FLN Podcasts: A "Lover's Quarrel" with the evangelical church - Warren Smith - 03/06/25

A "Lover's Quarrel" with Evangelicals Family Life News talks with Warren Smith of MinistryWatch.com Christian journalist Warren Smith has a "lover's quarrel" with the evangelical church.He says many congregations and denominations are inwardly-focused on their problems, and fail to live up to a biblical mandate to be "salt and light" into their surrounding culture: Smith writes a response to others who point to how, for some people, the Christian faith has been "deconstructed" during the current era. His call is for individual Christians, congregations, denominations and faith networks to reclaim the identity which Jesus Christ gave to it. He encourages a reflection on how people of faith measure success. He is concerned that many pockets of the church "measure the wrong things", saying that the size of membership and budgets and programs has replaced the measurement of faithfulness, community, love, long-suffering, joy and other Fruit of the Spirit. This can be an important conversation for you and your household, and might be a discussion starter for leadership groups in your church.   Warren Smith is the president of the national Christian news website "Ministry Watch". Their website, MinistryWatch.com, has an excerpt from the book we discussed in this interview (in text and audio formats), plus news about the church and its people, trends in the culture, and insights for donors to large Christian organizations. He and his team also provide weekly podcasts related to the latest developments and trends in the church and in the culture.