It has become apparent to me that, through many years, two elements of Christianity have become the forefront of what we believe: comfort and condemnation. They are probably equally important, and they both apply to life consistently. The tragic happening that I have observed is that, in the church, these two seem to have gone their separate ways.
For example: a church leaning to the condemnation side may seek to evangelize by exhorting people to "Repent, for the end is near!", and will often preach on hell fire. They would believe that you must 'stay holy, or else', as opposed to the belief of 'once saved, always saved.' They would more likely be Baptist than Pentecostal. They would rebuke often, and might spend more time in the Old Testament than the new.
If done in the Spirit, there's nothing inherently wrong with any of that. People do need to repent (although being told so isn't always the best motivation), hell fire does exist, we are to be holy for He is holy, rebuke may help us out of sin, and the Old Testament is part of the living Word of God.
The problem with such a church though, is that they may forget about some things.
One of those things is something wonderful: grace. God's grace is His loving favor that we could never earn. When a church is so focused on staying holy, they may forget that as humans, we will mess up, and that grace will cleanse and forgive.
Another thing they might forget about is love. Truly, God is love, and we are called to follow Him. My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3:18)
A church like this is more prone to falling into religiosity rather than experiencing a living, breathing relationship with Jesus Christ our Savior. A church like this may forget about the comfort we have in Him.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
If a church forgets these things, it makes for an altogether ineffective and hard-hearted church indeed.
Then there's the church that leans toward the side of comfort. (I believe that most churches in America today are churches of comfort. We are far more comfortable in America today than anywhere else at any other time). They would evangelize with and constantly preach on love and grace. They would subscribe to 'once saved, always saved.' They would speak of all the blessings of God, much of the time in a material sense. They would study the New Testament more than the Old.
Again, none of these is inherently wrong. God's love and grace is beyond comprehension; by grace through faith is how we obtain salvation. God does bless us, every day, and richly. He provides for our physical needs as well as spiritual ones. The New Testament was written specifically for the Church Age, which we live in today.
The problem with a church like this is that they, too, may forget about some things.
One of those things is sin. Sin, that big old ugly problem that humanity has struggled with for thousands of years. We cannot be saved unless we recognize that we need saving from sin. And even once saved, we will mess up. As followers of Christ, we must live holy lives and repent of these sins.
This sort of church might forget about the existence of Hell, which is where all unsaved will be after Judgement. Jesus commanded us to preach the gospel to all nations, but if we forget about the consequences of not hearing and accepting it, we will lose the sense of urgency about completing our task. A church that preaches only on comfort and love will lead many in by a false gospel: that only believing and not repenting will save you.
In short, putting our faith in anything more or less than Scripture in it's entirety, and wrapping oneself up in the beliefs of any denomination, is extremely dangerous. There needs to be a balance in our minds and hearts, remembering that God is holy and powerful and just and wrathful as well as gracious and loving and giving and accepting. Christianity isn't about any set of beliefs so much as it is about Jesus Christ and what He did for us at Calvary, and bringing glory to our Heavenly Father.
For our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:29)
He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8)
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:22-26)
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