Unqualified Christians
This month's issue of Tabletalk looks at the marks that distinguish followers of Christ from followers of the world and the practices that define who and what a Christian is. In his editorial introduction to this issue Burk Parsons writes about words--about their importance, their meaning, their ability to serve as qualifiers. "Words mean things, and, if we’re not careful, words can easily die the death of one, two, or a thousand qualifications. As editors, we often deliberate the use of words in their contexts and the appropriate uses of qualifiers in modifying words, particularly those words with eternal significance. For example, what’s the difference between a Christian and a true Christian, faith and true, saving faith, a church and a true, biblical church? We find ourselves using qualifiers, such as the word true, in order to emphasize the marked difference between a true Christian and a false, or nominal, Christian, between a true church and an apostate church."
Read more in Unqualified Christians.