Being the Church in the Postmodern World

"In the hand of God, the biblical Word is a fearsome weapon, "sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." And thus it is, Hebrews says, as we stand in the presence of God by its work, that everything is "laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:12-13). Is it too much to hope that the evangelical Church can yet again recover its moral seriousness, that it can recover its vision of the holiness of God, its trust in the greatness of his power? This is the key, strange as it may seem, to Christian effectiveness in the postmodern world. It is the reform of the Church of which we stand in need, not the reform of the Gospel. We need the faith of the ages, not the reconstructions of a therapeutically driven or commercially inspired faith. And we need it, not least, because without it our postmodern world will become starved for the Word of God." (David F. Wells, "Losing Our Virtue", pg. 209)