Church: God's agenda for local churches

So this is a section about what Christians are called to be and why.

So reading from 1 Peter 1, verse 13.

1 Peter 1:13

Therefore, preparing your minds for action and being sober-minded,

set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you

at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions

of your former ignorance,

but as he who called you is holy,

you also be holy in all of your conduct,

since it's written,

You shall be holy, for I am holy.

And if you call on him as father,

who judges impartially according to each one's deeds,

conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways

inherited from your forefathers,

not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

but with the precious blood of Christ,

like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world,

but was made manifest in the last time for the sake of you,

who through him are believers in God,

who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,

so that your faith and hope are in God.

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth

for a sincere brotherly love,

love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

since you've been born again,

not of perishable seed,

but of imperishable,

through the living and abiding word of God,

for all flesh is like grass and all its glory,

like the flower of the grass.

The grass withers,

the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord remains forever.

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

So,

put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,

like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk,

that by it you may grow up into salvation,

if indeed you've tasted that the Lord is good.

As you come to him,

a living stone rejected by men,

but in the sight of God chosen and precious,

so you yourselves,

like living stones,

are being built up as a spiritual house

to be a holy priesthood,

to offer spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it stands in scripture,

Behold,

I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone,

chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in him

will not be put to shame.

So,

the honour is for you who believe,

but for those who do not believe,

the stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,

and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.

They stumble because they disobey the word,

as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race,

a royal priesthood,

a holy nation,

a people for his own possession,

that you may proclaim the excellencies of him

who called you out of darkness

into his marvellous light.

Once, you were not a people,

but now you are God's people.

Once, you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

Beloved,

I urge you as sojourners and exiles

to abstain from the passions of the flesh,

which wage war against your soul.

Keep your conduct amongst the Gentiles honourable,

so that when they speak against you as evildoers,

they may see your good deeds

and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Well, three weeks into this series,

and summary thus far is that

God's church is really precious to him.

And in local expression in church families like ours,

God works out his purpose for the world.

And given those two things,

I think our next question needs to be then,

since church is a foretaste of heaven

and we're seeing how the heavenly church

connects down to where we are here now,

this question needs to be then,

what is our agenda?

If God's church here locally

is so important to him,

then what should we be doing?

What should we be focused on

as a local church family?

God's purpose in his world doesn't change,

but of course,

our culture is constantly changing.

So how is our church to be relevant

and contemporary

in a society which actually thinks

that the church is always the problem

and never the solution?

A society that actually totally now rejects

Christian values

and is very, very quickly trying to

right them out of society

and out of life completely.

And as Matt said in his introduction,

and we didn't collude on this,

but it was a bit scary,

should we be a welfare agency

focused on addressing

sort of key social problems

in our society,

family breakdown,

homelessness,

unemployment,

substance abuse,

and stuff like that?

Well,

many churches are actually on that pathway

and they've got lots of government funding

to help them down that pathway.

Should we be,

think of ourselves

and think of our task

as being a service provider

to our local community?

And that would mean then probably,

as lots of churches do,

that we market our gospel message

and the gospel community,

we market in such a way

as to make it appealing

to our wider society

so we can get them in the door.

So we'll make it appealing

for people to come to Jesus,

make it easy for people

to come to salvation,

make our meetings more entertaining,

more fun,

run programs that people

can easily engage in

because that's what they like to do,

things that make them happy.

In short,

adding,

making it easier for people

to add a bit of spirituality

into their existing lives.

And again,

I think there's quite a few churches around

who have gone down that pathway.

Is our role primarily

to be a God-honoring religious club

in the world

but really separated from it,

certainly not part of it.

So that our existence,

in a sense,

as we get on with being

what we should be,

God's people,

our existence then condemns

everybody else around us,

even if it's a condemnation by silence.

And again,

I could take you to churches

that that's what they think

their role is.

An elite community.

Then,

perhaps closer to home,

still other churches

think their primary role,

their primary thing to do

is evangelism.

That is,

our primary role as church

is to get the gospel message

out to our city,

to the ends of the earth.

And so,

in churches like that,

you'll hear that

week after week,

evangelism is the application

for the teaching.

