"Shhhh, You Shouldn't Say That In Church."

Work was somewhat fun tonight. I'm a waiter. I am the only male waiter, so you can only imagine what the atmosphere is like. Well, it's always interesting when Jesus and other sensitive subjects as such come up.

Tonight a conversation was occurring and someone looked at me and said, "You don't mention that in your sermons do ya?"

The conversation didn't go much further. No one got angry. And, no heated discussion broke out. No real story to tell. But, it did leave me thinking. I was left asking myself questions. What needs to be discussed in church, and what is appropriate to be discussed in church?

My thought:

Everything that effects the believer and the world that believer lives in should be addressed, by the church, for the benefit of the church and the furthering of the Gospel.


Some believe that cultural, political, and somewhat personal topics should be left undiscussed inside of the church. I would disagree. I am strong believer in the idea that many of the churches issues today stem from undiscussed, therefore unresolved, topics and sins of yesterday.

Many topics seem to be "hush-hush" in the church. Like, why do some people see the need to whisper the word "sex" in church. We treat this and other terms like homosexuality, alcohol, and politics like curse words. In many situations, some churches refuse to address sin by not discussing topics like divorce, homosexuality, and modern day idolatry. When we do this we run from ruffling others' feathers by discomfort and awkwardness, but we also run from discipleship and growth.

I strongly believe that the church is called to be much more than just a place of weekly worship. It is a great responsibility of good biblical churches to teach and educate. Not only on Genesis and the Ten Commandments, but on tough topics that it's members will face day to day. We must know where Jesus stands, so we will know where to stand.

We, as the church, must also know the culture of the people in which we are trying to reach with the truth of Gods love. We must know who we are talking to so that we may effectively approach them with the gospel. As disciples, we are called to be doctors. We must know sickness when we see it. We must know how to treat the sickness. When we refuse to discuss and be educated on our culture, we are like a man who calls himself a doctor but refuses to treat patients and refuses to treat them correctly.

It is important for these issues to be first discussed in the church so we do not create for ourselves a view that is incorrect. We need to learn about these things as a congregation and by studying the Word. The way we view God determines the way we view everything else. They are not separate views, but one runs in correlation with the other. Listen to what C.S. Lewis said:

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”