It seems that every era of Church history has a question from the lips of our Lord for that time. For example, of the scores of questions asked in the gospels by our Lord, the first generational Church was faced with the question of John 13:38 – “Will you lay down your life for my sake?” How many of our spiritual forefathers went to their martyr’s deaths after facing that question from Christ? The apostolic fathers like James, Peter and Paul dealt personally with this. They were followed by the likes of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna.

Then came the Nicene fathers and another question emerged. For them it was the question of Matthew 22:42 – “What do you think of the Christ, whose son is He?” It was this question that brought them to Nicea in 325 A.D. Arius of Alexandria was preaching that the Son was not eternal with the Father but was created by the Father. Out of this Council of Nicea came the Nicene Creed which settled and affirmed for the Church till this very day that the Son was of the same nature as the Father. In those days with this question on his heart Athanasius stood tall as a defender of the Faith.

As the Church entered its dark period held in the clutches of the Roman popes, the Reformers broke through into the dawn of a new day when they were confronted with the Lord’s question in John 11:40 – “Did I not say if you believe you would see the glory of God?”And so, armed with the truth of the book of Romans, Martin Luther nailed his thesis to the door of the church at Wittenburg and the glory of God filled Europe working through the likes of Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, and many others.

As the years of Church history continued to unfold and the great missionary movement advanced, they did so with the question of Luke 18:8 on their hearts and minds – “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”  And so, William Carey, Hudson Taylor, David Livingstone and so many others left the confines and comforts of their homes for places like India, China and Africa with the question of their time – “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” – burning in their hearts.

Then came the 20th century when prosperity filled the western Church. The Church gained influence and buildings and very subtly the emphasis of Godly power changed to worldly influence. And consequently, there came the Lord’s question in John 21:5 – “Do you love me more than these?”

Next liberalism with its twin children of pluralism and inclusivism infiltrated the Church and from the lips of our Lord came the question of Luke 6:67 – “Will you also go away?” And unfortunately, many denominations and Churches that once had evangelism and missions at their forefront and held to a high view of Scripture went away from the doctrinal truth their forefathers had held for generations.

Now we find ourselves ministering in the 21st century. These are days of unbelievable challenge and opportunity. But Christ has a question for His church today and it is perhaps the most important and most controversial question He has ever asked. I believe it is the issue all true evangelicals must face for the next generation. It is the question of our time. It is the question of Matthew 16:15 – “Who do you say that I am?” This is the question for us! When so many have gone the way of pluralism and inclusivism, God is asking us – “Who do you say that I am?”

It is becoming more apparent that God is raising up a voice for righteousness in a culture that is filled with anti-Christian bigotry. While Prime Ministers and Presidents are presently engaged in a war on terrorism, many pastors and disciples are engaged in a war on truth. There are those among us in our western culture today, just as in the Book of Jude, who seem to be bent on bringing down our twin towers of the truth and trustworthiness of the gospel. Perhaps no other single topic will be under attack during our remaining days of ministry as much as the issue of the exclusivity of the gospel. The next generation of evangelical pastors and Church leaders must be prepared to answer the question of our time – “Who do you say that I am?”