Evangelism dominates

the weekly programs

as people are encouraged

or pushed into it.

Evangelism dominates

the planning and strategy

of the leaders of the church.

And perhaps,

even,

evangelism

and the amount

of evangelistic activities

you engage in

becomes a measure

of the health

of the church.

So,

there's a whole range

of options.

And I think,

again,

there's a whole range

of confusion

among Christians

when thinking about

the agenda

for local churches.

So,

this morning,

I want to suggest

to you that for Paul,

as he writes in,

and Peter,

as he writes in the New Testament,

it's not an issue

of confusion.

Paul,

I think,

is saying,

again,

like he often says,

right thinking

will end up

producing right practice.

If we know

who we are

as a church,

then we'll know

what to do

as a church.

And I think

it's a fairly

straightforward principle.

Since God's church

is central

to his purposes

in the world,

then it is reasonable

to assume

that God

has set an agenda

for it.

It's not as if

he's just wound

the church up

and then let it loose.

No,

it's precious to him.

He's purposed for it

in and through it.

So,

it's reasonable

that he will set

an agenda for it.

So,

therefore,

go back to the question,

what is our agenda?

How do we be relevant

and contemporary

in 2023

in this hostile culture?

Well,

the answer,

very simply,

is by implementing

God's agenda

for his church.

That's it

at its simplest point.

Not my preferred agenda.

Not the agenda

that our society

would seek

to impose on us.

And sometimes

not even the agenda

of other rapidly growing

and apparently

successful churches.

God has given us

his agenda

and it's summarized,

I'm going to suggest,

in two principles.

One today

and one next week.

The first principle

is this

and it's built into

fantastic pictures

as well as words.

The first principle

is this.

Very simple.

Be who you are.

If you only know

what God's agenda

for this local church is,

at the simplest point

it's be who you are.

The first picture

I'm going to look at

this morning

is the one

from 1 Peter 2.

This picture

of the living temple,

living stones

and the living temple

of the living Lord.

Now,

just to get us

into the picture,

here's how I want

to take you into it.

You see,

nations and individuals

are constantly

making statements

through buildings.

If you look at

the Burj Khalifa,

whatever it is

in Dubai,

tallest building

in the world,

smallest nation

in the world,

it's a statement

and a very impressive

statement

about what a small,

insignificantly small,

but oil rich nation

can do.

Incredible engineering.

Likewise,

wealthy people

build huge architect

designed homes

that are often

just stunningly beautiful.

Sometimes ugly,

but that's a different,

that's a perspective.

Environmentalists,

on the other hand,

build small,

mud brick houses

and so on and so forth.

You get the point.

Well,

I think what Peter's

saying here

in 1 Peter 2

is that God

intends

to make a statement,

a very loud,

bold,

in-your-face statement

through his church.

We saw it last week

in Ephesians 2,

the picture of

the temple

built on the foundations

and the prophets

with Jesus

as a capstone.

We're seeing it again today,

this living stones

in the living temple

of the living Lord.

God's intention

is to make a statement

through his church.

Now,

the question is,

how does this picture

help us

work out

God's agenda?

Well,

it's built around

the idea

of the temple.

See,

in the Old Testament,

the temple

was a visible picture

of God's dwelling place.

It was a visible picture

of how life

as God created it

was meant to be.

That is,

God

at the center

in special relationship

with his worshiping

and obedient people,

a relationship

which was only possible

because God

in his grace

and mercy

had dealt

with their sin

and invited them

to come in

as family members

into his home.

That is the picture

of the temple.

In Jesus,

as we see in this

1 Peter 2,

in Jesus,

that picture

has now become

reality in Jesus

but we also

still enjoy the picture

as it's moderated

to us through Jesus.

The church,

as we saw last week

and you'll notice

that there's a fair bit

of repetition

week after week

but also

stepping forward

and nuancing

because this is

right through Scripture.

This is just not

a single verse

we're looking at.

This is a constant

theme of Scripture

that the church

is a statement

of God's purposes.

What's his purpose?

Primarily,

to reconnect

to his rebellious people

in and through

the death

and resurrection

of Jesus.

His purpose

is to create

a wonderful

new family

of obedient children.

Children who would

honor him

as their loving father.

