I once attended a church that had a very young preacher who had a heart for seeing the lost saved. The church tried very hard to meet people where they were and to be relevant in today’s culture. They were great at multi-media presentations, catchy sermon titles and fun gimmicks to bring people into the service.
One Sunday, the pastor was very fired up about his message. In trying to convey how much God loves us, he said, “We have a flippin’ God who flippin’ loves us so very flippin’ much.” My soul cringed at the coarse way that he spoke of the name of God. Let’s be honest, flippin’ is a substitute for another word that should in no way be used with the holy name of God.
I have to question, at what point do we sacrifice our reverence for relevance? How far is too far?
The name Yaweh, which appears more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament, was considered so sacred to the Israelites it was not even pronounced after the destruction of the temple in AD 70.
Because Yaweh so freely gives the gift of salvation through His son Jesus, it can be easy to forget that He is still the holy, all-powerful I AM WHO I AM.
May we never lose our reverence for Yahweh.
Yaweh who is holy and mighty, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and mercy, yet just and powerful.
How about you, have you had an experience like mine? How far do you think it too far?
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Good post! Thanks for this Heather!
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