If a church is going to impact the world for Christ it must strive to be pure.  If our message is that God has sent His Son to die for our sins and to make us new, than it better be visible in our churches and in our lives.  I’m not talking about being perfect because there is no perfect church.  I am talking about being a church that hates sin and is striving to be like Christ.  When we go around and share the message of how one can have new life in Christ and we live like the world we kill the message.

There are many churches today who do not like to talk about sin and judgment because they are afraid it will turn people away.  That was not the approach of the early church.  They focused on the seriousness of sin and sin was seriously dealt with.  They did not just focus on having the right message, but living a righteous life.  They understood that what made their testimony believable was that they lived a holy and righteous and transformed life. 

They did not water down the message of the Gospel, they were honest about the fact that giving your life to Christ means turning away from—forsaking your sin.  They taught that the life of a Christian is a self-denying, cross bearing life. 

That message has not changed.  That is the message of the Scriptures and that is the message we must share today.  Though I agree the church is the place where sinners are to come who are in need, it is also a place where non-believers are to be encouraged to repent and turn from their sin and give their life to Christ and where believers are to sharpen one another and push one another to grow in godliness.

The church will not impact the world if it looks like the world and adopts the message of the world.  A church like that fades into the background of the culture it is trying to mimic.  The church impacts the world for Christ when it looks like Christ and functions as a light to the world exposing sin and leading people to Him.