Children who would

desire above all else

to be like their father.

God's statement

through his church

is to create

a new community,

to be in practice

as a community

demonstrably renewed

from the inside out.

As we see

in some of these verses

that we just read here,

no longer

governed by the old

self-interested,

self-governing,

self-ruling,

self-promoting

attitudes,

but marked

by a new unity

in community

as servants

of Jesus.

marked by

generous

brotherly love

because God

is love.

Marked by

unity

because God

is one.

The church

then is a statement

of the good life

we were created

to enjoy.

And it's through

union with Christ

that we've been

freed

from the empty

way of life,

normal to our world.

That's a very

powerful statement

in verse 18

of chapter 1.

That's what our world

lives in and through.

Generation after

generation

trying the same

old,

tired,

unfilled

views of life.

But we've been

freed from that.

Freed from that

to

a life of worship

and service

of our Lord.

Freed to enjoy

forgiveness

from sin.

Free to enjoy

renewed

relationship

with God.

Free to enjoy

direct

fellowship

with Him

for eternity

as our Father.

And if you look

at chapter 2

verses 1-4,

we're enabled

by God's

Holy Spirit

to grow up

into Christ.

Christ.

In other words,

what started

in us

is slowly

moving to

completion

as God's

Spirit

renovates us

in every detail

from the inside

out

to enjoy

the new life

of freedom

we have in

Christ.

And

we start to move

into practicality

in verses 3

and 4 there.

Not just to enjoy

the new life

in Christ,

but to

overflow

in that new

life with

what's called

here,

offering

spiritual

sacrifices

acceptable

to God

through Jesus

Christ.

What are

those acceptable

sacrifices?

Well,

it's lives

of trust

and faith

and dependency

on the Lord.

It's lives

of service

of our Lord

God

and service

of one another.

It's lives

of love

where we're

committed to

each other

and to

speaking the

truth to

each other

and building

each other

up

and supporting

each other

that's the

life we

were created

to enjoy.

That is

a microcosm

of heaven

as we saw

last week.

That's

what we're

to be about.

And the

church is a

statement of

God's wisdom

and faithfulness.

Again,

we saw that

last week

in Ephesians

verses 9

and 10.

Just listen

to this.

Remember,

this was written

to people

who were

exiles,

essentially

refugees.

It cost

them heaps

to become

Christians.

All the

normal lines

of inheritance,

all the

things that

were important

to Jews

in those

days,

had gone.

No family

name,

no family

inheritance,

no family

home,

no location

to call

their home.

All of that

was gone.

They were

refugees,

exiles.

gods.

And Peter

reminds them

that it's

not all

God.

They've

actually

got

something

far,

far

better.

You are

a chosen

race,

a royal

priesthood,

a holy

nation,

a people

for his

own

possession,

that you

may proclaim

the excellencies

of him who

called you

out of

darkness

into his

marvelous

light.

Hear the

movement

there?

once they

understand who

they are,

then they

easily overflow

into what

they will

naturally do.

They understand

who you are

in Christ,

then you

cannot but

overflow in

proclaiming the

excellencies of

him who

called you

out of

darkness

into his

marvelous

light.

In other

words,

what is the

church's

task,

agenda?

Well,

to overflow

out of

who we

are.

And what

will that

mean?

Understanding

that our

Father is

forgiving

and loving

and generous.

He validates

us.

He's

desirable.

He gives

us security.

And out of

that overflow,

to speak

about God,

that's what it

is to speak

about his

excellencies,

to speak

about God

as he

deserves to

be spoken

about.

Our

merciful,

forgiving,

renewing,

validating

Father.

One

overflows

easily into

the other.

The church

is a

statement of

God's

ongoing

invitation to

become part

of his

community

through

Jesus.

God's

love.

If you go

back to

chapter 1, verse

23,

you've been

born again,

not of

perishable

seed, but

of

imperishable

through the

living and

abiding

word of

God.

Jesus is

the living

and enduring

word of

God who

not only

has called

people into

his house

as his

children, but

he continues

to call

people into

his house

to be his

children in

real space

and time,

in Newcastle

in 2023

and around

the world.

he continually

adds new

living stones

into his

living building.

And how

does that

work?

