayer—though they neither know nor love nor submit to the Lord Jesus Christ with their lives, (Job 34:21-22). Like it or not, this is the true state of our God-given mission field; this is the context in which God has placed us to labor as his witnesses in this world, (Ezek. 37:3). If we are going to serve him well, we must begin by standing firm on his truth, (John 14:6).
Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” (Jn. 8:31-32). According to Jesus, true freedom— freedom from sin’s deceitful and deadly snare—is found in knowing and holding fast to the truth as it is set forth in God’s Word. Conversely, this means that editing, forsaking, or hiding truth is actually the real source of “oppression” and makes those who do it the real mouthpieces of “hate speech”. Offering Christian freedom to others means sharing Christian truth with others; it can never mean less.
I know that when I teach the plain hard truths of our precious faith and call others to live out Biblical Christianity with all its God-given (and God-centered) facets, I am running the risk of shrinking the numbers of the church. I know that it would be easy to find 10 other local pastors who will gladly present an easier, more man-centered version of “Christianity”—leaving off the hard, costly, and comprehensive call of Christ, (Lk. 9:23-26). But I also know that regardless of what the culture demands, this is not the ministry Christ has called his people to, nor what the souls of men truly need, (Isa. 5:20).
Every Word of God is good for the souls of his people, (Jn 17:17). Every doctrine of God is a blessing to those who are truly disciples of Christ, (Jm 1:21). In every part, God’s Word is right and true, (II Tim. 3:16-17); it is without deficiency or error, (Ps. 119:137); and it is to be wholly received by those who claim be God’s children, (Jn. 8:47). The Almighty knows what his people need far better than his needy people, (Job 34:10). And it is the responsibility of faithful Christian pastors to teach and preach all of God’s Word—without any equivocation, accommodation, or apology, (II Cor. 4:1-2). If I did anything less, I would not only be dishonoring the God I claim to love and serve, but I would also be valuing my own reputation more than the good of your eternal soul. Behind a shimmering mask of so-called “love” for others, I would be hiding the real motivation of my heart: a sinful love of self. That is never the kind of pastor you should desire.
Beloved, the calling to stand firm on truth is not only the calling of pastors. It is also the calling of every individual Christian whom God has made his chosen witnesses in this world, (Acts 1:8). Therefore, I want to encourage you to stand firm on the truth in the face of present cultural pressure, (Matt. 7:24-27). Do not be ashamed of Christ or of his Words (Lk. 9:26); do not be ashamed of God’s holy and unchanging moral standards (Eph. 5:6); do not let the unbelieving culture shame you into accepting lifestyles and ideologies that ultimately dishonor, harm, and spiritually condemn those who embrace them, (I Cor. 6:9-11).
Christians love others in truth, according to truth, and with truth. A so-called “Christian love” that requires you to edit or reject Christian truth, is not Christian love. The world needs the truth of God’s Word as it is rightly understood in Jesus Christ, and we, as God’s redeemed people, are called to be faithful ambassadors of that truth in our everyday lives. Because of this, we have a need to…
2. Be Bold In Mission
We have a need to learn to live on mission for Christ in our everyday lives.
Second, I want to encourage you to ask God to help you cultivate a missional perspective for your everyday life. Christians are living witnesses in the world, (Matt. 5:16). Christians do not live like or look like the world around them, (Matt. 5:13). In the Christian’s life there are real, marked differences that are noticeable to others, (Eph. 5:8). In fact, these differences are so noticeable that sometimes the obvious contrast will invite the watching world to ask us to explain the reason our lives look so different than their own. According to the Apostle Peter, “In [our] hearts” we are to “honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you,” and to always share that explanation “with gentleness and respect,” (I Pet. 3:15). The distinct lifestyle of the Christian, and commitments of the Christian, and holiness of the Christian, are all ways that God’s people “shine as lights in the world,” living on mission for Christ “in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation,” (Phil. 2:16).
Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that in the normal course of your everyday life you cross paths with hundreds of other people each and every week? It may only be for a moment or it may be for longer, but every interaction—no matter how small—is an opportunity to share the truth and love of Christ with others through word and deed, (I Jn. 3:16-18). Our church’s average attendance is somewhere between 100-120 people. If each person were to speak of Jesus in some capacity with only 5 people each week, over 500 new people would be invited to step toward Christ each and every week! Not every interaction will be as deep as we might hope, and some will reject the invitation to church, etc. But our responsibility is not man’s response; it is our willingness to love others enough to boldly share the only hope for their immortal soul.
As your pastor, I want to encourage you to ask God to help you cultivate this kind of perspective for your daily life. We can all make a long list of excuses for why we let these opportunities pass us by. But we must recognize that the primary purpose of each new day is not about accomplishing our task list, maximizing our personal interests, or accruing more earthly wealth, (II Cor. 5:14-15). For the Christian, each new day is ultimately about faithfully honoring the Lord as we live on mission for his glory in this world. May we be bold for Jesus, beloved! The souls of others are too precious to be neglected. And as we take this important step each new day, let us…
3. Rest Wholly On Christ
We have a need for greater faith in Christ’s promised presence.
Finally, I want to encourage you to remember something Jesus said to his disciples (and to us) before his ascension to the right hand of the Father. After commissioning his disciples to live as his witnesses in the world by building his Church, he promised them that he would be “with [them] always, to the end of the age,” (Matt. 28:20). Sometimes the simplicity of these words rushes right past us; slow down and consider their importance. The resurrected Savior who is Lord of All promised his people that as they lay down their earthly lives for his heavenly purposes they will never lack his abiding love and presence—no matter what they may face, (Rm. 8:37-39)! That is a promise, dear Christian, that if truly believed, will change the way you live your life forever.
Thus far I have written to you about the need for us to stand firm on Christian truth in the midst of present cultural pressures, (I Cor. 15:58). I have also challenged us to prayerfully cultivate the perspective of living boldly on mission with Christ in the midst of our everyday lives, (II Cor. 5:20). But let’s be honest, this is no easy calling, (John 16:33). Being a faithful witness for Christ in this world means that we will face a fair amount of rejection, ridicule, slander, or sometimes even worse (Matt. 5:11-12; Hebrews 11).
When the social pressures of our anti-Christian culture come to bear down on us, it will be easy to lose courage and begin to doubt, (Heb. 12:12-13). This is why we must remember the priceless promise which Jesus gave us in the Great Commission. No matter what we face as we lay down our lives as witnesses for Christ and his Word in this world, we must hold fast to this truth: our conquering King has promised to be with us and to make us effective for his own glory all the way to the very end. Christ has never failed to keep his Word, beloved, and he never will.
Therefore let us stand firm on truth, be bold in our mission, and rest wholly on Christ as we live for God’s glory! For we know that our Savior and Lord will not fail to “build [his] church,” and that “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,” (Matt. 16:18). Let us never forget: “He who is in us is greater than he who is in the world,” (I Jn. 4:4).
May our faith be measured according to his faithfulness and our perseverance be parallel to the greatness of his divine power, both now and forevermore! Maranatha!
For the glory of Christ our Savior,
Your Pastor, Rev. Tom Brown