{"id":18923,"date":"2023-09-25T13:15:22","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T17:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=18923"},"modified":"2023-09-25T13:15:22","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T17:15:22","slug":"pastor-encourages-churches-to-engage-culture-avoid-godless-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/09\/pastor-encourages-churches-to-engage-culture-avoid-godless-america","title":{"rendered":"Pastor Encourages Churches to Engage Culture, Avoid \u201cgodless\u201d America"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_18929\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18929\" style=\"width: 768px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/09\/myles-rutherford-scaled.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18929\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2023\/09\/myles-rutherford-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18929\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Myles &amp; DeLana \/ Youtube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Atlanta pastor Myles Rutherford has called on churches to speak boldly against what he calls the godlessness of American culture. Rutherford, who pastors Worship with Wonders Church in Marietta, Georgia, outside Atlanta, recently spoke to <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/atlanta-pastor-warns-churchs-silence-cultural-issues-will-lead-godless-society\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Fox News<\/span><\/a><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">on his new book, \u201c<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/grangerchurchbookstore.com\/product\/raise-your-voice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Raise Your Voice<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u201d and criticized churches for their silence on cultural issues. \u201cThe culture is loud. Satan is loud right now. However, I\u2019ve seen the church remain quiet on important issues out of fear,\u201d he said. He added that his motivation to write his book was due to \u201cthe majority of the silence of the American church over the last three years with major topics, relevant issues that were going on. And it just seems like the church was non-responding.\u201d Instead, he said, churches had turned away from speaking on controversial topics and were more focused on motivational preaching, avoiding offending anyone. \u201cSoft sermons produce soft saints,\u201d he warned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Speaking to <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/video\/pastor-myles-rutherford-takes-bold-stand-on-controversial-issues.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Christian Post<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, Rutherford reiterated his stance that the biggest problem facing churches today is their silence. \u201cThe voice of the Lord has to be brought out by the believer,\u201d he said. He also stated that the message matters. \u201cWhat [Christians] speak is just as important as why they should speak.\u201d He said that a lot of Christians were receiving the Word of God but not learning how to witness to others, unlike the believers of the early Acts church. The interview stressed that even though topics like homosexuality and gender identity may be controversial to the culture, sharing the Bible\u2019s perspective on those issues is ultimately sharing the truth. Rutherford remarked how Jesus told people to repent. \u201cIn other words, there\u2019s something that has to happen here,\u201d he said. \u201cSpeaking the truth in love is what we need right now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0Rutherford is one to practice what he preaches. In June, his church was <\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wsbtv.com\/news\/local\/cobb-county\/controversial-billboards-across-metro-sparking-outrage-over-what-some-call-anti-lgbt-message\/O472VXELEFAL7PQPWKH2WOD6HE\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">criticized<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0for billboards they sponsored with the phrase \u201c<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.proudtobedelivered.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Proud to be delivered<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">,\u201d highlighting Christians who had left their LGBTQ+ lifestyles after accepting Christ. Darian Aaron, who works with GLAAD, the Gay &amp; Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, called the billboards anti-LGBT. \u201cNot only has the church erected billboards across metro Atlanta but if you were to visit the pastor\u2019s Instagram page, it is completely flooded with anti-LGBT rhetoric,\u201d he said. Rutherford\u2019s critics included other local pastors, such as Reverend Matt Laney of Virginia-Highland Church. He said Rutherford\u2019s rhetoric demonized the LGBTQ+ community. \u201cGay and Christian are not incompatible. Can same-gender love be sinful and harmful? Of course, it can. Heterosexual love can be sinful and harmful as well. But neither are inherently, automatically sinful. It is no crime, it is no sin to be gay or to be in a loving relationship with someone of the same gender,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">During his Fox News interview, Rutherford stated that Christians must be prepared for pushback and persecution. Persecution in the 21st century for American Christians would be in the form of censorship and cancel culture, he said. \u201cAnd there are so many people that need God right now, and we need to be out there sharing that with them. And I want to encourage everybody that\u2019s doing that. You\u2019re not alone. Elijah, at one point, thought that he was alone in the Bible, says God spoke to him and said, \u2018No, I have 7000 that have not bowed their knees.\u2019 So I want to encourage people to continue doing it because you\u2019re not alone,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Atlanta pastor Myles Rutherford has called on churches to speak boldly against what he calls the godlessness of American culture. Rutherford, who pastors Worship with Wonders Church in Marietta, Georgia, outside Atlanta, recently spoke to Fox News\u00a0on his new book, \u201cRaise Your Voice,\u201d and criticized churches for their silence on cultural issues. \u201cThe culture is&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":18929,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Pastor Encourages Churches to Engage Culture, Avoid \u201cgodless\u201d America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Myles Rutherford has called on churches to speak boldly against what he calls the godlessness of American 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