Well, again,

link what I've

just said,

as we speak

the words

of Jesus,

the life-giving

words of the

evangel, the

gospel, and

as we wrap

them up in

the excellencies

of God who

has called us

out of darkness

into light.

In other

words, as

local churches

like ours,

both speak

the offer

of real

life in

Jesus, fresh

start in

Jesus, in

the gospel,

and also

support that

declaration,

and enhance

that declaration,

chapter 2,

verses 11 and

12, and we'll

come to that

in a sec, by

demonstrating the

life-changing

power of the

gospel to those

who we speak.

Verse 11 and

12, chapter 2,

Beloved, I

urge you as

sojourners and

exiles to

abstain from

the passions of

the flesh which

wage war against

your soul.

Keep your

conduct among

the Gentiles

honorable, so

that when they

speak against

you as

evildeers, they

may see your

good deeds and

glorify God on

the day of

your visitation.

In other

words, unbelievers

are never going

to like

Christianity.

They're always

going to find

something bad to

say about it.

But, says

Peter, make

sure that the

things they say

cannot be about

your behavior as

you live before

them.

Let it be about

Jesus.

So, there's the

two things coming

together.

We speak of the

living, enduring

Jesus, his living

and enduring word

that is able to

call people out of

darkness into light.

That's our words.

And that is wrapped

up and backed up

and supported

and made to

look beautiful

by demonstrably

changed lives.

And again, notice

the movement in

this passage that

we've been looking

at this morning.

Careful thinking

and understanding

of our identity

in and through

Christ overflows

into our church

family at every

point.

love, worship,

service,

obedience,

being who we

are together,

which then

overflows out

of our local

church into

the wider

community.

To say,

come and

experience for

yourself the

one who has

called me out

of darkness

into his

marvelous light.

Come and

experience the

one who

collectively have

called us

together out

of darkness

into his

marvelous light.

overflow,

overflow,

overflow.

Know who

we are

and we'll

intuitively

know what

to do.

Now that

doesn't fix

all the

details on

a week-to-week

basis,

but I'm just

interested in

the principle

at this stage.

We'll spell

it out a little

bit more in

detail.

I keep saying

that and then

I'm going to

leave it for

Dave Bott to

do when he

comes back.

Sorry, Dave.

So the

question now

then is,

it's a

reflective

question.

What

statement do

we make

as a local

church

practically?

I'm not

asking what

statement do

we make

in theory.

I'm asking

what statement

do we make

practically?

So here's

a few things

that have

tripped churches

up over the

years.

We must

never think,

for example,

that a strong

mission focus

is an

alternative to

demonstrably

Christ-like

relationships,

unity and

costly brotherly

love within a

local church,

our local

church.

We get to

set up

polarities.

I mean,

what hypocrisy

would it be

to tell

unbelievers

about the

joy of

salvation,

the joy of

being adopted

into God's

family,

God's forever

family,

if our

local church

family was

actually

dysfunctional

and toxic?

How does it

go together?

And yet,

so many

churches have

fallen into

that trap.

Flip the

coin and go

to the other

extreme.

We must

never think

that having

a strong

local church

community is

an alternative

to mission,

to proclaiming

the excellencies

of God the

Father and

Lord Jesus.

Again,

you see,

what hypocrisy

it would be

if we said,

well,

look,

we really

understand and

honor God's

salvation in

Christ and

his church.

That would be

hypocrisy if we

said that and

then existed as

a closed

community.

Really,

really happy

with the

Bible teaching

here,

really happy

with the

fellowship and

the society

of our church

family and

really quite

happy to keep

the world

out there.

That can't

be if we

really understand

the connection

from Scripture.

If we really

understand the

excellencies of

him who called

us out of

darkness into

his marvelous

light,

we won't be

able to stop

ourselves

overflowing.

As we speak

to those,

we intersect.

again,

and I've

heard this,

it's been a

few years

since I

heard it,

but I have

heard it

here,

people comment

on this

building looking

old and

tired and

embarrassing.

Was one

coming?

Well,

I say to

you,

well,

that might be

true at one

level.

I don't think

it is,

but everybody's

got their

perspective.

