Out in the Cold Once Again!

                                                                           

I became a Christian in 1963 while a student at the University of Nebraska.  It was such a fantastic change in my life.  I had come from a Methodist background which was considered a bastion of liberal theology and social concern.  It was an era when people came to church because “it is the thing to do”!  Evangelism was considered coffee and donuts between services because that “brings them in”.  Of course, the point was not to share the Gospel (that might offend the visitor), but to share the donuts.  I loved it because I love donuts!

I went away to college thinking I was a Christian.  I had been confirmed, taught Sunday School, an officer in the youth fellowship, and sang in the choir.   What a winning resume.  From my youth group I learned how to carry a Buddhist prayer wheel.  The only sermon I remember from my youth was the pastor telling about his trip to Paris (he and is wife went to "les Folies Begere" which he shared in the sermon).  Other than that we had a lot of reviews of the Saturday Review.  


My church left me out in cold because it never preached the Gospel.

My freshman year I met a guy who shared with the claims of Jesus Christ and the gospel of grace.  To learn I was a sinner and needed to accept Christ in my life was the devastating confrontation I needed to face.  My church had offered me donuts.  This person offered me Christ.

After my first year at the university I transferred to a  small mainline church college.  Our religion professor, an extreme liberal, made the observation that evangelicalism would become “liberal” just like the main-liners. He was not being belligerent but stating historical trends of religious movements.   I, of course, stood up for my evangelical convictions and said that would never happen.

Unfortunately, I think that day has arrived and though we are not liberal like my childhood church  the Gospel seems to have been left behind for another message.  A message that “tickles the ear”, issuing warm fuzzies, psychologically sound sermons or "that's entertainment" more than proclaiming the evangelical gospel of repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ.

Now I am sitting in the church bistro with my cup of coffee reading my pastor's latest book (which I got at a tremendous discount) wishing he was in the pulpit long enough so I did not have to buy his books.  This time there are no donuts and once again I am out in the cold