But I would

like to say

this to you,

that we must

never think that

having a

remarkably

beautiful building

will be a

replacement for

having a

remarkably

beautiful

community.

I could

take you to

churches,

get multi-million

dollar buildings

and tin pot

community.

My friends,

it is through

our relationships

in here,

and as they

overflow out

into our

community,

that people

will be

attracted to

the gospel,

not our

buildings.

That's where

our impact

will be.

And yet,

again,

historically,

see,

if you

asked Joe

Blow down

the street,

the church

has been

modeled as

a holy

building,

but the

bloke down

the street

will say,

yeah,

but it's

far from

a holy

community,

isn't it?

We're

sunk

before we

even start.

nor must

we ever

measure our

spiritual

health or

vitality and

maturity as a

local church

by numbers,

by the

structures we

have here,

by the

programs we

have here,

the activities

we promote

and engage

in,

or even,

dare I say,

and the last

time I said

this a few

years ago,

it really

stirred up a

hornet's nest,

so just

listen really

carefully to

what I'm

going to

say now,

nor is it

a measure of

spiritual health

to count the

number of

evangelistic

activities we

have in

any given

year.

Spiritual

health and

vitality is

first and

foremost a

measurement of

being,

being a

radical new

community of

Christ's died

for people.

Now,

don't misunderstand

me again,

being a

radical new

community will

overflow into

all these other

areas of

mission,

and we'll

say more

about that

next week.

And so

it's being

this radical

new community,

having that

sense of who

I am,

it's that

that for me

at least,

anyway,

draws me into

this church

family to

minister and

to be

ministered to.

That's

community.

to teach

and to be

taught

by you.

To be a

contributing

part of the

body rather

than a

demander of

services that

somehow I

think I'm

entitled to

because of my

club membership

here.

All right,

well,

let's move on

to the second

picture then

and come

with me to

one Peter,

no,

what do you

call him?

Timothy,

that's the

other guy.

Having said

that,

I've now

gone and

lost my

place.

Tell me

where

Timothy is

in the

Bible.

This is

embarrassing.

Yeah,

here we go.

I've got it

now.

I've got it.

Sorry.

So

embarrassing.

I have

read my

Bible

occasionally.

1 Timothy

1 Timothy 3:15

3,

verses 15

and 16.

Another

picture.

Paul's

writing to

Timothy

particularly,

pastoral

epistle,

and he's

given

instructions to

Timothy and

the local

church family

through

Timothy about

the primary

focus of

what they

should be

together as

a church.

verse 15.

Verse 14,

I hope to

come to you

soon,

but I'm

writing these

things to

you so

that if

I'm

delayed,

you may

know how

one ought

to behave

in the

household of

God,

which is

the church

of the

living God,

a pillar

and

buttress

of truth.

Again,

it's a

building

picture,

isn't it?

Paul's

urging these

believers

both to

identify the

foundational

essentials of

God's word

and the

gospel,

and then

urging them

to strive to

have the

whole community

built strongly

and clearly,

that's the

pillars,

on those

foundational

truths.

So,

what does

all that

mean?

Well,

I think it

means a

whole range

of things.

I'm only

going to

touch down

on three

or four

of them.

I think

at least

it means

this,

that

together,

not just

the pastor,

not just

the elders,

not just

the leaders,

but together

we have

a responsibility

to know

the truth

of the

gospel,

to know

the truth

of scripture,

to know

the truth

of God's

purpose

in this

world.

Why?

So that

we together,

again,

not just

the pastor,

not just

the elders,

not just

the leaders,

so that

we together

can identify

and counter

false teaching

and promote

truth.

Together,

we help

one another

measure on

the measures,

measure on

the important,

and avoid

getting

tripped up

by distractions

or

controversies

that are

unhelpful,

that bring

strife and

division

rather than

unity and

Christ-like

character.

And again,

that's a

really easy,

clear statement

of our

agenda.

Again,

you see,

political parties

will push

political agendas,

community

groups,

community groups

will build

hospitals,

clubs will

provide

entertainment

and sporting

facilities,

but a primary

task of the

church is

to support,

defend,

and promote

truth,

the truth of

the gospel,

the truth of

God's word,

as found in

the Bible.

And that's,

my friends,

why teaching

is front and

center and

important in

this local

church.

We must be

word or

Bible focused

as a church

family,

at every level,

not just here

on the Sunday

mornings,

you listen to

me,

but in your

small groups,

in your youth

groups,

in your fresh

groups,

in your homes.

We must be

word focused.

We must be

able to help

one another

through that

word grow

into maturity

in Christ,

well instructed

in what it is

to be like

Christ,

able to

implement the

principles of

scripture and

the principles

of the gospel

into every

season and

circumstance of

life.

So,

given that,

I think,

personally,

I think it's

really sad

that Christians

are so,

dare I say,

careless about

learning God's

word.

Some,

these days,

are even

opposed to

God's word,

saying,

well,

don't teach me

doctrine because

it's boring and

tedious and

unnecessary.

Just let me

sing praises.

but here's

how it works.

It's the

older,

younger thing

that I

stumbled over

last week.

Older

Christians,

it's your

responsibility

and privilege

to be able

to pass

down to the

next generation

that which

you've come

to appreciate

from God's

word.

God's

word.

God's

word.

God's

word.

God's

word.

And sometimes

that traffic

is from the

bottom up.

Sometimes

our young

people come

with a fresh

face to

scripture,

that is,

without all

the baggage

that us

old geezers

have.

And sometimes

they can see

things in

God's word

that we've

become blind

to.

And so that

can work

from the

bottom up.

And it

does,

and it

has in

my life,

often.

Young

people,

don't be

content just

to drift

in respect

to God's

word.

You're part

of something

that's really

nice here,

but that

something that

you're part

of has

been fought

for over

many years.

There have

been those

who've stood

against opposition

to it and

have held

the course.

Your job

as the next

generation is

to identify

what those

things are

and decide

what things

as you seek

to apply the

gospel in your

generation going

forward where

you can be

flexible and

where you

need to be

inflexible.

And you

need to do

that on the

basis of

knowing God's

word.

You can only

do that on

the basis

of knowing

God's

word.

And what

we'll find

is that as

we are more

and more

clear in our

understanding of

God's word in

here, in this

local church

family where we

get a safe

environment to

learn it,

then I think

when we overflow

into the wider

community, we'll

have more and

more confidence

and conviction

to stand our

ground and

know where to

stand our

ground and

know how to

stand our

ground.

In a sense, it's

like an ordinary

biological family.

You learn how to

relate in the

safety, in

inverted commas,

of your local

family, your

immediate biological

family, and

that's what then

equips you for

going out into

the wider world.

And just in

passing, I'll say

look, it's God's

truth we're to

defend and

pass on.

The truth is

not ours to

change in our

generation.

We're not free

to say, well,

okay, this will

be acceptable to

society, this

won't be, so

we'll go with

this.

We're not able

to say, well,

look, I'd

prefer to teach

this rather than

that.

It makes more

sense to try and

ease people into

it by being

entertaining.

Well, that's

fine, providing

we're not, you

know, not getting

the sharp edges of

the gospel, so

it's not even

recognizable.

I also say, then,

that being word

focused is not

sermon focused.

That's a big thing

for our church, I

think.

Sometimes we equate

the two, and

they're not the

same.

Now, obviously,

what I'm doing

here, teaching, is

I think a really

valuable aspect of

being in God's

church family.

but a sermon

of itself will

not bring us

to maturity.

I've never

thought that, never

will think that.

Being word

focused is not

being sermon

focused.

We need to

instruct each

other in the

word at every

point in our

church family

life.

Being word

centered will

show as we

move into this

period of

significant change

for our church

family.

I'm starting

to move on

after 23 years

here.

That's a big

change.

The next

generation steps

in.

We will show

how word

focused we are

as we move

into that period

of change, the

way we handle

it emotionally,

the way we,

again, look to

see what's

flexible, what

can be changed

if we move

forward for a

new generation

and what needs

to stay the

same.

And being

word centered,

my friends,

will happen in

private, in

families, specific

circumstances of

life, including

our dealing

with sin.

That's when we'll

see how word

focused we are.

Dealing with

conflict, that

shows how word

focused we are.

So often we put

the gloves on and

the Bible away.

being word

centered means

governing all of